From August 16 to September 6th, earn $25 in Mabel Moolah for every $85 purchased, before taxes and shipping, after discounts. Order online or by phone today to earn your Mabel Moolah today! You will receive an email with a coupon code after your order has been completed or a member of our friendly Customer Service team will provide you with a code if you give us a call to order.

How to Collect Mabel Moolah:

• Mabel Moolah can be collected on orders placed between
  10:00am EST August 16 – 3:00pm EST September 6, 2011.
• Every $85 spent on a single order before taxes and shipping, after discounts, earns $25 in Mabel Moolah.

How to Redeem Mabel Moolah:

• Mabel Moolah can only be redeemed between 10:00am EST October 3 – 3:00pm EST October 17, 2011.
• Place an order totalling at least $65 before taxes and shipping.
• You may redeem $25 in Mabel Moolah for every $65 spent before taxes and shipping, after discounts.

School is back in session for us, so we have been spending some time getting things in order for the new school year. I have one child entering 5th grade, one in st and the other in preschool. I can’t believe how big these kids are getting!
Here is what we do to organize our school shopping experience:

Consolidate Your Lists
With three kids I was done shuffling multiple lists around so we consolidated everything we needed into one big list. Having a master list saved on time dramatically which is a necessity when shopping with the kids in tow!

Shop For Sales
The school supply circulars are starting to come out in the newspapers, so be on the lookout for the best deals.

Sort It All Out
Now sort all the supplies out for each child. To make sorting easier and to coral all of the school supplies I used a separate bin for each child. As we checked the supplies off of the lists we then put them in the designated bin. Now we can tuck them away until school starts and easily add the few extra things we need to pick up.

Label It
Now that you have all of your school supplies neat and orderly, don’t forget the labels! Every school has different rules for what should be labeled. Make sure you label backpacks, lunchboxes, clothing and outerwear too! After you make the investment on all of your back to school gear you don’t want it to end up lost forever!

Here is what a typical evening looks like in our home…

5:15-6:15 pm: Prepare and eat dinner.
6:15-6:30 pm: Clean up after dinner. Make sure lunch boxes are out for the next day. Oldest son loads dishwasher.
6:30-6:45 pm: I take the dog for a walk with or without the kids. This is much more relaxing without the kids.
6:45-7:45 pm: The younger kids play inside or outside, usually climbing on Daddy. My oldest son uses this time for homework if he did not do it after school.
7:45-8:30 pm: Shower time! The kids get showered up, stories read and off to bed.

I know exciting stuff right? I know routines don’t sound fun but I feel it’s necessary to give your family some sort of guideline to go on. Choose a schedule that works for you. You might prefer doing some of your morning chores like packing lunches the night before. I prefer to do them in the morning. I find that in this season in my life I prefer to wake up before the kids and not stay up as late at night. Believe me this has been a very gradual process, I am NOT a morning person. I have found that this just works better for us.

Do you ease your kids back into a school routine?

Summer is almost over and we have been getting the kids enrolled in their new schools. I am looking forward to spending the next school year in our new house!

With the recent move it happened to work out that my daughter will go to preschool in a different county than her older brothers. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal however these two particular counties have different schedules. It is a little bit more to keep up with but completely manageable.

In order to prepare for the school year I always sit down with my planner and write in all of the days the kids will have off or early dismissals for each month. That way nothing sneaks up and surprises me. You can do this with any schedule you receive like sports or other activities. If you are afraid things will change and don’t want to make a mess then just pencil the times in and make changes when needed.

Besides labeling school supplies (my favorite!) this is one way we start preparing for a successful school year! Feel free to share some of your favorite back to school tips!

We have teamed up with our Friends from the children’s clothing company, Polarn O. Pyret to offer our readers a chance to win a fabulous giveaway just in time for the Back-to-School season.

The following giveaway is only open to residents of the US. Don’t worry Canada! We are going to have something exciting for you soon!

Here’s a little bit about Polarn O. Pyret:

Polarn O. Pyret makes the best children’s clothes in the world. Our philosophy has not changed since our first striped T-shirt. We believe in good looking clothes that let children be children. Clothes should withstand wear-and-tear and become part of your family; from brother to sister, cousin to cousin.

We bring the same philosophy to every decision we make. From environmental to social responsibility, what is good for children is good for adults, too.

Go ahead and check out the gorgeous collection of clothing and accessories they offer. I’ll wait here until you get back to get into the details of the giveaway!

Ok – Now that you are back and have browsed all of the beautiful clothing Polarn O. Pyret has to offer, I know you will want to get your hands on some of their gear for yourself!

The Giveaway Details:

Polarn O. Pyret will be providing one lucky winner with a backpack filled with goodies for back to school or summer fun (a T shirt, pair of pants and pair of fun socks to match). Mabel’s Labels will also provide the lucky winner with an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo to ensure your new gear stays out of the Lost & Found this school year! Total value of giveaway items: $124.00

To enter, leave a comment letting us know your favourite item on the Polarn O. Pryet website. Easy Peasy! Enter from now until Monday July 25th at Noon EST. Winner will be announced Tuesday July 26th. Good Luck!

Just download, print and place on the refrigerator to feel more organized today.

What’s Volunteer Spot? It’s an online community that enables ANYONE to quickly mobilize and coordinate volunteers in their community through FREE online sign-up forms and volunteer scheduling. Feel free to explore their site while you’re there!

This week Mabel’s Labels launched their Ultimate Back-to-School Combo so I thought I would share how the company has transformed our school experience.

First of all, I have to mention those lovely backpacks sold online and in catalogs that promote getting your child’s name embroidered across the back. They are adorably cute, but I don’t recommend letting every stranger out there know your child’s name. Instead use a Bag Tag to help identify your child’s back pack in case it gets lost!

Labeling school supplies can be a real pain especially if you have to label each individual crayon and marker like we have to do. No worries, this year we are using the Tag Mates (Skinny-Minis also work) to cut down on time getting supplies ready.

Last but not least, I will never have to worry about losing the extra clothes we keep at school in case of accidents. Having Tag Mates on them has been very helpful in keeping up with the clothing!

What about you, how have your Mabel’s Labels helped out at school?

School has been back in session for some time now. Have you checked your child’s backpack lately? Are they growing little science experiments in there with left over crumbs and crumpled up paper?

A backpack is just one organizational tool your children will be carrying around with them during all of their schooling years. Teach them to organize it properly to prepare them for success. Here are a few tips to get you started…

1. First things first, Label It! If something happens to your child’s backpack make sure it is identifiable so it can be returned to the proper owner. DO NOT emblazon your son or daughter’s name on the backpack so that a stranger can see it and call them by name. DO, however add a discreet label like a bag tag or iron-on label for easy identification.
2. Most backpacks come with multiple sized pockets for storing supplies. Teach your children where to put everything and not just use the section for books as a large dumping ground. Use a pocket for pencils, and smaller objects and a section for notebooks and books.
3. Show your children how to properly keep their papers in a folder instead of just shoving them into the abyss of the backpack. Otherwise you might not see that paper in one piece again.
4. When your children get home from school have them empty their backpacks and show you what homework needs to be done and have a place to set aside graded papers.
5. Last but not least, have a designated place for your child’s backpack to hang until the next day. Make it routine that the backpack goes to that place every night so that there is no confusion where it is the next day.

Your organizational habits go with you into adulthood so we want to get our children off on the right start. We have all had our share of backpack days like them and some of you may still be using them. Many of you are using purses or briefcases now. What does your purse say about your organizational habits? Does your purse or briefcase look like your backpack did in high school?

Over the years we’ve helped thousands of schools and organizations earn money toward their fundraising goals. We offer two types of label fundraisers: traditional brochure-based fundraisers and online paperless fundraisers. Contact us today to get the ball rolling. That is, before the back-to-school rush turns into the first day of school!

Go to www.fundraising.mabel.ca today.

Spend $80 from August 15 until September 15 and earn $25 in Mabel Moolah!

Mabel Moolah is our little way of saying “thank you”. Shop as you normally do, and earn some ‘moolah’ to redeem on more great Mabel’s Labels items.
For a limited time earn Mabel Moolah on all you buy, to spend as you like at Mabel’s Labels.

Go here for all the details.