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    Five Ways to Make Your Documents Last Longer

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    Are you looking for ways to make your documents last longer? If you are, you’ve come to the right place! Here are five ways to make your documents last longer and look just as good:

    • Use synthetic paper. Chances are you haven’t heard of synthetic paper, a polyester film that can be used in laser printers and color copiers. Since synthetic paper is made out of plastic, there is not only no need to laminate it, the paper is resistant to creasing and tearing. Synthetic paper is available in different sizes so you’ll most likely find something that is ideal for your particular needs.
    • Use report covers. It is inevitable that paper products will eventually fall apart from frequent handling. Spilling a drink or getting rain on a paper document could ruin it completely. With the use of report covers, you can preserve your document while making it look more professional and presentable to your boss, colleagues and clients.
    • Bind your work. Binding machines are a great tool. Whether the machine utilizes plastic combs, wire spines, coils or thermal binding cases, it will make your work look outstanding. Instead of using a paper cover, use a plastic cover to make your documents last longer. In fact, you may want to consider using hardcover binding cases to ensure your documents have longevity and a professional appearance.
    • Consider going paperless. With the digital age upon us, going paperless is now an option. Smart phones, the Internet and computers have given us the opportunity to go without paper completely. When paperless, you can access your documents anywhere. Besides convenience, going paperless is environmentally-friendly. If you ever do need a hard copy of a document, you can print one out.
    • Laminate them. Lamination is popular and popular for a reason- it’s easy, ensures document longevity and can work with many sizes (from name tags to posters). When it comes to laminating, you can choose between pouch laminators and roll laminators. Lamimating photographs and documents can enhance their colors and durability.

    There are several ways you can make your documents last longer from using synthetic paper to laminating your materials. Whether you prefer the look of paper documents or you want to become part of the paperless revolution, it’s easy to find a way to make your work last. Leave us a comment about your favorite way to make documents last longer. 

    How to Make Your Own Chore Charts

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    chore-charts-bm-content-1With Summer winding down and back-to-school on its way, now is a great time to start getting your kids settled into a routine. For many parents, that can mean instituting (or reinstituting) a chore chart. Chore charts are easy to make and even easier to find online. The information added will depend highly on your child’s age, abilities, needs, etc. Recently two of our employees, Chelsea and Tarragon, got together with our children (six between the two of us!) and created individual chore charts. Here’s how we did it.

    First, we went to ChoreCharts.com and picked out exactly what we needed. ChoreCharts.com has hundreds of styles and designs, and not just for chores. On this site, we found options for chore charts, behavior charts, and reward charts. Even with six kids of all different ages, we were able to find designs that matched each child’s personality.

    As alternative, you could create your own chart in Excel with specific things, such as your child’s name, what type of chart it is, what is expected, days of the week, measures for rewards, etc. Once you’ve customized your chart, simply print it out. You could even use paper printed with a pale design and get the same look we did with the benefit of having exactly the image and text you want.

    Either way, the first step is to choose a chart and print. You may choose to mount your chart onto colored cardstock to add a border as well as support. For this demonstration, we used a lady bug chore chart without a backing.

    Next, we laminated each chart. This process is so simple that Tarragon’s pre-teen daughter, Alex Rose, was able to do this without any help. Granted, this was not her first experience with a laminator. In their house, things are laminated often and she has been taught how to safely use this particular laminator. Plus, there were two adults supervising the entire process.

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    1. First, Alex put the chart into a laminating pouch, lining it up carefully. Laminating pouches come in a variety of thicknesses, ranging from three mil up to ten mil on average. The higher the mil, the thicker the laminate, the more protected your materials will be. For our purposes, we used five mil laminate.

    2. Next, she put the pouch into a laminating carrier. Carriers are always a good idea to use, even if your machine doesn’t require one. Carriers protect the rollers from coming into contact with the laminate. As a result, your machine will last longer and your laminated materials will be smoother and cleaner.

    3. After the materials in the laminating pouch are lined up in the carrier, Alex inserted the carrier into the laminator, crease end first.

    4. As she gently fed the carrier into the laminator, the machine grabbed onto it and took over. Lamination works fairly quickly, even on this home device. This specific laminator is the GBC Creative 9, a nine-inch pouch laminator perfect for home and small office applications. The laminator pulled the item through, sealing as it goes.

    5. Alex watched to make sure it stayed straight. When it appeared to be slightly crooked, a light tug kept the carrier from jamming the materials.

    6. Just to make sure it didn’t fall and wrinkle, she waited for it to finish. The laminator could just as easily have been placed further on the table so that upon exiting it would simply lay flat.

    7. There you have it, a perfectly laminated chore chart! While we took several pictures to be able to show the entire process start to finish, the whole thing only took a few minutes.

    And here is a close up of the finished product:

    chore-charts-bm-content-3This is a great project you can do with your kids to get them more interested in completing a chore chart. For more fun craft ideas, check back next Monday to see what happens when Mom find your stuff lying around the house.

    Holiday Crafts with Office Devices

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    With Thanksgiving on its way and Christmas not far behind, holiday decorations areCreatopia-sm2-ma everywhere.  Using a little creativity, you can decorate your house and make a few stocking stuffers using a few small office machines.  Here are a few ideas.

    • Create custom placemats.  Even your kids can help you do this.  Have them make a collage of their favorite Christmas items.  With all the holiday catalogs rolling in, pictures won’t be hard to find.  Use a laminator to coat the final product in plastic and voila!  New holiday placemats for your table.
    • Make your own gift tags.  Do you have a pile of cards leftover from last year?  These can either be extras that you didn’t need or ones that were sent to you.  Cut out the pictures and use them as gift tags.  If there is writing on the back, glue it on cardstock before using.  To apply to a present, you can simply punch a hole and use ribbon to tie the tag onto a package.  Or you can use a small laminator to turn the picture into a sticker that will easily adhere to wrapping paper. Xyron makes a wide selection of small sticker makers that work well and won’t blow your budget.
    • Save your kids’ holiday artwork.  Soon your cute little munchkins will start coming home from school with Christmas or winter holiday related artwork.  Instead of stashing these on the refrigerator or in a storage box, send them through a laminator and hang them on your wall.  When the season is over, keep the fun creations with the rest of your decorations.  They’ll make you smile with fond memories every year when it’s time to decorate.
    • Make your own filler material.  Instead of crumpling up loads of tissue paper to fill the extra space in bags or boxes, get shredding.  Colored construction paper is much cheaper than tissue paper and you can choose whatever colors you want.  Empty your shredder’s waste container and then put the colorful paper through your shredder.  This is an easy way to get festive stuffing for your presents and something you can do all year round.
    • Design custom magnets, stickers, and bookmarks for stocking stuffers.  Xyron makes several smaller laminators that can apply adhesive or magnet backings to any small flat object.  This is a great way to turn wallet size school pictures into a bookmark for Grandma.  Photo magnets also make great stocking stuffers for the rest of your family.  Custom gift tags can be made by attaching adhesive backing to any picture of your choice, another great stocking stuffer item.
    • Finally, make a holiday menu.  If you have certain recipes that you make every year around Thanksgiving and Christmas, gather them all in one place and laminate them.  Then punch a hole through one corner and slide a ring through the cards.  This is a great way to keep everything together and it can store with the rest of your holiday items.  It also makes a great gift for other family members who frequently cook the same dishes.

    As you can see, there are many fun crafts you can do at home with every day office equipment.  Many of these machines can be purchased inexpensively for home use as well.  Making your own holiday crafts entertains your kids and saves you money.  Why not get started today?

    Eight Reasons to Get A Laminator For You School

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    School is back in session and with that comes new supplies. One thing to put on the list is a laminator. To some this may seem like an unnecessary expense. However, it can actually save you money and provides a variety of uses for teachers and students both. Here are a few reasons why your school needs a laminator.

    1. Save money. With budget cuts on everyone’s mind, the last thing people want to do is buy something they don’t need. While a laminator may be a big investment up front, it can save you money in the long run. The combination of a decent printer and a laminator allows you to create your own visual aids and signs instead of paying someone else to make them for you.
    2. Save artwork. Kids make tons of art in school, especially grade school. Parents love to walk through the school and see their child’s artwork on display. However, other kids are not always kind to papers on the wall. Protect these precious drawings by laminating them. Teachers can take these protected creations and provide free decor for your school. And parents will love that their child’s art is preserved and will last for years to come.
    3. Create your own signs. Schools are often printing up arrows or maps to direct students and parents to the correct location. Why not print them once and laminate them? This way you will be able to reuse any signs you make instead of reprinting them over and over.
    4. Teacher aids. Kids love visual aids and teachers know this. A laminated list can be turned into a reusable checklist. Or a large sheet can be covered and used as a dry erase board.
    5. Every holiday finds kids making crafts as gifts. A laminator expands the realm of ideas. Kids can make bookmarks, cover wallet size pictures to create gift tags, make place mats, as well as any other ideas they come up with.
    6. Create visual displays. Adhering items to a mounting board can provide a creative visual display. Laminating posters can protect them for years of use. Let kids make a banner for your school as a class project and then laminate it before hanging. It will be much more personal and cost-effective than ordering it from a print shop.
    7. They come in a kit. Complete laminating systems make it easy to get everything you need at once. Commonly included is a few rolls of laminating film, a cleaning kit, an instructional DVD, and a cabinet on casters for easy mobility.
    8. They are safe and easy to use. Features such as protection against overheating and a locking key switch make these devices safe for use around curious children. And most only use a single on/off switch as well as a control for switching between forward and reverse function. This allows both inexperienced adults as well as supervised children to safely and easily operate the machine.

    These are just a few of the benefits you can expect from owning a laminator. Teachers and kids alike will appreciate the convenience of this device. And you’ll enjoy saving money by having this device. So check out a laminator today to see if it’s right for you!