It's Almost upon us, CPSAI that is

If any of you are momprenuers, you know that awful, hair pulling, frightened shudder that those letters can produce. Talk about a chill up the spine! August 14 is the big day when all products intended for use by children 12 and under have to meet some pretty stringent labeling criteria.

As I'm new to being a WAHM in the production aspect, this has given me nightmares, headaches, and probably a few new grey hairs. I mean, could they (being the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Panel, whatever) be any less clear in their wording for meeting those requirements? I don't believe they can. So after agonizing over how to do this or that, how to meet the minimum requirements, trying to decipher what exactly they need from me, I finally have it figured out. I think. It all boils down to labeling for me. And some crossed fingers, breath holding, and prayers that one certain proposal (this one: http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia09/brief/leadfinalrule.pdf ) is approved. It would exempt textiles, both natural and synthetic from the very expensive lead testing.

So that is what I have been working on this past week. Getting all my ducks in order, so to speak. Trying to figure out how someone like me who only makes one or two items out of the materials at hand can properly meet those labeling standards. I mean, I don't have a "batch", I have one item. I can't order up 50 labels with one date of manufacture on them, because with two babies and two pre-teens I am lucky to get even one project completed a day. And individual care labels? Come on! But I found the solution thru the help of other momprenuers, and some fellow crafty bloggers. I made my own labels. It was a bit of a challenge, but that is due to me being challenged by complex computer operations like photo-editing. lol

The links to the blogs I visited for inspiration are in my links section. I found making my own labels to be very cost effective too. About $7 for 96 loop labels, and I think it will give my products a more professional appearance too. Even if you just enjoy making homemade gifts for your friends and family, labeling is a great way to give your creation an extra punch of polish. And who doesn't want to have their name stamped on something beautiful they created?