Makin' It Monday

With this new year approaching, I've decided to start something new with this blog. It's called "Makin' it Monday". This will feature something easy that I've made that can be used around the house or whatever. Or it might feature a tip on how we make it through the day to day "stuff". :) Fair warning, I don't sew. I wish I had inherited my mom's talent and ability to sew amazing creations, but I didn't. However, I do put together a mean scrapbook!

Today's first feature is Backpack Tags. With four kids and a mom that is a teacher, we have our fair share of backpacks and bags around here. We take two to church - one for Jayden (diaper bag) and one for Julianna (a few diapers in her little backpack). We take five to school - one for each kid, plus one that carries my graded papers and laptop to school. Since the three older kids are in the same class at school for now, I want their teacher to know whose bag is whose. Especially since Jenna can't have apples. So I decided to put my scrapbooking stuff to work to make simple, cute backpack tags. Here's what they look like before lamination:


You will need:

• scrapbooking stickers
• colored paper/card stock
• double sided tape
• thermal laminating paper (I use 8 x 10 size so I can do all at once and it saves space)
• iron
• hole punch
• ribbon

Since I have two girls and two boys, I decided to make the boys using a blue/dark brown theme and picked out the dot stickers for their names. I laid them on white card stock, then cut it out, layering it on dark brown card stock and then blue paper, using double sided tape to adhere them all together. I also created a little border around each layer to give it a little added pizzaz. The layers are not only cute, but they help make the tags more stable and sturdy. I used a pink/light brown theme for the girls' tags. After cutting them out, I laid them in the thermal laminating pouch and turned the iron on to the hottest setting.

To iron the sheet, it works best if you have something to iron, that way you can iron that item on top of the laminating pouch. The heat creates a permanent seal around the paper and it makes the tags waterproof too! After the page is heated and sealed, I run the iron directly on top of the plastic around the edges of the tags to ensure a tight seal. Then you cut the tags out, leaving a small border around the paper. Take a hole punch and punch a hole on the side you want to attach the ribbon to hang it on the bag.

I also did this up in our playroom to label our toy bins with the contents of each bin. That way it gives the room a little flair and the kids have no excuse as to where their toys go! :)

Join me next Monday for a new "Makin' It Monday"! Have a blessed week! <>