17 (off-label) Uses for Custom Canning Labels

_{By: Naomi J. Myrick, Decals.com Staff Writer}

Have you noticed that you only remember to use canning labels around harvest time? Maybe it's because you’ve started talking to the zucchini mountain on your kitchen counter and that usually jogs your memory. 

But did you know that It’s perfectly legal to use these labels for other purposes, too? 

I’ve put together this helpful list of ways you can use them in a pinch for quick fixes around the house. 

Let’s jump right in!

1. Steering wheel errand reminders

When you’re busy running errands, trying to avoid fender benders in the Target parking lot, it’s easy to forget that one thing you really needed to pick up. What was that?

Stick a canning jar label on your steering wheel to remind you to get some toothpaste, garbage bags or whatever you usually forget about.

2. Private ($) music lesson reminders

Does little Gracie keep missing her Tuesday afternoon viola lesson? Kids have great memories when it comes to wayward cuss words and which grocery  aisle the cookies live in. 

On the other hand, they can also often forget routine things like music lessons. 

So Tuesday mornings, simply stick a reminder label on Gracie’s violin case and help her remember to go to her lesson after school.

3. Fast name labels for party cups

4. The sudden need for privacy

5. Easily organize the pantry

Jazz up to your boring pantry shelves with surplus decorative labels. Pastas, grilling beans, lunchboxes and bug spray all seem to migrate to the pantry.

Some belong there, and some don’t. But since they all seem to like it there, create parking spots for these items to help level out the clutter.Oh, be sure to design and order custom jam and jelly labels for all your hard work on those delicious spreads.

6. Label your favorite kid

Billy already knows he’s getting an extra cookie after school and your hugs are just, well, huggy-er. 

Let everyone else know that you love Billy slightly (or not so slightly) more than the other kids by labeling him. 

Besides, it will toughen up the second-favorites for when they, too, will have to choose their favorite little tyke.

7. Organize animal feeds

Maybe you have a hobby farm with chickens, geese, ducks, kittens and a goat. That’s a lot of different kinds of animals to feed!

Easily organize your barn feed containers using labels. This will help you quickly identify which pet eats what and how much to give them.

8. Keep track of team sports equipment

If you’ve ever coached a kids sports team or even an adult church softball team, you’re well aware that equipment can magically “go missing.”

Keep track of whose helmet, bat or other sports equipment belongs to whom by using named labels to designate items.

9. Brighten up boring lunch sacks

While your kids or spouse may not take a mason jar meal to school or work, you can still use food labels to decorate their lunch sacks! A personal note will cause pause to fondly think of you, as they slowly chew their PB&J. 

You could also  provide a comforting scripture verse to help them through the rest of the day.

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” - Romans 12:9, KJV

10. Customize stuffy old candles

Tired of boring candles with Elizabethan script fonts on the label that deliver way too proper messaging?

Then grab a canning label, pen, crayon or sharpie, or whatever and start writing.

11. Organize random items in your garage

Labels are transformative and they can fit on tons of different sized objects including plastic bins, tool boxes, garden implements  and old random stuff.

Use canning labels to easily put objects into place. They're much faster to apply than using that old pokey label maker. 

You don’t even know where it went, do you?

12. Add a rustic touch to Farmers Market products

Farmers Markets are great community gatherings where you can peddle your briny wares! For city folk and the gardenless,  a rustic handwritten jar label will come off as charming and add authenticity to your product. 

They look great on glass, and wrap all the way around the products, providing a lot of space for scribbling prices and additional information.

13. Decorate your own tasty creations

Simple, functional, or fancy, these labels have the potential to consistently make your at home delicious delights also look swell. 

Use a blank label and colored pen to easily create labels for homemade jams, tasty cookie-bars and more! 

14. Last minutes gift tags

Whoops, are you all out of gift tags? Don’t worry, believe it or not, labels for jars can also be applied to cube-shaped presents and even gift bags. 

They may not be fancy, or have party balloons and reindeer on them, but plain labels are better than no labels.

15. Organize toy bins

Toy bins contain lots of potential for fun! No one likes wasting an hour searching for a movie, or much less a toy.

Maximize playtime by clearly identifying toy bin contents.  No frills, practical application! 

Now, who wants to play Legos?

16. Motor vehicle registration

In some states, like Florida, vehicle registration is usually renewed on your Birthday. Smart. 

In many other states though, the date of renewal is carried with the vehicle from the original dealership date of transfer on the title.

That can be tricky to remember! As soon as you get the little reminder card in the mail, simply affix it to the dashboard with a blank label. That way it won’t fall off the fridge or get lost in the home office.

Share this article if it was helpful — and don't forget to order your garden labels, too!