Help! I've got more than one child!

What do you do if you have more than one child and don't want to spend a fortune on personalized labels for each one? Here are some ideas for you:

Solution A: Family name

From the FAQ on the Mabel's Labels website:

I have 2 kids, could I have half my order as "Jenny" and the other half as "Kate"?
Unfortunately we can’t split orders. But you might consider going with the family name, so everyone can share the labels.

Should you order the Classic Stickies you'll be able to give each kid their own colour (assuming you've got no more than three children).

Solution B: Give children have same initial

If your children all have the same initial (such as Nicole, Nancy, Nathaniel and Ned) you're all set. Get the initial with your family name!

What's that? You didn't name your children with the same initial and you don't want to rename them? No worries.... we have more ideas below!

Solution C: Two children -- icon / no icon

If you've got two children with a large age difference, you may be able to convince the older one that icons on the stickers are for little kids. Then order your labels with the family name and cut off the icon for the older child to use. The younger child will identify anything with the name and the icon to be theirs.

Be sure to round the corners when you cut as approximated by the red lines in the image to the right.

Solution D: Two initials

If you need labels for two children, Nicole and Mabel, you could order the label as shown to the right.





Then for Nicole, cut off the ",M" and the icon. Be sure to round the corners when you cut as approximated by the red lines in the image to the right.




For Mabel, you cut off the "N." Again, be sure to round the corners when you cut as approximated by the red lines in the image to the right.

Solution E: Two initals, short family name

If you have a short family name and need labels for two children, Nicole and Mabel, you could order the label as shown to the right.




Then cut the label in half, one for each child. Be sure to round the corners when you cut as approximated by the red lines in the image to the right.

Solution F: Multiple initials

Use all the initials separated by a "/" for Nicole, Mabel and Tricia. No cutting required!

I hope you've found an idea in here that works for you. If you have other solutions you'd like to share, please let us know!

End of year gift for teachers

The end of the school year is approaching and it's time to start thinking about gift giving for your child's teacher or caregiver.

Moxie has some great posts with terrific comments about gift giving to teachers. Some of my favourite points include:

• "If you really want to buy a gift, please please please no cheese balls and teacher mugs or tchochkes or ornaments. The most appreciated gifts I ever got were books, office supplies, or gift cards to Borders and Staples."
• "The greatest gift your child can give is a handwritten letter -- something like, 'Ms. Maura, this is my favorite class. I really loved the project we did on X. I'm always going to remember you because of X. Thank you for teaching me X.'
• "So, the best gift is cash on the barrel, closely followed by gift cards to retailers so large and ubiquitous that they are cash equivalents. So cash it is for daycare providers. I don't know what we'll do for teachers once we hit elementary school. Gift certificates to places school supplies are found, plus other stuff, sound great."
• "Both schools I worked at had policies about accepting checks/cash."

If you feel like you want to send a tangible gift along with your child's handwritten note and / or gift certificate, add a Mabel's Labels Classroom Pack! For years, teachers have been telling Mabel's Labels that they need labels for the classroom.