A lightweight hand-held label applicator includes a plate, a guide channel, a flexible wiping lip, and a strip container. The plate has a supplying surface and a sliding surface, and the strip is supplied along the supplying surface toward an edge of the plate. The plate is constructed to allow easy grip by a user's fingers on the supplying surface and the sliding surface such that the strip is in contact with the sliding surface and pulled away from the edge of the plate by the user's finger. Preferably, the user's thumb holds the supplying surface or the guide channel, and the user's index or middle finger holds the sliding surface and pulls the strip away from the edge of the plate.