Tired of wasting time and money searching for and replacing your kids school items? Mabel’s Labels will save you the trouble.

Two weeks ago, after running a series of errands with my two children, I took them to an indoor jungle gym for some exercise and respite from a particularly humid summer day. We climbed, slid and snacked until I had to nearly drag them away from their happy place. When we got home, I realized that we had misplaced a beloved sippy cup somewhere along the way.

Now, a sane person might have just shrugged their shoulders and gone on with their day. A sane person might have simply picked up a new sippy cup the next time they went grocery shopping. A sane person probably would not have gone into full panic mode, ransacking the diaper bag, the car and the foyer closet. Nor would she have spent almost 25 minutes making phone calls to all of the places she had visited that day.

Yes, I take pleasure in organizing my home and I feel low levels of anxiety when things are out of place. But perhaps I take things to the next level when I spend an entire afternoon searching for a cup. Or do I cross the line when I lose sleep over missing Mr. Potato head pieces? Let’s just say, I rest easier knowing that all things, including my children’s many belongings, are in their proper place.

Let’s just say, I rest easier knowing that all things, including my children’s many belongings, are in their proper place.

As you can imagine, it was a no-brainer for me when I was asked to try out the amazing name labels by Mabel’s Labels, a proudly Canadian company started by moms who saw a problem and created a pretty awesome solution. Would you like some super cute labels to put on all of your daughter’s belongings right before she starts Kindergarten so that nothing ever goes missing again? Um, yes. Yes, I would.

As a teacher, I always appreciated these labels for helping me quickly return lost items to their rightful owners; as a parent, I was ecstatic. But I had questions:  how would these puppies hold up in the dishwasher? Wouldn’t they start to peel up at the corners and look dingy after getting wet? And also, what if I put them on crooked? Would they be impossible to pull off and reposition? These were things I never paid attention to when I was supervising twenty little monkeys during lunch hour.

My adorable labels arrived in the mail in three days in a compact envelope. The new Designer Label Pack contains 40 mini name stickers, 50 stick-on clothing labels, 16 shoe stickers and two hanging tags for bags–basically, everything you need to set up your child for their first day of school, and then some. You can choose from countless colours, images and fonts to suit your style. I loved my woodland animals theme and gender neutral colours. Imagine me breathing a huge sigh of relief as I held this stack of labels in my hands. Thoughts of me rummaging through the school “Lost and Found” bin began to fade from my mind.

You can choose from countless colours, images and fonts to suit your style. I loved my woodland animals theme and gender neutral colours.

I started by labeling our lunch containers and immediately found the answer to one of my questions. My round snack containers were hard to keep steady in order to put the label on perfectly straight and my first attempt was quite crooked. Thankfully, it was really easy to pull off the label and reposition it without ruining the sticker or leaving any residue on the container. Perfect!

Next came the dishwasher test. I had to know how these labels would look after being blasted with hot water for two hours. They claim to be waterproof, but were they really? The results? They absolutely are. They looked brand new when I pulled them out of the dishwasher to inspect, and they held up against a hand wash with a scrub pad as well.

I also spent some time labeling all of my daughter’s fall jackets and sweaters, and with 50 clothing tags in a pack, we have tonnes left to label her new clothing as she grows and seasons change.

My favourite labels in the pack, however, are the round shoe labels. These are placed on the inside soles of the shoes and are pure genius. In most public schools, children are asked to come to school with at least one indoor and one outdoor pair of shoes. When kids arrive at school, they usually drop their outdoor pair off outside the door, and put their indoor shoes on at their seat. Of course, as kids go in and out throughout the day, shoes get kicked around and inevitably go missing. Shoes are pricey and few can afford to replace them several times throughout the year. The Mabel’s Labels shoe label will ensure my daughter’s never go missing so we can spend our hard-earned cash elsewhere.

Needless to say, I’m in love with my Mabel’s Labels and won’t hesitate to order more in the future—for the whole family.

I know what you’re thinking:  Wait, what ever happened to your lost sippy cup, crazy lady? Did you find it? Were your over-the-top efforts rewarded? I’m pleased to report that I did find the cup, eventually. Or at least I think I did. It was in the “Lost and Found” bin at the indoor jungle gym with two others just like it. I picked the one that looked about as worn as ours probably was. But with its brand new Mabel’s label, I can assure you that it’ll never go missing again.

Mabel’s Labels Big Kaboodle™ Label Prize Pack Winners!

Congratulations are in order for our Mabel’s Labels Big Kaboodle™ Label Prize Pack Winners!

Naamah J.W. of Toronto, ON

Krystle K. of Gloucester, ON

Kristen V. of Kitchener, ON

Kayla, O of Belle Ewert, ON

Amy C. of Sault Ste. Marie, ON