DIY Pantry Labels

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Learn how to make some DIY pantry labels with a Silhouette machine and some self-adhesive clear paper. Or you can buy some and go from there!

OK, so for the past two days we’ve organized our fridge and pantry. I love, love, love the clear bins that I purchased to keep similar items together. And now I can see exactly what I have, but it’s all organized by type of food. Hip hip hooray!

But I’m not sure that it will do me much good just to have a bin containing all of the rice and pasta, because I don’t know how long that will last. Do you know why? Well, because I’m not the only person who lives here. Oh, and I have the memory of a squirrel, so I’ll forget anything I do in 24 hours or less.

Welcome to Day 19 of the 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge! We’re decluttering, reorganizing and taking a breath of fresh air to create a home we love. If this is your first time at the challenge, you may want to start here at the beginningAffiliate links used for your convenience.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

So …. the best way to keep things in order, I’ve found, is by labeling all of the things. I tell myself that it will help my husband find things more quickly, too. 😂 I hope I’m right! And if it works, I’m going to label all.of.the.things!!

I honestly don’t even own a label maker (but it’s on my Amazon wish list, which is a mile and a half long). But I love to create my own labels with either free printable I find out there, or I just make my own.

If you’ve been around Pinterest for a hot second, then you’ve probably seen this image …

Free Printable Pantry Labels from The Creative Exchange

It’s from The Creative Exchange and it’s just gorgeous! The hand-written font labels and the pinks and whites. It’s just all so pretty! They offer the free printables of all of these labels on their blog.

But I didn’t need labels for things like sugar, cereal and salt. I needed labels for bins of things like “snacks” and “baking goods” and “canned goods.”

So, I set out to make my own labels just like these, only with my specific words.

To Make Your Own DIY Pantry Labels you will need …

  • Editing program like PicMonkey or Photoshop
  • Printer
  • Clear sticker paper – (I use the Silhouette brand clear sticker paper and it works the best in my experience. You can just run it through the printer and cut it out by hand. You don’t need a Silhouette to use it.)
  • This font (or another scripty font of your choice)
  • Scissors or a paper trimmer

How to Make Your Own Pantry Labels

1. I downloaded the Hokey Pokey font, which is very similar to the example above because I loved the handwritten look of it! I just download to my computer and I can then use it in Photoshop or the paid version of PicMonkey.

2. Then I went to my kitchen and wrote down all of the words I wanted and measured the space I had to work with for each one.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

3. Create your labels in an editing software. I used Photoshop because I could measure how big the words would be. PicMonkey doesn’t offer that feature, but you could eyeball it if you’re working on a template that is 8.5 x 11. And you could always print the labels on a piece of paper first, cut them out and check to make sure they would work.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

4. Once you’ve created your page of labels, print it out with an inkjet printer. I made my labels navy, so I used a color printer. But if you’re printing with blank labels, a black and white printer would work just fine.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

Important note about printing: You will want to set your printer to the highest quality setting. It took me a while to find my quality settings on my printer, but I searched until I found them and it worked great! Let the ink dry on the paper for 15 minutes before you try to cut the labels out to prevent smearing.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

Important: I highly recommend doing a test run of your labels (and cutting them out too) on a piece of copy paper. That way you don’t mess up a good piece of sticker paper! 😊

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

5. Cut out your labels. I used my paper trimmer to cut the words out so that the stickers would be a straight line. I didn’t go back and trim extra sticker stuff off since it’s clear. But you can see it when you put it on the bins, so trim it off and make all of the sides even if it will bother you.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

6. Place your labels on your bins. I’ll admit I got giddy at this point. I loved how they turned out and I was so excited that my sorting system might just stay in place for the long haul! I’ve noticed how much easier it is to pack the girls lunches now that I know exactly where everything is. Why haven’t I done this sooner?

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

Anyway, I love them and I hope you’ll try to make some of your own. If you’re nervous, there are most likely free printables out there that will fit your needs. Just search on Google or Pinterest!

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

I even labeled the refrigerator drawers, so that people who come over will be able to find things quickly and easily. It always throws people off that I keep the meat, cheese and bread in that bottom drawer.

How to Create Your Own Pantry Labels: a DIY Project | Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

 

More Label Fun!

While we’re on the topic of labeling, I thought I would share two more of my favorite kind of labels!

Favorite kid labels and foot storage labels! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

Write Away! Labels – These are perfect for kid labels. I have to put labels on my kids’ drink cups and lunch boxes and all of the things. These labels are my absolute favorite! They stay on perfectly through a bajillion dishwasher cycles. I’ve never had one come off and we’ve been using them since the beginning of the school year.

Erasable Labels for Food Storage! | 30 Days to Less of a Hot Mess Challenge

Erasable Food Labels – I love, love, love these labels for writing dates on leftover containers! They are dishwasher safe and you can erase them with the eraser that comes with the pack. Now I can quickly see what is still good, what needs to go in the freezer and how long we have to eat the leftovers. We have so much less food waste now. I love them!

Have fun labeling!

The Messy Work: Label anything in your home that would be helpful for all family members to know what goes where! Start with the kitchen and go from there. 😜 I have big plans for my label stickers throughout my home. LOL

In the mess with you, LauraSaveSave

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11 Comments

  1. Hi there
    I would lovvvve to do this but the font is no longer available to purchase via the link. Is there anyway you can share the front with me or I can purchase from you?
    Thank you!!

  2. These labels were exactly what I was looking for so I ordered 2 packs of sticker paper, bought the Hokey Pokey font and created tons of labels for my pantry, laundry room, and more! Unfortunately however, after cutting out and sticking on my 30th label, one got a tiny bit wet and smeared. It was THEN that I realized that one quick swipe of a light damp cloth completely wipes the ink away – the printer ink is definitely NOT permanent on that paper, it’s dry erase! Ugh. I’m a little frustrated with the waste of time and money. Any ideas on permanent printer ink?? Or maybe I should just scratch the whole printer/ font idea and use a sharpie! Would love your thoughts.

    1. Oh I’m so sorry! I guess it depends on your printer ink? Mine didn’t come off when wet, so I didn’t know to include a warning. So sorry about that! Laura

  3. How would I do this for printing white text? Same thing just change font color to white? I have amber glass bottles I want to make labels for.

  4. Thank you sooooo much for this tip!!! I love it and can’t wait to do it myself. Super helpful in organizing the pantry.

  5. I love those labels!! I use a dry erase marker to label stuff on the walls of my fridge. It just wipes right off if I need to change the label. It doesn’t really seem to help my family ACTUALLY put things where they should go, but usually there are just a few things out of place when I open the door and I just put them in the right spot every time I use the fridge. Best part is that I can easily see what I am out of.

    1. Love the idea of a dry erase marker on the side of the fridge. I’m sure I’d have to use big neon markers and large arrows for my family to put things where they go. But what an easy way to label things. Super smart! 🙂

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