Getting Organized for the Beach

Posted by admin | Posted in All Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 30-12-2012

Just about every family goes to the beach during the summer. But what’s the largest complaint? “Uh oh….you forgot…..” You usually end up forgetting. Try our tips to pack the ultimate beach bag and you’ll always stay organized while having fun in the sun!

Be certain your bag for the beach is big enough. Most Moms will have the “big” challenge of choosing a good looking beach bad that won’t be big enough for their carrying needs. Don’t forget to keep a head count of your kids and don’t forget that your kids often bring friends so keep track of them too whether you are at the pool or the beach. You’re going to need that extra room in a big beach bag!

Towels, towels and more towels! All of the family members need 2 towels: One for laying on the sand and one to dry off after getting out of the water or showering at the end. That’s a lot of towels. Keep your towels organized by adding clothing labels to each towel so your towels come home with you. Pick color coordinated towels so they are easy to find on the beach lying together.

Sandwich bags aren’t just for sandwiches. Here’s an easy trick to keep suntan or sunblock lotion from spilling all over the inside of your beach bag: keep it inside a sandwich bag with a tight seal! This will save lots of time and frustration. Add a label to the outside of your suntan or sunblock so other families know this is your sunblock and not theirs.

Clear plastic labels are every Mom’s dream for beach trips when it comes to packing the ultimate beach bag. How many times have you come home from the beach…only to discover you are missing a sand pail and shovel? Add clear plastic labels with your child’s name or family name to keep everything organized for this summer.

Keep your lunch chilled and dry by placing it near the bottom of your beach bag. Many of the items you pack in the beach bag won’t be heavy such as your swimming suit and dry towels. The heaviest thing you will probably pack is your lunch – so you’ll want to keep it cool and dry by packing it in the bottom of your beach bag. Create a shady place under your umbrella for your lunch with your chair and your towel hung over the side.

Many Moms love to bring a good book (okay a romance novel!) to the beach while the kids play. Make sure your romance novel comes home with you by adding a cheap sticker inside the book with your information. The beach is a busy place and there are lots of other Moms with books, best to keep yours organized and with you at all times

by Lawrence Reaves

Celebrate the 4th of July with a Picnic!

Posted by admin | Posted in Home Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 21-12-2012

Labels4life.com would like to wish you and your family a very Happy 4th of July. Follow our tips to have a great 4th of July picnic with your family and friends.

Picnics are fair-weather friends. Check the weather forecast before you go. A few sprinkles are usually okay with most picnic goers but thunderstorms are a no-no. Don’t be disappointed.

Unlike the popular rumor, mayonnaise does not spoil. But meats, eggs and dairy should not become warm – leading to dangers of food poisoning. Always play it safe when picnicking to avoid a tummy ache or much worse. Pack picnic foods to keep them both dry and cool at all times.

Plastic containers are often an ideal way to transport most of your popular picnic foods like macaroni salad and potato salad. But don’t leave guests guessing….but a label on the top so they know for sure which picnic salad they are dipping a spoon into. This keeps your picnic smooth and organized – and guests will always be satisfied.

Pack your picnic in a cooler that is sturdy not just pretty. Make sure your picnic basket or cooler can manage everything you are putting into it. When in doubt, bring an additional cooler or basket.

Remember hand wipes for easy clean up after picnicking. Many popular picnic spots can have restrooms nearby but they can be crowded – bringing wipes can make cleaning a toddler’s hands much easier than standing on line for twenty minutes while you miss a concert or community event.

Post by MaverickLabel.com, now offering security holographic labels.

Tips to Create a Great Staycation

Posted by admin | Posted in All Organization, Home Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 22-11-2012

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Photo by gorickjones

In case you’ve been too busy playing Wii Fit in an effort to look great in your tankini this summer – or have otherwise been engaged – let us share with you the hottest trend in vacations: staying home. Staycations are vacations where you actually stay home and do fun things. No, they don’t have to be endless days of vegging out in front of the tube – you can actually do some pretty cool stuff. We’ve got some unique tips to help you plan a great staycation that will have your family truly feel like they’ve had a summer break.

#1 Clean house before your staycation. This may sound like work – and yes, it is work. But remember that when we go on vacation, we stay in clean hotel, motel and bed and breakfasts. Taking your staycation in a house littered with toys and dust is going to make you feel more stressed out than ever.

#2 Sit down with your family to plan some fun activities. It helps if you have some fun ideas, but be sure to ask for your family’s input on exactly what they consider fun. If you plan a day at a local museum and your children don’t want to go – this isn’t a pleasurable activity. But if your children would rather go to the local aquarium and admission is a comparable price – then this gives you a great activity to do for your staycation.

#3 Visit your local tourism website. Most counties and every state has an official tourism website and office to provide information. While most do deal with out-of-state inquiries – your staycation can greatly improve when you get information on all of the local attractions. Sometimes we are so busy that we just don’t know about some of our local jewels to truly enjoy them.

MaverickLabel.Com, a company founded to meet the growing need for a label source utilizing the latest technologies blended with old fashioned quality and customer service. They specialize in custom label printing and have cheap stickers and custom roll labels for summer needs.

Top Summertime Uses for Labels

Posted by admin | Posted in Home Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 18-11-2012

Summertime is a peak time for label use. Families are more active than ever. With most families taking vacations, it is easy to see why families would need labels to identify things that they need. Let’s talk about the top summertime uses for labels.

1. Gardening. Many people enjoy gardening in the summer. Labeling the stakes in the ground, baby plants or your supplies helps you grow a beautiful garden.

2. Beach or Pool. Most families spend lots of time at their local beach or pool during summertime. This is an ideal time to use labels. Use labels to identify your beach/pool chairs, umbrella, label your bathing suit and swimming cover-ups. Labels can also be useful with some water toys for kids.

3. Summer Camp. Many children attend a day or sleep-away camp during the summer. Smart mothers have learned that labeling their belongings means that more of their belongings will come back with them at the end of camp!

4. Family Vacation/Staycation. Every family can use labels during their vacation/staycation. You’ll want to label everyone’s suitcases as you travel. You’ll add labels to everyone’s clothing. Adding labels to other items you use like a packed lunch as you travel, car care supplies or labeling everyone’s drinks just keeps you better organized.

5. Summer Barbeque/Party. Using labels can help you identify the mustard from the ketchup. It can also help you identify people’s drinks from one another. Using “Hello” labels at a party can be a great icebreaker as people get to know one another.

Labels simply get you through the summer. With a little organization and preparation, summer flies by – our favorite season. It’s always more fun during summertime! Waterproof labels will be a part of any good label kit for summer.

Organize Your Child for Summer Camp

Posted by admin | Posted in All Organization, Home Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 14-11-2012

Summer Camp

Photo by Transguyjay
Families know that it is summer camp time. Children look forward to this time and even parents look forward to it as a time when their children will develop new skills and make some new friends and just have some fun.

Whether your child goes away to camp or to a local camp, the “camp experience” involves great organization on the part of the camper and the family. It is so important that you get organized for your child ahead of time. Try our camp organization tips so your child will have a great summer.

  1. When you register your child for camp – ask for the materials list. Many camps will mail it out as camp date gets closer, but most will provide it at your request earlier – which means you can get your shopping done earlier.
  2. Labels in clothing are very important, especially for children attending a sleep-away camp. Add labels early – and remember if your child has a popular name and surname like Susan Smith to add their middle name too to avoid confusion.
  3. Sending treats to sleep-away camp and day camp is a popular occurrence. Label snacks so campers know whose snacks are whose. Remember that many children today have peanut allergies – so don’t select snacks with peanuts in them.
  4. Your child for sleep-away camp will have a large trunk to put all of their items in. Remember to put labels the actual trunk, both inside and outside so everyone knows whose trunk it is.
  5. Many children are tempted to bring valuable items like a charm bracelet, favorite teddy bear or electronic devices to camp. This is often unwise as these items can become lost or sometimes “borrowed” by overeager campers. Sometimes these items are also hard to label – like a teddy bear or a piece of jewelry.
  6. Give your child pre stamped stationary or postcards to write friends and family home while at sleep-away camp. Most sleep-away campers do have access to email. But many campers look forward to daily “mail call” and the best way to get mail is to send some of your own.

MaverickLabel.com They specialize in custom label printing and have cheap stickers and custom window decals for summer needs.

Label Your Way Through Spring!

Posted by admin | Posted in All Organization, Home Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 10-11-2012

There’s something about Spring that just makes us want to get organized and start new projects. The birds singing and warmer air make everyone have a “spring” in their step and more energy to tackle all of those projects they’ve been putting off. So enjoy Spring and try these great ways to use labels to get organized and make life run a bit smoother.

Canning or making jams/jellies. Spring and summer are the perfect time to can fruits and vegetables or to make jam and jellies. You’ll certainly want large, clear labels that tell you exactly what’s in these jars so when winter comes and you reach for a jar – you aren’t opening a mystery!

Garage sale. This is one of the best times to hold a garage sale. Spring is a great time to clean out your closets and go through the kids’ toys to see exactly what they just aren’t using anymore. Garage sale shoppers always seem to linger more when a sale is well organized and they certainly appreciate prices that are clear. Using label stickers will mean everyone can read prices quickly – even if they do try to haggle you down a bit!

Preparing for summer camp. Now is the ideal time to get the kids’ gear ready for summer camp. Don’t wait for the last minute to find the sunscreen, bathing suit and their sandals or extra pair of sneakers. Get everything ready and put it into the trunk so it is ready to go. You’ll want to use labels to label the trunk and then labels inside every piece of clothing.

Organize your gardening supplies. Spring is when we see those lovely crocuses and tulips coming out in bloom. But every gardener knows to get those beautiful flowers takes a lot of hard work and effort. Organize your gardening supplies and use labels so you know where everything goes and to identify your supplies.

Get the beach gear ready. If your family lives at the beach in warmer weather, then now is the best time to get your beach gear prepared. Look for your bathing suits, aqua shoes, beach towels, sunscreen and beach toys. Use labels to designate everyone’s beach bag and organize your summer fun gear.

DeStress With Easy Organizing

Posted by admin | Posted in Home Organization, Mind Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 24-10-2012

Some people say they “can’t be bothered” with getting organized. That getting organized takes time. Well staying messy actually takes even more time — and causes this person or family to feel much more stress! There are many ways you can learn to de-stress with easy organizing tips.

Try some of our favorites to help your family de-stress.

Always have a pair and a spare. Keys that is. No one should only have one set of keys. Keys get lost, purses and bags get lost. Things happen, even to the most with-it, well-organized person.
Having extra sets of keys means you can easily access your home or other belongings when you need to. If you have a long-term house guest you’ll also have keys you can give them. Just imagine the headache you’ll go through if you don’t have an extra key and the locks need to be changed!

Keep emergency contact information available and easy to read. Update emergency contact information either every six months or at least every school year. Each adult involved with a child’s life should have a copy of the emergency contact information and a copy should be laminated and placed on the refrigerator for fast reference. This way if you have a family friend or neighbor babysitting and your son brakes his arm, they will know exactly who your son’s doctor is and how to reach you and your husband at work immediately!

Have extra pet i.d. tags in your home. In most families, the family pet is a member of the family. When your cat or dog doesn’t have their tags — they run the risk of not being identified if they go missing or become lost. Getting new tags can take several weeks — weeks where your dog can run out the front door or off of his leash or your cat can get spooked by a bad storm running through town. Extra i.d. tags are very inexpensive and easy to get. You can also put custom stickers on all of your pet’s toys, in case they lose those.

For every purchase something needs to go out. When you buy your children toys or clothing – it is the perfect time to go through their clothing or toys to see what you can donate to charity or pass along to younger family members. Even selling their unwanted items at online auction can help bring in additional funds for more family fun! Simply accumulating more “stuff” should never be a family goal.

Always have a place to put: keys, cell phone and mail. More families spend time looking for their keys, cell phone and mail than just about any other belongings. Each of these belongings needs a specific “home” within your home that is all its very own. This way it will not go missing.

What Our Store Learned this Holiday Season about Tracking Labels

Posted by admin | Posted in Office Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 20-10-2012

UPC-A barcode

Image via Wikipedia

Our gift shop opened this September and while owning our own business has been exciting, I’ll admit that there have been some learning lessons along the way. This very first holiday season certainly brought a very hard learning lesson when it comes to tracking labels. We didn’t use them at our gift shop – and quite a few gifts were not delivered or returned to us. This has been a very frustrating time at Cyndi’s Adorables Gifts!

Tracking labels tell you where a package is at all times. I never really thought about this – and I certainly wasn’t thinking about this as I mailed out holiday packages. Quite frankly, I just wanted to get them in the mail. My gift shop hasn’t done a lot of mailing – and I was excited to see our business pick up. I was expecting to see a lot of gift business because we are a gift shop – but I was not expecting all of the challenges and heartbreak that came our way because of these tracking labels – and our packages not having them.

Tracking labels are easy to attach and scan into a computer system. Using tracking labels in many ways reminds me of going to the supermarket. You know how every item “beeps” as it goes over the conveyer belt as its UPC code is read? That’s just like a tracking label! When your tracking label is read along the way as the package is shipped and delivered – you’ll be able to see where and exactly when your package was there. It’s that easy.

Not having tracking labels is not just careless – it’s very expensive. I did not realize just how much I was going to wish I had tracking labels on my packages. You would think that people mailing gifts to family and friends for the holidays would know the address they are sending things to – but sometimes they don’t have the correct address. This means your package can be undeliverable and wind up sitting somewhere in package limbo. If you have a tracking label – then you know exactly where it is. If you don’t – then you just have to wait for the package to be returned to you. It’s January now and I’m getting all kinds of returns from holiday packages people sent out. That’s not counting all of the angry calls I received from customers who wanted a gift sent to a family member or friend that didn’t make it there on time.

If you have a business – learn from my mistake and don’t make one of your own. Get tracking labels now before you get shipping orders. Your customers will be pleased even if they don’t realize the difference. Best of all, you’ll realize the difference. The cost alone makes it well worth the price. Tracking labels are so small many people don’t think about them. But they hold very important information that can really save the day. Order your tracking labels today – and make your customers happy. Or they may find another business that does!

Organizing Your Beer Label Collection – Beer Label Collecting

Posted by admin | Posted in All Organization, Home Organization, Mind Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 16-10-2012

beer-label-collection

Beer enthusiasts usually end up collecting labels from their brews at some point in their drinking career and some collections have been generating interest from a commercial aspect as well; these collections do acquire a value over time and some collections are also extremely large!

While stripping off a beer label from a cold one is a traditional bar pastime, getting the collection arranged and displayed to best effect is not as simple as you may think. Some beer aficionados believe your beer label collection should be a personal history tour and take the reader on a personal pilgrimage through the owners introduction and education in the delights of this ancient brew (beer was originally invented by the ancient Egyptians). Others, with a more librarian bent of mind, believe any collection should be organized so it is easily searchable and arranged in a logical form which flows easily from one section to the next.

Believe it or not, there is quite a debate raging amongst collectors over which is the best method! Yes, believe it or not, George isn’t at home! This debate is alive and well and celebrating a night on the town.

Whether you go for the two-dimensional, Dewey decimal version of the personalized, scrap book style presentation, there is no getting away from the attraction collecting beer labels has for many people. Microbreweries have been cashing in on the growing trend as well by bringing out increasingly changed labels to celebrate their brews. The larger breweries have a brand image and stick to it pretty rigidly but smaller ones such as Saranac in upstate New York, change their labels almost monthly specifically for collectors.

Whether you like beer or not, collecting beer labels is fun and interesting but despite being essentially the same product – alcoholic, liquid refreshment – the labels used on bottles is extremely varied, often funny, frequently artistic and like the real thing, once you pick up a collection you are going to find it hard to put down again. Especially if you end up adding the infamous “Santa’s butt” label to your collection.

After you’ve begun collecting beer labels, you can expand into collecting and even printing wine labels.

The Black Hole of a Woman’s Purse

Posted by admin | Posted in Mind Organization, Personal Organization | Posted on 12-10-2012

Many men will say in a joking way that they are “scared” to look in their wives or girlfriend’s purse. There is something about a purse that seems to intimidate or put them off. But what women truly know is that keeping your purse organized is a lot harder than it seems.

Sometimes your purse just seems like a cavernous black hole where things disappear, never to surface again. Your lipstick, keys, cell phone and other valued items all go missing. How do you truly keep your purse organized and the items in it labeled properly?

Begin by taking everything out of your purse and cleaning your purse thoroughly. A lot of women discover through this exercise that they are a) either carrying way too many things or b) truly need a larger purse for needed items. This little exercise is the best way to discover.

Once you’ve got everything in front of you, it’s time to sort. Make three piles: must-keep, recycle/refuse and reconsider. The first two are probably quite easy. You are going to want your car keys and cell phone with you at all times. But do you need to carry your allergy medicine – when it is not allergy season? Or what about the sixteen lip glosses? Make the tough choices and lighten your load.

Refill your purse now will ONLY your must-have items. It will be such a treat to see that your purse is surprisingly light. But are you truly being honest with yourself? There may be other items that you need to carry – that you aren’t including. This exercise only works when you are including everything you really need or don’t need. Sometimes you discover you need a larger purse, which is a better discovery than to have to reorganize your purse again.

Understand that organizing your purse is an ongoing process. The savvy woman does light organizing of her purse every couple of days. She’ll add and subtract items as she needs them. She may also occasionally add personal id labels to certain items in her purse.

Many of us get busy and okay, a little forgetful of exactly what we’ve put in there. But getting rid of seasonal items or things you only use on weekends can truly do you a favor.

As you organize your purse, make sure to ICE your telephone and include the same info in your purse. ICE is In Case of Emergency contacts you add to your telephone. If anything happens this means someone can easily contact someone on your behalf. Add the same information to your purse on an index card (remember cell phones sometimes don’t have power).