How to Make Your Own Kitchen Pantry Labels

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Why should you care about how to make your own kitchen pantry labels? Your day starts in the kitchen and often ends in the kitchen. So much of your busy home life revolves around your kitchen. Having an organized and functional kitchen is critical to the over all smooth operation of your home and family. And while labels are not the only factor in an organized kitchen, they are a key factor. Making your own kitchen pantry labels does not require any expensive purchases and several of these ideas use items you probably already have in your home. Yep, these are seven simple and cost-effective ideas anyone can use. 

Why you Should Learn How to Make Your Own Kitchen Pantry Labels

• Labels are key to encouraging independence and responsibility in your family. When your kitchen is labeled, your family can find what they need on their own. And, gloriously, they can put things away where they belong – no more excuses. 
• Purchasing designer kitchen labels can get expensive and often take weeks to receive after you’ve ordered them.
• Not everyone can or wants to purchase a vinyl cutting machine just so they can label their kitchen pantry.
• When you make your own kitchen labels, you can change them as often as you’d like. How fun!
• If you change out one or two containers, you can easily label the new containers with coordinating labels. No more stressing out because the new labels don’t match all the other labels in your kitchen.

How to Make Your Own Kitchen Pantry Labels

You don’t have to be crafty to make these DIY kitchen pantry labels.

Use Masking Tape and A Marker

Don’t underestimate using masking tape and a permanent marker to make kitchen labels. This is a frugal option that is entirely functional. Traditional masking tape and a marker makes an attractive label and uses supplies you probably already have in your home. You can choose a pretty color of masking tape or a pretty marker to up the wow factor. Did you know that masking tape comes in a wide range of colors?

• Rainbow set of colored masking tape
• Pink 
• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue 
• Purple
• White

Use a Permanent Marker or Paint Pen

You can use a plain old permanent marker to write directly on glass jars. You can then use rubbing alcohol to remove the ink from the jar. I recommend using a wide-tip Sharpie to make it easier to see the label. 

You can also use oil-based paint pens to make a more easily visible label on glass jars. These paint pen labels can also be removed with rubbing alcohol. The pens come in a variety of colors and in both thin and medium tips, so you can choose what works best for you.

Be careful not to vigorously wash the labels or they may fade or come off. Of course, you could simply rewrite the label if that happens.

These tips on food label organization from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship about using both wet and dry erase markers in kitchen labeling are a game-changer.

Hand Write Labels

You can use computer paper or card stock paper to create your own handwritten pantry labels. After you create your labels, simply use clear packing tape to adhere your labels to your containers. Packing tape adheres fairly well to a variety of surfaces. Care should be used not to submerge these labels, but you can carefully wipe them with a damp cloth. 

You can also use white full-sheet label paper or clear full-sheet label paper. If you choose the clear label paper, you can even trace over text you print off your computer if you’re not happy with your handwriting. 

Create Your Own Labels in Word Processing Program

If you don’t like your handwriting or want to create labels with a particular font, take advantage of your word processing program and create your own labels. Use either white full-sheet label paper or clear full-sheet label paper to print your labels. 

If you’re too busy or just don’t want to mess around with making labels, check out the 16 different label options I’ve created (5 different styles, 3 different colors and a two-color combination) for kitchen pantry labels for baking supplies. And there are labels available for coffee, tea and more drink products with the baking labels.

Chalk Repositionable Tape

You can easily create trendy chalkboard labels that are repositionable with chalkboard tape that is almost like masking tape. You’ll want to use a quality chalk ink pen.  If you need labels larger than the width of chalkboard tape, you can use chalkboard contact paper. 

Add Chalk Paint

You can also use chalkboard paint to add chalkboard labels to your glass jars or other surfaces (read the directions to make sure the paint you select will work on your chosen surfaces). Simply use painter’s tape to create the label and add the chalkboard paint following the directions on the product. Use a quality chalk ink pen to write out your labels. 

Use Scrapbook Letter Stickers

You can find scrapbook sticker letters in a wide variety of font styles, sizes and colors. Use a piece of painter’s tape or masking tape as a guide so that your letters are even. You may very likely even have sticker letters in your craft supplies stash already. 

My Mega Kitchen Organization Label Set makes it easy to print the labels and get organized immediately.

Now that you know how to make your own kitchen pantry labels are you ready to run to the kitchen now and start labeling (or relabeling)? With these seven different pantry labeling ideas, there’s something for everyone. Happy labeling and organizing!

More Kitchen Organizing Ideas

Find all my best Kitchen organizing ideas, printables and favorite products in the table below. You can scroll though the table and look for ideas or search for specific ideas with the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner (on desktop). Click on the topic and then click through the specific article.