Rubber bracelets as sippy cup ID label

Meghan's found yet another use for those stretchy rubber/silicone bracelets:

I stumbled upon this hack last year while visiting Disney World. The hotel we stayed at had a deal where you could buy a cup for a set price, and refill it at their cafeteria for free for the duration of the stay. I was trying to differentiate my cup from everyone else's, and I slid my Livestrong bracelet around the base of it. The silicone bracelet stretched to fit, didn't slip, and stayed on through our entire stay.

We have plenty of the bracelets around the house and since our trip I've started to use them to mark cups and water bottles. The bracelets are readily available for about a dollar each (depending on which charity they are supporting) but there are also companies that will custom-make bracelets for you. Order a whole set with your last name, or make a couple for each child if you want to easily spot a stray cup and know exactly who had it last.

Related:
Label sippy cups with electrical tape
Personalized rubber bracelets as wearable identification
Custom silicone bracelet as preschooler travel ID

Comments

[T. Carter]

We use the pictured Camelback bottles, and have found the easiest way to tell whose is whose is by attaching a different carabiner to each. My wife's is a different color from everyone else's; one of the girl's carabiner is shaped like a dog bone, etc. It also makes it easy to snap the bottle to the stroller, a belt or the strap on the diaper bag.

[AmyS]

I use broccoli rubber-bands -- they are small enough for a tight fit, wide enough to write a name on, anti-slip and free!

[shirky]

wriststrong!

[Robyn]

Bracelets are good, but Mabel's Labels (http://www.mabel.ca) are better. We've had labels on some water bottles for over a year now -- through the dishwasher a couple of hundred times -- and they're still in good shape. They seemed like a bit of an indulgence at the time, but in retrospect they were worth every penny. (ObDisclaimer: No, I don't have anything to do with them and they're not paying me to say this.)

[Rebecca]

This reminds me of the bungee cord hack: http://www.parenthacks.com/2006/08/baby_bungee_cor.html

I am too thrifty (and broke!) to buy something just to keep my toddler from throwing her sippy cups, so I link together a chain of stretchy hair ties. The last hair tie fits snugly around the rim/lid area. That's a hack in itself!
My daughter hates hair ties anyway :) Now I can put them to good use!

[Geri]

This is a good idea. It can also be used to keep track of the amount of water we consume by placing that many bands for each bottle of water.

[Danni]

This is useful. It would be a lot easier to identify each cup with those rubber bracelets.

[Bee]

A true hack. One that is so clear that you're left wondering why you hadn't thought of it.

[Stacy]

I like this idea...any brilliant ideas out there for labeling bottles with name and date every day for daycare? I printed labels on the computer and now all the bottles have gook all over them. Various tape solutions seem to have the same drawback. I'd like to really clean all that off and move to a non-gooky solution.

[Kim]

To Stacy: Freezer tape is great for this. It leaves no residue; mark it with a Sharpie. You can transfer it multiple times from container to container. Also (obviously) will stay on in freezer and fridge! Each one lasts a LONG time; cheap and easy!

[linda]

Power Balance Bracelets are worn by professionals from golfers to tennis players, NBA stars to Premier League Rugby players.