Now this is a back to school topic we can all see eye to eye on…. those lost sweaters, lunch boxes, water bottles and more. Our kids. Gotta love em, but they have better things to think about than keeping track of their jacket or lunch bag.

Like your school, our lost & found area is usually overflowing. Last year at the new elementary school (where the boys attend), 3 times the lost & found rack was filled to capacity. A school-wide e-mail was sent to parents to claim your items or they would be donated. When I browsed through the lost & found, I couldn’t get over how incredibly nice almost everything was. Practically new shirts, coats, bike helmets, sweaters, lunch boxes and water bottles. And when that donation deadline came around, I was even more surprised to see how many people had not come to claim their things. So off they went to the donation center.

Not sure you about you, but money doesn’t grow on trees around these parts. When I buy something for the kids, I’d like to keep it around for a while….you know, until they outgrow it. Maybe even trash it to the point of finally having getting rid of it.

Last school year our big issue was losing lunch boxes. I buy these pack-it’s that tend to cost a lot more than your standard lunch bag…

About $20, on average. These bags are worth it to me because they really keep their lunches cold and fresh. They are also great on airplane / road trips or on a picnic.

This year we aren’t losing another lunch bag. Or water bottle. Or jacket. I found a super easy way to label our items and wanted to share…

 

Avery sells non-iron fabric labels and self-laminating heavy duty labels. No need for a special machine or special pen or a burning hot iron. All you do is write on the label with a permanent marker…

Wait until the ink is dry, and adhere. That’s it!

The weather in our area stays pretty warm until October. But the mornings are chilly. To start off the school year, I gathered up a few sweaters that the kids are likely to wear…

And I added the no-iron fabric labels, which are washer / dryer safe…

 

 

I also used the no-iron labels on the lunch bags…

Our school also asks your child to bring a re-usable water bottle each day. I gathered up our current collection (there will be more once we do some back to school shopping) and labeled them using the self-laminating labels…

These labels are dishwasher safe, microwave safe, wipeable, waterproof and fade resistant!…

 

So easy to label school items…doesn’t have to be fancy and complicated. It’s just school stuff.

If you too don’t want to lose those valuable items this coming school year, this is a great simple solution!