sticky strife

topic number fourteen: disorderly decals

Aesthetic unrest can be a real issue and for me, it is an ongoing battle. This is especially true when it involves home invasion of price tags. Yes, these sticky labels find their way into all our homes-on fruit, on picture frames, books, candles, wine bottles, on just about everything. For most people this is of no consequence. But in our household, bringing home bananas definitely requires extra peeling time!

There is no kitchen comfort until these little sticky eyesores are carefully removed from each and every piece of fruit. There is something just so uncomfortable about those bright orange tabs with code. I think most of us will admit it is much more pleasing to look at a beautiful bowl of fresh fruit without these unappetizing attachments.

Likewise, forget bookshelf harmony until all Barnes & Noble discount patches have been eliminated. I do not understand why these labels are so big, bigger than the book title and author's name combined. Think about it--if one needs a label that big to read, how are they possibly going to read the text inside the book itself?

My desire for sticky tag eradication goes beyond to vendor identification labels found on bath towels and well, actually on all towels. I see little need for those notorious tags once a towel has been purchased for personal use. We all know how they scratch! This is just me, but I don't relax until all towel vendor tags are cropped. Detaching is a careful process. It is very important when trimming off the tag not to compromise the towel's binding.

Tags, labels, decals, sticky or stitched are lurking everywhere. I happen to love the fresh look of a home without. If you do too, please know, tag removal can be habit forming. For your pleasure, this comes without a warning label.

stuck on stickers

While my mother spends her time removing stickers, I used to spend my time collecting them. One afternoon while we were visiting a friend's house, my mother and I discovered their "sticker cabinet." Casual sticker collectors, the family kept each fruit sticker they came across under the kitchen sink on the cabinet door. That's right, they stuck them directly on the wooden surface. It disturbed my mom greatly and she thought it couldn't get much worse . . . until I, entranced, requested to take up the same practice. My poor mother was stuck (like the very stickers she despised) between a rock and a hard place: deny her daughter a simple joy or go against her ideals? Well, my mom, the fine woman that she is, found a wonderful middle ground. I was allowed to keep the stickers, but they had to be placed on a separate piece of cardboard kept behind the cleaning supplies out of view.