MOPS Craft- ID Tags

In MOPS this week, we talked about various schooling options for our kiddos. With a 2 1/2 year old and 4 month old, school seems forever away, but, in reality, not only can Josiah start preschool in 6 months, kindergarten is only 2 years away too! With as quickly as these past years have come and gone, I know the next will fly by too.

We had a panel of 4 people sharing about 4 different options in our area: a charter school, home-school, private Christian school, and public school. Each teacher talked about the pros and cons of their school and answered all of our questions.

When it came to the craft, I know that many moms still have kids who are under 1 year old while others have 4-5 year olds that will be in kindergarten this year. I chose to make ID tags that could be used on backpacks, bags, or diaper bags, regardless of the child's age. I offered the moms the option of making tags with monograms, their child's name, contact information, or a photograph. I heard that there is a concern of putting your child's name on their bag, allowing strangers to approach your child as if they knew him/her. At Josiah's age, I don't have that fear, but I can see it being very important once he's in school. So, I left that up to each mom to decide what she was most comfortable with.

When it came to assembling the ID tags, I tried to make it as fail-proof as possible. I considered using contact paper to laminate the tags as a cheap alternative, but this would require cutting out the contact paper ahead of time. Furthermore, contact paper did not seem as sturdy or easy to use as the pre-made self-adhesive laminating pouches. I bought the kind made for wallet size pictures/cards, Scotch brand, sold in the office supplies department at both Target and WalMart.

A piece of paper or picture that is 3.5" X 2.5" is the largest that can be used, with a border of laminate left around the edge. I cut each subsequent layer down by 0.5" on the long and short sides. I used cardstock and printed scrapbook paper to add color and style to the tags. The monograms and names were made with stickers. Who can mess that up?! And the information cards were designed on  my computer. I also provided a corner-rounder punch to round the edges of the photos and paper. And each element could be assembled with a glue stick or scrapbooking photo tape. Easy peasy!!!

Budget:
Alphabet Stickers- $18.36 (4 sets of stickers, 3 for $1.79 and 1 for $2.99)
Pad of Printed Scrapbook Paper- $9.99
Laminating Pouches- $18.45 (9 pkgs of 5 pouches each, $1.97 each at WalMart and $2.09 at Target)
_________________________________________________________
Total Budget- $36.80
Per Person- $0.90 if each person did 1 tag (with lots of stickers and paper left over)

I originally planned on 20 people with 2-3 tags per person,but more people showed up than expected. This would be $1.84 per person.

Question: What would you use your ID tag for?