No More Lost Bottles: Cricut Is A Parent Must-Have For Back To School Labels

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Sighhh. The start of the autumn term will be here before you know it – and I’ll hazard a guess you’re already busy shopping for back to school essentials.

I hate to break it to you but, inevitably, all the hard work you put into finding the perfect shoes, uniform, and backpack for your darling little one will soon be overshadowed by them ungratefully (kidding! sort of…) losing something within the first five minutes of being in the classroom.

But, reader, what if I told you there was a way to prevent feeling like you’ve lost days off your life?

Before you kick up a fuss, don’t worry: I’m not going to tell you to spend hours meticulously sewing labels into the seams of their uniform and sports kit. That would just be insulting!

Actually, I’ve found a much better way: a Cricut machine.

You can finally stop fretting each and every evening about whether your kid is going to make it home with the same belongings they left home with that morning, because this machine will make sure everything is indisputably theirs.

There’ll be no more playground swapsies, or not being able to tell their bottle apart from that other kid’s.

Cricut puts the solution to fuss-free labels back in your hands – or if we’re being fussy, inside your phone.

This handy dandy machine lets you make as many stickers, labels, and decals you like in mere minutes.

Whether you want to splash their name across everything they own, or decorate their notebooks and planner for the school year ahead, Cricut has thousands of designs available for you to customise to their taste.

Once you’ve chosen the design that speaks most to you, you then load your material of choice into the machine, which cuts out or draws the shape you’ve selected, ready for use.

While I’m not personally going back to school this autumn, I’ve never grown out of the urge to stick things all over my belongings, so I decided to give it a whirl to figure out how long it would take me to make two vinyl stickers.

From start to finish, the entire process of setting up the machine, to finished designs, took me 15 minutes.

After syncing the machine up with the Cricut app on my phone, I settled on two bow designs to decorate my beloved new item.

I selected the size I wanted the cut outs to be, and flipped the image so I could have two mirroring each other.

Then, I loaded the vinyl practice sheet into the machine, and I was away.

While something like this would’ve taken me nearly an hour to make by hand, the Cricut cut each of the stickers in less than a minute.

You can choose from tons of free label designs that you can print on vinyl paper to stick on everything from their water bottle, to their notebooks, binders, and pencil cases.

Or, if you need a label for their clothes, Cricut also sells wash-proof iron-on vinyl so you can transfer your designs to fabric.

But it’s not only useful for back to school: I’m already dreaming of everything Cricut will come in handy for when it comes to gifting season.

If you buy a range of materials, you’ll also be able to craft your very own custom labels, cards, and gifts to give people come Christmas.

The Cricut machine itself is only £99 – which, if you think about how much money you’ll lose having to re-purchase lost belongings, is totally worth it.

It also comes with all the materials and tools you need to get started on your first 35 projects, so that when you’ve mastered how to use it you can buy vinyl, card, and foil you want to let your – and your kids’ – creativity whirl.