Straight labels

I am hopeless at sticking my labels on so they are level. Clearly for me practise does not make perfect.
HWMBO tells me to make a former.
Is it just me and how do you keep them level?
Cazza

Tell HWMBO (serves you right for keeping such a person ) to show you how if he is such an expert. Problem solved!

What about a marker behind the jar on the table. See it through the honey? Or a laser light.

i only put a few label's on last season .what i did was put the jar at a angle in a scrumpt up towel .that way i could use both hand's to hold the label to get it right .ie not holding the jar at same time ..for the few i did it was ok ..

I'm like you Cazza, but I do find that if I am sitting and put the jar on a shelf at eye level I make a much better job of it.

behive1234 said:

What about a marker behind the jar on the table. See it through the honey? Or a laser light.

Click to expand...

A marker would work for clear honey. Mine is set so not a goer for me.

Cazza

Davelin said:

I'm like you Cazza, but I do find that if I am sitting and put the jar on a shelf at eye level I make a much better job of it.

Click to expand...

That's the ticket, eye level, works every time, hold the label at it's edges with left and right hand with your thumb and index finger, offer the label up to the jar making sure that you stick the centre of the label first to avoid trapped air bubbles. the jar can be supported with your other three fingers.
No doubt there is a form out there but if it's that difficult you could make a cardboard tube that your jar fit's snuggle into where the bottom rim is in line with the bottom of where label should be.

Eye level here too. Pop a few jars on welsh dresser shelf and off you go......more or less. Sometimes I have to have two or three goes on one jar and then the rest are OK.....strange.
I do recall somebody here posted about some sort of former.

Use a highlighter



and a ruler to draw a straight vertical line on the jar - if you have a flat surface and the end of the ruler is square and resting on the surface it should be perpendicular. Align the edge of the label to the line and stick on. Rub off the highlighter with a piece of DRY kitchen roll or cloth.

I use rectangular, not rounded, labels.
They are easy to apply neatly using the following method.

Find a bar to lift your label the right amount from the base of the jar. (A frame topbar works for my labels and my 12oz jars ...)

Yes, it is easier to work at eye-level, or some close approximation.

Place the bar against the jar.
I hold the label at the top corners, rest the bottom edge of the label on the bar (so its level ), and gently touch the centre of the label against the jar. Then working outwards from the central contact line, working just to one side at a time, I smooth the label against the jar. Working outwards, rather than up or downwards, helps to prevent wrinkles.

Result of using the bar is that the labels aren't just straight, but they are also at a consistent height on the jar. Which looks good.
Just pick your bar (or other straight edge) to suit the height up the jar that you want.

Well a crooked label just says "homemade" so what's the problem, many would think it just adds "character".

Or make a real feature of it. Place all your labels 30 degrees off level. Then no one will even comment if some are 28 degrees and others 31.

Cut a long strip of paper longer than the circumference of the jar, wrap it around the jar so the ends meet or overlap but the edge of the paper matches th edge of the other end.if your label is 1" off the bottom of the jar then use a 1" strip of paper. I use the same method with a sheet of newspaper for cutting a level edge on pipes or tubes.

I have hex jars and print my own labels so I have the advantage of popping a very small dot on both the top and the bottom of the label right on the edge of the jar. All I have to do is align them both to the same edge.

Mk 1 eyeball never fails....

Cazza said:

I am hopeless at sticking my labels on so they are level. Clearly for me practise does not make perfect.
HWMBO tells me to make a former.
Is it just me and how do you keep them level?
Cazza

Click to expand...

In the same boat for some reason I just manage to get some labels either slightly off centre or out of level. Dont see this when sticking them on despite been carful but the next day they scream at me. This is only compounded as I have made my life even more difficult with a number of different shaped, size jars and different labels. The only one I am completely happy with is my tag label and impossible to get wrong

I have in my mind devised a jig so that I can stick labels of different sizes onto different sized, shaped jars with the label in the same position each time and just need to make it.

The alternative is oval labels as I think they are very forgiving regarding position.

REDWOOD said:

That's the ticket, eye level, works every time, hold the label at it's edges with left and right hand with your thumb and index finger, offer the label up to the jar making sure that you stick the centre of the label first to avoid trapped air bubbles. the jar can be supported with your other three fingers.
No doubt there is a form out there but if it's that difficult you could make a cardboard tube that your jar fit's snuggle into where the bottom rim is in line with the bottom of where label should be.

Click to expand...

I only bother for showing, but that's what I do. Strip of thin cardboard the right width, staple it into a ring. Works every time.

Get a piece of wood the thickness of the space between the bottom of byte label and the bottom of the jar. Cut out a "<" shape with an opening as wide as your label. Then pop your jar into the < shape like this: <o and line up the lower corners of the label with the top of the wood.

There was an ingenious device at the NHS one year comprising a mirror tile, diagonal wooden jar placement guides and chinagraph pencil type lines showing a reflected virtual label placement. Simple, effective - a bit like myself.


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I use the octagonal jars from a certain Welsh supplier. I then use 63mm high rectangular labels. The octagonal jars have an indentation (for want of a better word) the top and bottom of this give excellent lines for ensuring the label is aligned correctly.

Yes, I know that bees use hexagons... but most people seem to have as much difficulty telling the difference between octagons and hexagons as they do between honey bees and bumble bees. The angles in octagons are less sharp, so easier to get the honey out.

Just realised that I have overthought this.

i hope you declare all this honey selling to the HMRC??