Hello friends! Every second Monday of the month I will be posting about my Silhouette Challenge Project! January’s theme is organizing, which I have already started on, so I jumped in.

TL;DR version: I now have a Silhouette Cameo & can cut out beautiful vinyl labels to organize my home.

When I first got the itch to label my things around 1997, I started out with a Brother Labeler because it prints laminated labels which is great for things that get touched a lot or things that might get wet. At the time I didn’t own a printer or working home computer, so I wasn’t able to do any home desktop publishing like when I rocked a dot matrix printer back in the day with my Print Shop Plus or whatever it was called.

Eventually I bought a computer and inkjet printer and let’s say in 2003 or so I discovered inkjet label paper in both white and clear. The clear was awesome, because it made it look like your label was printed right on the object you were labeling! I used it on my bulk food canisters with a cool bar code font. Unfortunately the label paper wasn’t water-resistant, so the labels did not hold up over time and streaked when they got wet.  I printed tons of labels to organize my soap business items on my white label paper. I would cut up half-page shipping labels down to whatever label size I needed or use the whole label depending on the container.

I accidentally bought many, many boxes of UPS half-sheet label paper from someone on ebay years ago, so I would have to cut off the edge of the paper that said “for UPS use only*”! I should have read twice before I clicked once! I’m still going through that stash with probably less than a dozen pages left. I used it to practice making a “kiss cut” for stickers on my Silhouette. If you have some laying around and are interested in making stickers with here, the settings I use for UPS label paper are: Speed: 8, Thickness: 7, Blade: 1

These were the result of my many cut tests (not the kiss cut!) though I finally got it down to where you peel the stickers right off of the paper instead of these separate ones!

*disclaimer: I’m not saying to order UPS label paper from UPS to make stickers… I made a mistake in my ordering, so it’s material that I have on hand that I didn’t mind experimenting with.

Fast forward to 2006 – I bought my first color laser printer and somewhere along the way, I discovered the existence of die-cut label paper that comes in more than Avery brand full or half sheets! Here’s my collection:

My label stock is mostly to label the beauty products I make. The 1.8″ label paper has a wide top & bottom border, so I started using it to label my plastic bins (mostly shoebox size, but some 16 qt and larger) that I use to organize just about everything. I make a lot of different items, so I need to be able to find things relatively quickly. I use a lot of this size for a couple of different items, so I have a bunch of this “waste” label paper around that I keep to label my bins. I like that they stick on really well, but let me remove them (they have regular adhesive on the back of them, not removable.

Because of the projects I want to complete with the help of my Silhouette, I needed to pull out my acrylic paints and sewing kit, so I decided to label those too.  This tackle box holds all my acrylics & brushes. It was originally full of paint, clay, sewing notions & a bunch of other craft treasures Kai gifted to me when he moved to China.

 

I tackled the sorting out of my sewing box (a big metal toolbox) the next day and combined the Mister’s, Kai’s and my sewing notions all into my toolbox after sorting everything into baggies. Thread, needles, lace, patches, etc. I was originally just going to label it with the words “sewing kit” but I thought it would be cute to have the keep calm poster on the side. I downloaded the free Keep Calm font and traced an image of a spool of thread in Silhouette Studio instead of a crown at the top.

 

I’m also putting the Silhouette to use around the kitchen, of course! Here are a few of the things I have labeled so far:

 

I made sure to save the file so I can use consistent fonts and sizes for each area of my house or if I need to cut them out again.

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

1. DIY Window Shutter Mail Organizer by Weekend Craft
2. Kids’ Art Wall by Tried & True
3. Organizing Silhouette and Craft Supplies by The Happier Homemaker
4. Simple Recipe Organization by It’s Always Craft Time
5. Put a Label on it! Herb Names for Plant Stakes by Get Silvered
6. Super Simple Linen Closet Labels by Two Purple Couches
7. Beware of the Animals Vinyl Toy Box by A Tossed Salad Life
8. Child desk accessories by Architecture of a Mom
9. Organizing & the Important of Labels by The Turquoise Home
10. Index Card Organizer for Easier Meal Planning by Chicken Scratch NY
11. Create Craft Room Labels by Dragonfly & Lilypads
12. Simple Storage Solution for your Christmas Ornaments by Vintage News Junkie
13. Organize this: DIY Planner Covers, Tags & Dividers (made with Cereal Boxes) by Black and White Obsession
14. How to Make a Cut File into a Print & Cut by Create & Babble
15. Simple Chest Freezer Organizational Board by Nearly Handmade
16. Vinyl Your Kitchen Canisters! by From Wine to Whine
17. Nursery Closet Dividers & Silhouette Cut File by Creative Ramblings
18. Make Custom Box Templates with a Silhouette for Drawer Organization by One Dog Woof
19. Organizing the Craft Room by What’s Next Ma
20. Vinyl Wall Calendar by Crafts Cakes and Cats
21. Personalized Toy Storage Bins by Lil’ Mrs. Tori
22. Personalized Routine Chart by Work in Progress
23. Blog Planner Sheet Dividers + Free Cut Files by TitiCrafty by Camila
24. Simple Project Calendar by Little Blue’s Room
25. Dry Erase Photo Frame Menu Board + Free Cut File by Essentially Eclectic
26. Receipt Organization with Free Cut File by The Thinking Closet
27. Cute and Easy Labels by Life After Laundry
28. “What’s For Dinner?” Menu Planning Board by unOriginal Mom
29. Mixing Organization and Function: An Easy Conversion Chart by My Paper Craze
30. Why do my cookies taste so bad? A lesson in baking. by The Life and Times of a TAP
31. Custom Drawer Dividers by Please Excuse My Craftermath…
32. The evolution of my labeling system by feto soap
33. Ikea Drawer labels by McCall Manor
34. Glass Etched Vinegar & Oil bottles by Terri Johnson Creates
35. Organize It: Bathroom Closet by The House on Hillbrook
36. Ombre Butterfly Magnet Board by Sowdering About