How to make your own labels

A few months ago I read in the Etsy forums about the new labeling laws going into effect on August 15th. Immediately I started looking into ways to label my product and searched for label makers on Etsy. In the past I had labels on my dress-up-dolls. I ordered them from a label maker in Australia. They were the old-fashioned looking, really pretty, and high quality woven label. I remember when I first researched the market for labels I was very frustrated by the few options. Since I did not want to put a huge label on my doll, I was very limited in terms of how much information I could put on a label. Therefore my old doll labels only had my business name and my name on them.The new labeling law requires that a business put a lot more information on their product such as: Name of the Business, Address, Place Manufactured, Materials, Care Information

When I started to ask around on Etsy, I found that many label makers did not respond to my questions at all. The small label making businesses were either on vacation (due to exhaustion) or too busy with current label orders. Bigger outfits, located in Hongkong and Overseas did not respond to my questions in a serious manner. When presented with my problem they simply told me it was not possible to put all that information on a such a small label (0.5 inches by 2 inches).

Luckily I found the answer to my problem in discussions with my Etsy team. I love my Etsy team, the naturalkids team! One teammate, beccijo (http://www.theenchantedcupboard.etsy.com/), had found an alternative option. In order to solve the labeling problem for her wooden toys she contacted a stamp maker on Etsy: http://www.robertosand.etsy.com/. When I contacted Robert I found him super helpful and kind. It took about 4 convos to figure out what I needed. He managed to put ALL the information I asked for on my cool new wooden stamp. I had my stamp in hand about a week later. While waiting for my stamp, I ordered two 72 yard rolls of cotton twilltape online. I ordered two different colors: white and natural. I found the ink stood out much better on the white tape.

Next I had to figure out what ink to use. I needed something that was washable and non-toxic that would work on fabric! I found an inktype called VersaCraft. It works on fabric, wood and paper. The only drawback being that it needs to be heat-set. After stamping the twilltape with my new stamp I had to iron the tape. I washed the tape afterwards to make sure the ink did not bleed out. And voila it worked well!

I think my new labels look great. They may not be perfect since sometimes the stamping is not totally even. But why not have cool handmade labels on your cool hand made product? I think this is a great alternative to ordering expensive labels from a label maker. Do you know what they put in those labels? It may not be safe for children.

I compared prices and found that label sellers charged about 35-40 cents on average.

It cost me around $60 to buy my stamp, twill tape, and the ink pad. With these supplies I will be able to make hundreds of labels. If I want to change the information I can order a new stamp from Rob.

I hope this will encourage you to make your own label. I had a lot of fun on my first label making day!

http://www.germandolls.etsy.com/