The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Sharon at Mom of 6.
Tell me if you agree…. if it’s worth organizing, and putting into pretty containers, well then…. certainly its worth labeling, right? If by chance, you happened to catch my post over at Momof6 on how I am dealing with my storage-challenged bathroom, you have seen how I have re-purposed our old family room bookshelf and used it to house a set of beautiful Rubbermaid bento-style fabric boxes to hold all of our toiletry items.
Clearly I need some labels. And fortunately, I know just how to create them…. for FREE! Using my favorite photo-editing website, PicMonkey! So while I am sitting here creating some cool new labels for my fabric containers, I thought I would create this tutorial for you- so you can make your own labels for your home!
How to Create Labels Using PicMonkey:
What Exactly is PicMonkey?
PicMonkey is an online photo editing site. It has a free version, which is all that you need to create labels, but if you would like access to even more fonts, shapes, and photo effects, you can upgrade to the “Royale” version for $33/year (which is the version that I use). PicMonkey allows you to create new graphic designs and enhance photos, but it does not store your images- so you will need to download them to your computer once you are done (and I’ll cover that step below). So let’s get started!
Step 1: Start Designing and Choose a Shape for Your Label
Head on over to PicMonkey, and click on the Design button at the top of the page. Next click on the Square shape.
Step 2: Style Your Shape
You can increase the size of your shape by grabbing any of the corners and pulling outward to enlarge. You can also drag it and drop it anywhere on your canvas. Using the Overlay pop-up box, you can change the color of your shape by selecting from the color palette offered. I happened to select one of the Royale shapes that allows for a contrast border color within the shape, and you can select the contrast color from the color palette as well.
Step 3: Add Text
Click on the Tt icon on the left side, and then on the Add Text button at the top of the page. A text box will appear on your canvas. Click inside of the text box and add the text that you want to appear on your label. You can then drag the text box to the place where you want it to appear inside of the shape, and you can increase the size of the text by pulling on the corner of the text box to enlarge it. (Here’s a tip: keep your text box super long so it extends past the end of the shape. That will make it easier for you to select the text box vs the shape).
You can play around with fonts for your text by using the slider bar on the left side of the page. As long as the text itself is highlighted within the text box, you can keep clicking on fonts to see what your text looks like in the new font. You can change the color of your text too- using the text pop-up box and selecting a color within the color box.
Step 4: Crop and Save Your Label
Click on the box-shaped icon on the top of the left side of the page, and then click on the Crop button. Using the corners of the cropping box to re-size the canvas. You want to crop close to the size of your label shape to make the printing process easier later on.
Step 5: Easily Create the Next Label Just by Updating the Text
As long as you keep PicMonkey open, you can edit your design, so changing the text to create the next label is easy-peasy! Simply click on your text box, change the text inside of the box and then click the save button. Be sure to give this new label a different file name so that you are saving the new label as a unique file.
Step 6: Print Your Labels as a Group On a Page
Here’s an easy way to efficiently print your labels on all on one page. Open a new window of PicMonkey and select Collage from the top of the page. Select Computer as the place where you want to find your photos. Select all of the labels that you have created. They will open up and display as small images on the left side of the page.
Click Save and name your collage of labels. Decide where on your computer you want to save your collage. You can then open it and send it to your printer to print your labels!
I think that PicMonkey is so awesome… that I’ve also created tutorials on how to use it to create birthday party invitations, as well as create digital scrapbook pages! So- have I inspired you to try PicMonkey too?
If you get a chance, I hope you’ll stop by to see me at Momof6 – a place where I write about organizing your home, using a family calendar, creating household routines, hosting at-home birthday parties, and holding a DIY summer camp! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter (@sharonmomof6), and Pinterest!
Linking up: Six Sisters Stuff, Your Homebased Mom, A Bowl Full of Lemons, House of Rose, Design Dining and Diapers, Skip to My Lou
Emily @ Simple Life of a Fire Wife says
Wow, I love PicMonkey but never thought of printing out labels! So smart! I will definitely be using that-thanks for the idea!
Autumn Leopold says
This is great! and I LOVE picmonkey! I haven’t taken the time to explore picmonkey so this is great and useful information! THANKS Sharon!
Ann says
Great ideas–I love all things PicMonkey. I’ve used it for photos, but the label idea is great. Thanks!
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
This is just a really super tutorial! Great, great idea! First off, I’ve gotta say that your storage solution for a “space-challenged” bathroom is terrific – not only useful but also attractive. And I already love PicMonkey – that’s our go-to editing program for all the photos and collages we use on our blog. Like most of your other commenters, it just never occurred to me to use it to make adorable labels! Brilliant! Thanks for the fab idea! 😀
Sharon at Momof6 says
Thanks Shelley- and to everyone who commented! I am glad that this tutorial helped you to see PicMonkey in a new way!
Natasha says
I love picmonkey! this is a great idea!!
Kat Ryan says
LOVE PicMonkey!! I have never thought to use it for anything other then pictures though!! Thanks for the great idea
Teresa James says
Thank you showing us how to use PicMonkey. I need a tool to frame my before and after organizing pictures and I believe this will do the trick!
Carrie This Home says
I love PicMonkey! There’s so many creative things you can do there! This is a great tutorial and I’ll be pinning it. So glad I stopped by!
Rosie says
I’m a very new blogger & I’ve been having great fun trying to edit images for my blog using picmonkey but I never would have thought of using it to make labels for my baskets & containers 🙂 I’ll definitely be trying this, it would also be great to laminate them? especially for my bathroom baskets to protect against the moisture. Thank you so much for sharing, I’ve already pinned this to my home organization board, I hope that’s ok. Sending hugs x
MelanHelen says
So glad I found this! I’m also a brand-new blogger and this will be invaluable — especially the part about downloading stuff onto my computer so I don’t have to recreate the wheel every time I go into PicMonkey.
Brenda says
May be a dumb question but I’m new to all of this! Do you print on some kind of sticker paper to make sticky labels?
Sarah @ lifeshouldcostless.com says
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I knew it couldn’t be super hard to do, but I was clueless. Thanks for saving me the money of not having to hire out.