Are you ready to be shocked by some crazy magic? These DIY labels are literally made out of JUST packing tape and a piece of printer paper (and no, they are not made the same way as the DIY sticker decals that we made yesterday!) Yet, they look like these clear labels that are super popular in the world of organizing! My favorite part is that you can pick the words that you need! For example, I have no need for a “mashed potatoes label” (like seen in this set), but my daughter is having a blast making labels for all of her new notebooks for school (English, Spanish, Math, etc.) We even organized all of our office / school supplies by making DIY jar labels for our “homework station.”
DIY Craft Camp for Kids (Part 2!!!)
Since our previous DIY Craft Camp was such a success, we have decided to do an encore (part 2) this week! Here are all of our previous (free!) virtual camps, in case you missed any:
- “Back to Basics” Life Skills Camp
- DIY Craft Camp
- Cooking Classes for Kids
- Science Experiments for Kids
- Kids Entrepreneurship
- World Traveler (Kids Geography Camp)
Don’t forget to join our Facebook group to see our live classes and follow us on Pinterest, so you won’t miss a thing! You definitely need to follow Hannah at Inspired Sparks too, because she is posting all kinds of awesome videos to teach kids about science, crafts and cooking.
DIY Labels with Packing Tape & Paper
Here is the super short materials list to make these DIY labels.
- packing tape
- scissors
- craft stick (or even a credit card could work!)
- laser printer (black or color is fine!)
Unfortunately, only a laser printer will work for this project. If you only have an inkjet printer, have no fear! You can make your labels and have them printed at your local library (just make sure they have a laser printer!) or at an office supply store for next to nothing. Also, the computer scientist inside of me can’t resist to tell you that the next time you are in the market for a new printer, DEFINITELY consider a laser printer. They are much more cost effective and you don’t have to constantly replace ink (or worry about ink drying out.) My absolutely favorite (budget-friendly) laser printer is this Brother All-In-One Printer. If you need a color laser printer, it will cost a little bit more, but this Brother Color Laser Printer is fantastic.
How to Make DIY Labels with Packing Tape & Paper
Let’s get started with making some DIY labels with our packing tape and paper!
1. Create & print your labels on a laser printer
You may use whatever font you would like, but make sure that the size that you pick is not taller than your packing tape. I printed ten different labels on a single sheet of printer paper.
2. Cut out your labels
Use your scissors to cut out your labels. This does not need to be super precise, because the letters will end up sticking to the packing tape and the white “printer paper” will be removed anyway.
3. Place a piece of packing tape on top of the label & apply pressure with a craft stick
Take a piece of packing tape that is slightly longer than your label, and carefully place it on top. You might want to place a pencil (or other small object) at the end of the tape, to make it easier to remove (as shown in the photo below).
Take your craft stick (or a credit card) and firmly press over the surface of the packing tape, to make sure it is fully adhered. Rub it really well… several times… don’t skimp on this step!
4. Place the piece of tape (with the label attached) into a bowl of water
Use your pencil (or small object) to help you pick up your label from off of the table.
Remove the pencil and then place the whole label into a bowl of water. Make sure that the paper side of the label is in the water (as shown below.)
5. Wait a few minutes
Let the water do it’s magic. You can wait as little as a minute or two, or even an hour. We tested it out, and it is a tiny bit easier to rub the paper off after 30 minutes than after 2 minutes. However, it isn’t a significant difference… but experiment and see what works best for you!
If you are making a bunch of labels (which you will totally want to do) then you can keep making more and adding them to your bowl of water.
6. Take your label out of the water and rub the paper off the back
The paper will be easy to rub off with a little bit of friction from your fingers.
Keep rubbing the paper off until you are left with a clear, clean label! You may need to dip it back into the bowl of water (or run it under the faucet) to get off tiny pieces of paper.
7. Let it dry (“sticky side” up)
At this point, you are probably thinking, “that is an awesome looking label, but the back is no longer sticky!” Don’t worry, after the label dries off, the stickiness of the tape will come back… So. Much. Magic. Make sure that you lay your labels to dry with the “sticky side” facing up (as shown below.)
8. Trim your label
Once the label has dried completely, the back will be sticky again. I like my labels small and neat, so I trimmed around the words a little bit, before placing them on their respective objects.
9. Place your label onto the appropriate surface
Take your beautiful label and place it onto the surface of the object it was made for. Make sure not to press carefully as you go, so that you don’t get any bubbles. Then use your craft stick or credit card to smooth over it.
What Can You Make Clear Labels For?
If you are anything like my kids and I, you will become totally addicted to labeling EVERYTHING now. Here are a couple ideas of things to label.
1. DIY Jar Labels
Save your empty spaghetti sauce jars or get some mason jars! You can organize your homework center with cute labelled jars like the following.
Here is what the full set of DIY office supply jars look like with the supplies inside of them.
I love how the marker, pen and pencil jars turned out. However, I need to get shorter jars for the crayons and scissors, like these jars.
2. DIY Pantry Labels
Label EVERYTHING in your pantry! Who knew it would be this easy (and inexpensive) to get a Pinterest-worthy pantry!?
In hindsight, I would put the labels on the clear section of the flour and sugar containers above (rather than on the “cloudy” portion.) My OCD will probably make me change this tomorrow. By the way, if you are looking for awesome sugar and flour containers, we love these ones. They have a built in “leveler” which makes it so much easier to measure out your sugar and flour, without making a huge mess!
DIY Labels with Packing Tape & Paper
What are you going to make DIY labels for? Please share a photo of your DIY projects in our Facebook Group! We are always so inspired by all of our amazing members!!!
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