Ok..Friends…This post may make me sound a bit cray-cray…but it has to be done! So about 20 years ago I was a brand-spankin’ new teacher…bright eyed, ready to go, and ready to do everything I did when I played school for all of those years in my basement. So after I spent well..charged up thousands of dollars on my credit card at the various teacher stores to decorate my classroom and buy tons of teacher resource books…I needed to laminate it all so that it would stay in pristine condition for years to come. On a side note….I had to spend all of this money because I walked into my first real teaching job…teaching first grade and the room was E.M.P.T.Y…..YES…empty and they said…Good Luck..and gave me the keys. I almost died! Not one book…not one supply…NADA! I should have ran out of that school as fast as I could…but I didn’t. I charged THOUSANDS of dollars on my credit card to get what I needed to be a GREAT TEACHER! LOL I may still be paying off that debt…Kidding 🙂
Anywho…I tell my then boyfriend..Now hubby that all of my stuff will get ruined if I don’t laminate it. So he says he will buy me a present to make sure all of my “stuff” stays in good shape. In comes…
The LAMINATOR…
Yep..I have THIS 27″ LAMINATOR in my classroom until this day. I used it like a MAD WOMAN for the first 3 years and then haven’t touched it ever since. I was hired by a district that has a laminator and TONS..and I mean..TONS of resources and materials. So my trusty laminator just sat there….covered for the next 15 years. 🙁 My hubby still talks about how much he paid for it and cannot believe that I don’t use it anymore.
THEN…IN COMES…da da daaaaaaa….TPT! Oh My Gosh! I have bought up most of the units on TPT…well…maybe not that many…but I broke out my laminator and got busy laminating my new purchases from TPT. It was great…but I really wanted a bit of a thicker lamination on my units that I used with the kiddos in my class and my friend told me about this laminator…
This is where my HEAVEN BEGAN!
Oh my goodness….This has to be the B.E.S.T. Laminator I have ever used in my LIFE….in my LIFE…did you get that! LOL
I can laminate something and THEN cut it out and the edges are as tight as you can believe. There is NO bubbling..NO wrinkling…JUST PERFECTION!
I laminate now…just because it comes out so nice…I laminate whatever I can get my hands on..LOL
Here are my birthday numbers that I just laminated tonight since I am doing my Birthday Board over again in my classroom…Pure Perfection 🙂
These birthday numbers are by Erica Brooke Bohrer. Check them out HERE.
Seriously…easiest laminator to use and Great Results. If you wanna get your hands on one, here is a link to the one I purchased on Amazon and the set of extra laminating sheets, too 🙂
But…one thing…..SSSSSHHHHHHH….Please don’t tell my hubby!!!!! He has NO IDEA I bought another laminator when my big one works great!! Hee Hee 🙂
It’s our secret! Happy Laminating!
Hugs,
ps….I had a few questions below asking about what printer I use. Just FYI…I am a bit of a Techy Geek…I LOVE TECHNOLOGY! I have 4 printers..LOL… I have a HUGE wide format Epson printer that I use to print out my photographs (I am into photography)…but for my TPT units and everyday printing, I use the HP Officejet 6100. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I like to print my TPT items on Matte photo paper and it really makes the color pop! Here is a link if you are interested in checking it out. It is GREAT on ink as well….and I use A LOT of ink 😉
I hope this helps some of you out with your printing woes 🙂
Anna 🙂
I LOVE my scotch laminator as well. I buy my pouches at Sam's club (I believe they are Fellows brand). I get 200 pouches for $20. What a deal! (And I totally hear you about not letting the Hubs know 😉
Just bought one too. LOVE IT! Do you recommend a printer? I'm in need of a new one to print all my TPT treasures! Lol 🙂
Haha! I have this one too! And another thing we have in common. – empty classrooms!! Seriously I have taught 29 years, been at 6 schools and EVERYONE, I mean EVERYONE has been empty! Four years ago my school closed my boss promised my new room at my new school, where he was not going to be my boss would not be empty~ but it was! Not even a table or chair. Finally got furniture 4 days before kids came! Luckily since I have been in so many empty rooms I have LOTS of my own stuff!
I have a Scotch Laminator as well and LOVE IT! I recommend it to many new teachers. I'm right there with Tina on the printer as well. LOL.
Cara
The Teacher's Backpack
Hi Ladies…I updated my post above to add the printer that I LOVE 🙂 Thanks for stopping by my blog tonight 🙂
Anna
I've only used pouches once… I had a really bad experience with them! I tried them at Kinko's and my whole project was essentially ruined because I cut out what I laminated and the lamination completely fell off. Not peeled, fell off. No matter how many times I ran it! You don't have this problem??