Yearly archives "2021"

Ideas to connect remotely this Christmas

Christmas is here! And with it all the light, smiles and food that this season brings. However, one thing that may be missing this year might be the big gatherings, the full house with aunts and uncles you don’t see at any other time and all the hugs… This does not have to necessarily mean that you do not get to enjoy the company of the people you are not able to see in person, even if you do have to find different ways to make that happen. Here are a few ideas on how to connect with friends and family you might not be able to see face-to-face:

Have a Clay Night

Zoom can be very awkward, especially with family members you may not talk to very often so why not make it more of an activity? Buy some clay turn on zoom and get creating. This will not only be a fun, creative thing to do but will also allow for silences and pauses in conversation that would otherwise be a tad awkward. And, if you are particularly gifted, you may even end up with a new plant pot or napkin ring by the end of it!

Watch a film together

Nowadays just because you are not in the same room does not mean you are not able to watch the same film, at exactly the same time! Have you heard of teleparty? It synchronises video playback with various different devices and it even has a group chat for those people that love talking during a film! If you really wanted to you could even be on the phone with the person you are watching the film with, although we do recommend muting yourself when you are not talking so you can’t hear the second device as well as your own. It’ll feel just like they are there, you might even faintly be able to smell the popcorn coming from their house!

Have a tasting party

Get yourself one of those assorted cheese boards, assorted chocolates boxes or whatever else you crave. You do not even have to have the same thing as the other person – as long as you both have something to eat or drink! Then you can talk about the flavours you are experiencing and look up facts about what you are having. It may not sound like much but it can be incredibly educational as well as a nice way of having a chat without feeling like you’ll run out of things to say. You can even end it with a quiz about all the things you have learned.

Send a postcard

Have you ever received one of your child’s/niece’s/grandchild’s drawings over the post? It can make anyone’s day! Writing a small message telling people what you have been up to, how you are and just letting them know that you think of them can be very meaningful. Sometimes we forget how nice it can feel to get a card or a letter because we get use to being able to text something and having the person read it straight away but there is something to be said for things that have been handwritten and carefully handled.

Have a chat over the phone

Sometimes it does not need to be something elaborate, you simply have to set the time aside to have a chat. Just like you would if you were meeting for coffee, catching up over the phone sometimes requires the same planning. You may even want to schedule it into your day. And, if you really do not have the time to spare you can always call while you are doing something that does not require a lot of focus. It can be great to have some’s company while you are folding the laundry, cooking or even while you are doing a puzzle. Sometimes people just want your company and to hear your voice, it can be that simple to connect with someone!

My Nametags Reveals the International Origins of UK Baby Names

At My Nametags, we get a unique insight into the names that are proving popular amongst British parents. With such a diverse range of names making the top 200 baby names list over the last 10 years, we were interested to find out more about the history behind Britain’s favourite names.

Using data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), we analysed the decade’s most popular baby names and discovered that British parents are drawing inspiration from all corners of the globe when it comes to naming their children.

In fact, we found that almost half (45 percent) of the top 200 baby names in the UK have international origins, with inspiration drawn from everywhere from Greece to Japan.

Interestingly, many of the names on our list have multinational origins themselves. For example, the name Sophie originated in France, but derives from the older Greek name, Sophia. This demonstrates just how international the influences on the UK’s most popular names are.

To help you discover where Britain’s most popular names are from, we’ve created a handy interactive map. Simply hover your cursor over a region to discover which common British names originate from this area.

5 Benefits of Decluttering Your Mind and Home

Guest post by Becca Myers

Are you ready to unclutter your life? This is an ace move to make if you want to feel, think, and act better. The amount of clutter that is weighing you down may be so much you don’t even realize it. Here are 5 top benefits of getting rid of clutter in your mind, home, and life. Now is the time to gain access to them.

1. Decluttering Can Help You Deal with Depression

According to many experts in the industry, it’s a good idea to take the clutter in your home seriously. One of the best things you can do is follow the advice of a leading lifestyle company to make a very welcome series of changes. Cleaning up your act can help give you a sense of accomplishing a goal that brightens up your mood as well as your home.

Sitting there staring at purchases you have made that haven’t been put away can be stressful. You may have birthday cards, reminders of past family events, or other clutter that is causing you issues without you even being aware of it. Give your mind a chance to heal by taking out the clutter and giving it peace.

2. Uncluttering Can Help You Sleep Much Better

Another major benefit that can come courtesy of uncluttering your space can be a much-improved sleep cycle. You may well be going through a great deal of anxiety and other issues. Staring at the clutter messing up your space isn’t doing you any favors. Getting rid of it is a great way to get peace of mind to sleep on.

3. Decluttering Helps You Get Rid of Allergens

Decluttering your home is a task that deserves to be taken very seriously. One of the most important things it can help you with is get rid of allergens in your home. These may be causing you to sniff, sneeze, and wheeze, thus adding to your low feelings.

Getting rid of places where dust, mites, bacteria, pollen, and other allergens can build up is always a good idea. This is your chance to do something positive for your mental as well as physical health. You’ll get a bit of exercise by moving around to clean up the agents that are taking advantage of your apathy.

4. Decluttering Can Help Create a Positive Environment

All that you own should be safely in its place. And that place should be well organized, peaceful, and easy to access. You should never be in a state of anxiety wondering where you last left your car keys or comb. These are things you should not have to think twice about when it comes to making use of them.

There is no reason why excess clutter should hang out. You don’t want to give these animate objects the power to permanently lower your mood. You owe it to your basic sense of cleanliness, decency, and self-esteem to clean up your act. The sooner you do so, the sooner you can create and sustain a happy environment.

5. Uncluttering Gives You Plenty of Needed Exercise

When was the last time you gave your home a good spring cleaning? Isn’t now the perfect time to get up and active? Part of the low feeling you may be suffering from at the moment may come right from your inactivity. The room is full of clutter and you need to stretch a bit. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Getting up and being active is a great way to get your lazy endorphins flowing once more. The charge you get from this natural rush as you pick up the clutter and properly dispose of it is bound to do you good. This is a pick-me-up that you are well overdue for.

Unclutter Your Life to Regain Your Perspective

Getting rid of the clutter in your mind and home will have many more benefits than you may be aware of. It’s a chance to spring clean your mental as well as your physical landscape. The exercise will keep you active and the effort will do your body good. Now is the time to get started on draining the clutter away.

Why personalised labels are a school must-have

Labelling your children’s things for school has always been important. A previous study we did found that the average child permanently loses nine things per school year. If we think about 10 million school-aged children, this adds up to an eye-watering 90 million lost items every single year. This not only has a negative environmental impact but also a financial worry. Parents are having to buy replacement items for stuff they’ve already bought once! If you are one of these parents you will certainly want to read on. We are exploring the reasons why personalised labels are a must-have for school.

Cost

Lost property is a big problem in schools, and has been for a very long time, kids always lose stuff, it’s natural but what if those lost items were returned to the children? Wouldn’t that be great? On average parents spend £2000 replacing items that are lost throughout a child’s life at school. That’s a huge expense on top of the existing school costs. A personalised label will help ensure the kids stuff makes it home. Our labels have room for 3 lines of text so a child’s name, class and parents phone number can all be added to the name tag, greatly increasing the chances of that item being returned to its owner

Safety

Now more than ever we are conscious of how easily germs spread from one item to the next and when we think of everything a child touches at school, it shows us just how easily it can happen. Adding a personalised label to all your child’s school supplies means that they will easily be able to identify their own things, and hopefully help them not touch other people’s things. 

Waste

Items that are left unclaimed in a school’s lost property box end up going to landfill which we know has a severe impact on the environment over time. Not only that, when you buy two or more of a certain item that also translates to resources being used to produce each of these things. We can help to reduce the amount of lost property going to waste by adding a personalised name label to our children’s school uniform and other equipment. Labelled items are much more likely to be returned to their owners.  

Kids can design their own

Children have the freedom to design a label that is unique to them. We are proud to have thousands of design combinations to choose from with all kinds of icons from unicorns and cupcakes to tractors and footballs, as well as different backgrounds, fonts and font colours, the choice is endless. You will surely be able to create a label that your child will not only love but will help make sure their items make it back home. 

To design your own personalised labels for your child for school, visit our website. 

Don’t forget to follow My Nametags on social media, for the latest news, competitions and more

What type of school label is right for me?

With children going back to school you may have started compiling a list of all the things they need for the new year. If labels are in that list (and it should!) you may be finding it hard to decide what kind you makes more sense to get so we have broken it down for you. 

Colour Stickers

Our most versatile name tags. Colour sticker name tags are a good option if you are looking for a label that can stick on everything. They can be used on clothing (on the care label) and all stationery, books, and even lunchboxes and drinking bottles. You can personalise them with your chosen background, icon, font and font colour so you can create the perfect label for your child. Each set comes with 56 labels each 30 x 13mm in size. 

Iron on Labels

Iron on labels will be the best option for clothing. You can label school uniforms, jumpers, blazers, shirts, PE Kits, anything your child is likely to take off and lose. Our Iron on labels can also be used on socks, coats, scarves and gloves. You can personalise them with your chosen background, icon, font and font colour so you can create a label that suits your child. The labels can be applied directly onto the fabric and will last even after being repeatedly washed. 

Maxistickers

Our Maxistickers make personalising your child’s items even more fun. Perfect for bigger items such as lunchboxes, notebooks, water bottles, shoes. A set has 21 maxistickers in several shapes and sizes – circles, squares and rectangles all on one set! Each label also comes in a slightly different design (within a theme) so it’s a great option if you are looking for a bit more variety.

Ministickers

The more stylish and discreet option, our ministickers are perfect to label smaller objects that are even easier to lose. They are ideal to label lots of items quickly – all the pens, pencils, markers, rulers. Because they are smaller they are also a great option for older kids as they don’t come with an icon and have a solid background. We’ve got 4 different colour themes to choose from and you are able to add a first name or a surname (as it’s smaller you are only able to add one line of text). A set has 175 ministickers and each is 16 x 6mm.

Labelling your child’s things is incredibly important, it helps them easily identify what is theirs, helps reduce lost property in schools and nurseries and helps avoid you having to rebuy things. They also encourage your children not to share things with other children, leading to a reduction in the spread of germs which, at the moment, is very important.

Visit our website to find out more about My Nametags and our personalised name tags. 

Top Tips to Help Your Child Stop Losing Things

There’s nothing more frustrating than losing a treasured possession. Aside from being upsetting, it also wastes time, money and has a negative impact on the environment. 

Despite this, our research shows that British families are misplacing more items than ever before. In fact, the average child loses 13 items every single year. This equates to a whopping 132 million items lost annually by children in the UK. 

There are lots of simple tricks that can help your children to keep track of their prized possessions. Here, we offer our top tips to help your family stop losing things.

Top Tips for Preventing Lost Items: 

1. Create designated compartments in your children’s bag 

Patterns are incredibly effective in helping children to learn. So, encouraging your child to pack everything away in the same place and in the same order each day will quickly reinforce the importance of remembering their belongings. This activity will soon become a part of their daily routine, meaning they are much less likely to forget things

2. Use name labels

Labelling items makes it much easier for people to return them if they become lost. This is especially important for possessions that are regularly taken out of the home. We recommend including both a name and a phone number on your name label so that people can contact you if they find your lost item. Our stick-on name labels can be applied in seconds and have been designed to withstand the rigors of daily school life, helping to ensure your family is reunited with any items that become temporarily lost. 

3. Stay organised

It’s much easier to misplace things if you are surrounded by clutter. Just like the compartments in your child’s bag, try to establish clear places at home for all of your items and encourage the whole family to place things back in their designated spot when they’re not being used. If the space is tidy and everything is in its rightful spot it will be far easier to locate items if they do become lost.

4. Keep small objects in a pocket or purse with a zip 

Small items are the easiest to lose as they can slip out of bags and pockets without being noticed. Keeping all of your small items, such as toys, money, or jewellery in a designated pocket or purse with a zip will ensure they are safe whilst your child is out and about. 

5. Do a double 

Before leaving the house, school, or nursey, get your child in the habit of double-checking that they have everything, it’s easier to find lost items when they first go missing than later down the line. Getting your child to practice this from a young age will help them form the habit, preventing the heartache of lost items later in life too. 

6. Attach a smart finder 

Smart finders are small Bluetooth devices that attach to your belongings and are a great option for keeping track of your family’s more valuable possessions. Smart finders use technology to track your item wherever it goes, helping you to locate it if it becomes lost. Plus, they have small speakers to alert you by sound if your item is in close proximity.

7. Buy less

The more items you have, the easier it is to lose track. Having unnecessary duplicates of certain toys and clothes also has a negative impact on the environment. Instead, aim to buy fewer, quality items that will last longer and be easier to keep track of. Avoiding having too much ‘stuff’ will also help your child to learn the value of their belongings, making them more likely to take good care of them.

8. Don’t give up

When items do become lost, it’s always worth having a thorough look before replacing them. Encouraging your child to join in the search will help to teach them about the importance of looking after their things. Plus, if you’re successful you will save yourself time, money, and improve your carbon footprint.

For more tips on reducing the environmental impact of your belongings, read our top tips for making clothing last longer.

Top Tips for Making Clothing Last Longer

There is no worse feeling than pulling a piece of clothing out of the wash and realising that is has shrunk, discoloured, or faded. 

Not only is clothing expensive to replace but throwing it away has an environmental cost too. In fact, more than 300,000 tonnes of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year, according to WRAP, and globally the fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. So, it’s important that we look after the clothes we have to ensure they last as long as possible. 

Here, we’ve collated our top tips to help you keep your clothing looking as good as new. 

Top Tips for Making Clothing Last Longer: 

1. Quality over quantity 

Where possible, opt for fewer, quality pieces over lots of low-cost items. Cheaper garments tend to be made from synthetic fabrics, such as polyester or nylon, which wear much quicker than natural fabrics like cotton or linen. They also have a negative impact on the environment because they are a type of plastic. 

2. Don’t overfill the washing machine 

Overfilling a washing machine not only means clothes won’t wash properly but they will also rub against each other more. This increased friction can cause damage and fading. Your clothes will also more likely end up in a tight ball, which can be a pain to untangle and puts more strain on the fabric. 

3. Reduce the amount of fabric detergent 

Using large amounts of detergent can increase the fragility of some fabrics, such as Lycra, and can cause them to become stiff or brittle. This is especially the case with garments such as gym wear and stretchy jeans or leggings. Fabric conditioner is a ‘nice to have’, rather than a necessity, so skip it for fragile items and use only in small amounts for harder wearing fabrics, such as cotton. 

4. Wash dark clothing inside out 

To avoid dark clothing fading, always wash them inside out. This also works for graphic t-shirts to prevent the print from cracking and fading. If you dry your clothes on a washing line, keep your items inside out to prevent the sun bleaching them and causing patches of discoloration. 

5. Fold instead of hang 

Hanging heavy items like woollen jumpers can cause the fabric to stretch and become misshapen. Folding items along the seams will prevent this and help minimise creasing. 

6. Don’t wash denim unnecessarily 

Denim doesn’t need to be washed after each wear. Over-washing will compromise the fabric and, overtime, jeans will wear thin. To freshen garments between washes, try hanging them in the bathroom as you shower – the steam will give them a new lease of life. You can also put jeans in a plastic bag in the freezer to kill any bacteria. 

7. Avoid the tumble dryer

A tumble dryer certainly has its place in the home. For example, tumble drying your towels is a great way to keep them soft and fluffy. However, they can also break down the fibres in clothing and make them shrink. Where you can, be sure to use an airer or a washing line to dry your clothes instead. This will also save on electricity which will reduce your household bills and benefit the environment. 

8. Don’t discard shoes in a pile

It’s very tempting to come home after a long day at school or work and dump your shoes in a pile by the door where you have taken them off. However, this can damage your shoes, causing them to wrinkle or become squashed, making them age much faster than normal. Instead, keep your shoes neatly on a shoe rack or shoe tree, avoiding the temptation to stack them on top of each other. 

For more tips on reducing the environmental impact of your belongings, read our top tips for preventing lost items.

Top 5 tips for applying iron on labels

Children have a tendency to lose clothes. They feel warm so they take their jumper off and leave it in the playground, they sit next to their friend and confuse their PE t-shirt with theirs. It’s normal! But it is still annoying when you have to buy the third hat this week… That is where our iron-on labels come in!

Jumpers, t-shirts, trousers, coats, hats, everything gets identified. Our iron-on labels are a fun, easy way to label all your child’s clothing and uniforms. The nametags are waterproof, can go in the washing machine, dryer and are designed to withstand the active day-to-day of a child. We are also the only label company that offers you a 10-year guarantee.

While our iron-ons are quick and easy to apply, we thought we would share some of our top tips on how to apply iron-on name labels to ensure you make the most of the iron-on name tags and that they stay on for a long, long time.

1. Make sure the clothing is ironable before applying the labels

Iron-on labels need a lot of heat to be applied correctly and some fabrics such as acrylics or other synthetic materials cannot withstand such heat, so we recommend you do not use the iron-ons on these materials. If you still want to risk it though you can lower the temperature of the iron and iron the labels onto the item for longer, however this may not always work.

2. Turn off steam setting on the iron

Nowadays all irons use the steam setting, but the water from the steam could get into the hot-melt glue of the labels and weaken it so you should turn this off. It is also worth noting that the silicone paper is waterproof so the steam will likely come up and hurt your hand. When you do turn off the steam you might find that the iron is not heating to the max temperature, if this is the case empty out the water in the iron so it can reach the highest temperature.

3. Carefully place the label on clothing and ensure you use silicone paper

It is important to use the silicone paper we have provided to ensure the labels do not melt. Simply place the silicone paper over the carefully placed label and try not move the iron as much as possible.

4. Turn up heat to the max temp

By ironing on the labels, you are essentially melting the hot-melt glue onto the fabric so you need to make sure the temperature of your iron is hot enough. You want to have the iron on high heat which on most irons means selecting the three dots or a linen/cotton setting, either way the maximum dial should do it! If you have a newer or cheaper iron that does not get hot enough you need to ensure you hold it for a little longer. Usually, the ideal temperature for the hot-melt glue to stick would be around 150-170 °C.

5. Adjust the time you iron on the label according to your iron

If your iron does not get to the temperatures indicated when on high heat you must hold it for slightly longer. As we mentioned in the previous point your iron will successfully melt the hot-melt glue when it gets to temperatures from 150 to 170 °C and is held for 8-15 seconds but irons are not all the same so you may need to hold it for longer. Newer or cheaper irons especially tend to not get hot enough so if after you try to apply a first label you find that it is not sticking properly try holding it for longer but do not forget to check if the fabric can withstand the temperature.

Once you get the hang of it, you will see how you will not want to use anything else, labels that do not stay or the time consuming sew-ons will be a thing of the past! 

Meet our new partner, Uniformerly

My Nametags cares about the future. We care about the world we and our children live in, and strive for a greener, better world. In our sustainability page you can see the ways in which we feel we are making a difference but today we wanted to share about a different initiative that we are incredibly proud to be partnering with.

Last year, a research project we did found that brits bin 1.4 million wearable school uniforms every year. This felt like a lot of uniforms, surely these could be reused?! Uniformerly is a free school uniform marketplace where parents can buy, sell, or give away their children’s school uniforms. The site is easy and quick to use, and it will help you save money, declutter AND help other people as well as the environment.

In the world of today where everything is available at a click for a very low price it is easy to forget that these things are having an impact in our environment. Clothing plays a big role in this, we overconsume, have more clothes than we need, some items in our wardrobes end up never even being worn! We have also become very good at getting rid of clothes that is still perfectly good – 81% of parents buy their children brand new school uniforms every year – is this necessary?

In the study (that you can read in full here) we also saw ‘that extending the lifespan of clothes by just three months could result in a 5-10 percent reduction in carbon, water, and waste footprints.’ We already know that prolonging the life of objects makes them have less of an impact on the environment, but we need to take it one step further. Care for what we have, use, reuse and with a little help from a name tag, it can become someone else’s personalised item. Once you find that you no longer need something: pass it on! Start by passing on your child’s school uniforms. That is why we are offering a 15% discount to Uniformerly users!
Visit the Uniformerly website to find out more.

Read more about our school uniform name tags