Fall is here in my part of the country and with it came the cooler weather. I thought this would be a good time to talk about storing seasonal clothes. For us, this week marks the time when I go through all the clothes and decide what stays, goes, or gets handed down.

Since I have two boys, the younger one always gets the hand-me-downs of the oldest. I store these clothes in large bins in the top of the closet. Normally these clothes get stored by size and season. For example, ‘Size 5 – Summer’, ‘Size 5 – Winter’. If there are not enough clothes to separate by season, I just put them all in one bin and label it ‘Size 5’. Of course, the key to using this system is the LABELS! Mabel’s Labels Custom Bin Labels are ideal for this since the text can be personalized to suit your unique requirements. Labeling the bins clearly means you won’t have to go rummaging through boxes every season to find what you are looking for

Besides labeling, the other key component to tackling the seasonal clothes is maintaining your system. Normally throughout the year when one of my children is wearing something that is obviously too small, it goes through the laundry and then I set it aside to go to the hand-me-down box. If it belonged to my daughter or youngest son and there is no one to hand it down to, it goes to the donate box.

Now that we are headed for colder weather, I am going through all of the summer clothes for the younger kids and donating all that will obviously be too small for next year. I save anything that is salvageable from my oldest son to hand down to his brother. I then hang the winter clothes and rotate all of the jeans and shorts.

This seasonal maintenance of rotating the clothes takes me about an hour each season and keeps things simple and organized.

Mabel’s Labels is thrilled to introduce you to our sensational new Label Out Loud™ line of full colour sticky labels.

Complementing our ever-popular Classic Sticky Labels, Label Out Loud Sticky Labels offer more choice than ever. With 20 fabulous design motifs, striking new colour combos and that famous Mabel’s Labels’ durability, it’s hard not to LOL!

As with all our labels, these are dishwasher/microwave-safe and UV resistant, making them fantastic for toys, water bottles, litterless lunch items and so much more. And thanks to their unbeatable quality, they will stay looking great. What a bright idea!

View all our brilliant new Label Out Loud Sticky Label colours and design motifs at mabel.ca and prepare to be dazzled!

Here is a sneak peek of just a few:

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?

Suddenly those long and lazy summer days are turning into the back-to-school rush. If you have yet to plan your fundraising initiatives for this school year, there is plenty of time to sign-up for a Mabel’s Labels fundraiser.

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.