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Sunday, 22 June 2014

Bright Ideas- Laminating 101



Welcome back for another round of Bright Ideas!

This month I wanted to share some laminating tips with you.  If you are a teacher a laminator is to you what a stethoscope is to a doctor, an invaluable tool.

So here are my tips!

1.  You Get What You Pay For!
When I got my first laminator it was a cheaper make, don't get a cheap brand, you know the old saying, you get what you pay for well it is true.  This is an investment that you should not skimp on, I also decided to get an A3 size so I could laminate larger posters as well as smaller sizes.

2. Size Matters
Have a range of different sized laminating pouches on hand.  I like to have A3, A4 and the smaller business card sizes. The reason I do this is for those times when you need to only laminate one small item you can use the small ones.  I also make a lot of my game cards the same size as the business card pouches so I don't have to bother with all the cutting.





3. Snip And Save
Cut the pouches to size.  You know when you have laminated everything and you have one piece leftover that won't fit into a small card size what do you do?  I have seen some teachers use a whole pouch to laminate one piece, NOOOOOO!!!  Just cut some of the pouch off, it is best when you cut it lengthways so you still have the folded piece to put through first.  The part that you don't use gets put away for the next time!




 4. Stick To It!
There is nothing more frustrating than having lots of little pieces to laminate, you place them carefully in the pouch and then cross your fingers as you lift the pouch like it is a newborn infant to feed it ever so steadily into the laminator, saying a prayer that nothing slips or moves on the way.   Or......get your faithful gluestick, put a little dab on the back of each piece and stick it down.  The glue dries clear and not one of those little pieces will move.  Easy!



See, nothing falling out even when I shake it!




5. Feed It In
This might seem like a no brainer but make sure you check which way you put the pouch in.  The folded edge needs to go in first, otherwise you might end up with this...


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I hope you have picked up a couple of little tips here, make sure you check out the other Bright Ideas from over 100 bloggers!



9 comments:

  1. Love the tip on buying smaller pouches - I didn't even know that existed! I always wasted a whole sheet for one little item. I'll be sharing on my Facebook - thanks!
    FlapJack Educational Resources

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  2. Love your idea about the smaller pouches for flashcards. I'm off to officeworks now to get some!

    Thanks Alex

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  3. Great ideas Tania. I also never really thought about buying the small pouches, but makes perfect sense now :-) I also like your idea with cutting the pouch to size...

    Cheers
    Mel

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  4. I never thought of trimming the bigger pouches! To think of all the laminate I've wasted!

    Sally from Elementary Matters

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  5. I will try the glue trick- Thanks for the Bright Idea.

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  6. Gluing the small things to the pouch- this is going to change my life!

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  7. I buy my pouches at Sam's Club. I can get a 200 pack for around $20. These can then be cut to make smaller.

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  8. I buy my pouches at Sam's Club. I can get a 200 pack for around $20. These can then be cut to make smaller.

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  9. Thanks for the tips! I never thought to "snip and save" or "stick to it." So helpful!

    Sara :)
    The Colorful Apple

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