In an earlier post, I suggested that you make a temporary ID tag for your dog and add it to her collar, so that if she is lost while you’re traveling, the person who finds her will have a local address and telephone number for you. I offered a couple of ideas for making inexpensive tags, but true to form, Martha Stewart has a much nicer idea.

In the current issue of Martha Stewart Living (July 2009, with a couple of red, white and blue sundaes on the front), Martha suggests making a temporary tag by printing your information on card stock and cutting the card stock and two pieces of clear adhesive into tag-sized circles with a circular craft punch. For the details, see page 42 of the July 2009 issue. [7/17/11 Please note that I just updated this post by providing a link to the relevant page on Martha’s site — no need to dig through your back issues!]

Martha has another pet ID tag idea, which involves slightly more effort but would also work as a temporary tag (though the results are nice enough to be permanent): Type your dog’s info into Martha’s tag template and print the resulting tag on a Shrinky Dinks sheet, then bake the tag until it shrinks to the correct size.

Both projects take a bit of shopping and trouble, but the resulting tags are very attractive (and very legible), and the supplies can be used for future trips.