I've just bought a laminator - tell me what you've laminated

[givemeaclue]

I have just bought a cheap laminator and have made some labels for craft drawers etc for the kids and some clothes baskets. any tips on:
-what can I laminate (can see I could get carried away here)
-any pics of your own laminations?
-nice pics/fonts/borders?

I laminated a sheet each for the DCs so we can tick off music practice/homework/room tidying etc every week which i never get round to doing . I also laminated a sheet to meal plan on with spaces for a weeks worth of meals. Everything looks nicer laminated.

I have laminated check lists for the bathrooms so that DCs can tick with a white-board pen when they've brushed their teeth, changed their pants, flushed the loo etc. (otherwise we have big rows about who peed on the floor, why their toothbrush isn't wet etc!)

Works for about a week then they start scribbling all over them/ticking when they haven't done stuff etc, but it makes me feel a bit pro-active instead of just nagging all the time.

I have a 5 a day sheet on the fridge too, so I can write who's eaten what fruit & veg each day to prove to DS1 that he hasn't had anything that counts as fruit or veg so far

My uses for a laminator make me sound like a tyrant!

oooh, i got a laminator for the shop,. and i laminated all my signs!

now i copy book covers and laminate them for window displays.

laminating check lists is a great idea.
and what about buying cheap practice books for handwriting etc, and laminating each page? then you have a cheap wipe-clean answer sheet!

ooh nickel - I'm going to make some practice writing sheets for little DD.

and I've got laminated labels for the bins, as we have 4 different bins for all the recycling and no-one ever knows what goes in each one (grrrr...)

This is a great thread, I don't think I use my laminator as much as I could. However I have collected the leaves in autumn, laminated them, then cut round them. I used them for decorating the house at Halloween. Also I laminate the children's drawings and we use them as placemats.

loving the laminated drawings as place mats - thats great! I have laminated a few of my favourite kids works of art to stop them going faded/crumpled for posterity sake. I am also going to make and print out some photo collages and laminate them - I quite often print a photo sheet for the kids of recent hols etc but they do get torn/crumpled quite quick

nickel the practice writing sheets - do you need a special pen to write on those?

has anyone laminated labels for jars/storage containers in kitchen - if so how to make them look nice and not like a pre-school? someone on another thread suggested a label maker - anyone used one?

oooh, aubina - fab idea laminating leaves etc! [ooohhh]

you need a china marker or a white-board pen.

My local pizza takeaway gave me a laminated copy of their menu. If it ever comes out when I have friends over, I point out that it came that way and I didn't laminate it. It's not a bad idea, though! You can tick off your choices and wipe it clean for next time.

I once made a huge collage scenic panorama of a favourite place - I used about 50 photos, stuck them all together at the back and them put them thought a (rather large) laminator. I gave it as a gift to my SM and she loves it.

does anyone know where you can go off the street and get stuff laminated in UK? Is it expensive? I did above project in NZ and it cost peanuts to laminate.

Give me a clue my SIL uses storage jars (and old jam jars) and has cardboard luggage labels tied on with string. I thought that was quite nice and looks better than stuck on labels.

We have a laminator, bought it when DH was doing his pgce. I have used it for laminating field guides/ letters of access for site work (I'm an ecologist) and photos for dd to take into nursery. I also laminated a collage made out of autumn leaves once but that nearly broke it!

The place mats is a good idea.

WRT making labels not like a primary school- use thin paper, a good font and most importantly, trim off the edges right up to the edge of the paper, i.e. don't leave a clear plastic border around the paper. This will only work with thin paper though, not card. Normal computer A4 is perfect.

tell me your font recommendations tethersend - I did google 1001 fonts etc but couldnt' fathom how to tell the good from the bad

As long as it's not Comic Sans, you'll be fine

comic sans is horrid, as is arial.

just pick one you like. :)

I love laminating making labels and preserving certificates is my favourite.

Something not to laminate is bread - a colleague of mine genuinely thought that this would make a kind of vacuum packed toast. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that it doesn't. What it does make is a melted mess and an entire office stand in the rain whilst the fire alarms are silenced.

Swimming workouts to make doing lengths more interesting.

As retold in a recent confession on radio 2, do NOT laminate baby scan photos as it turns into a solid black block because the paper is heat sensitive.

My work car parking pass.

that was both horrific & very funny confession wasn't it *gallicgirl"??

same with till receipts then!
they're heat sensitive.

I bought a paper trimmer, you know one of those with a slide blade. It's great for trimming off the edges neatly. It also comes with a blade that makes perforations and a wavy one.

I've got the DCs to make small pictures for the GPs, then laminate them. Punch holes in the top and thread through some fancy ribbon or ric rac and hey presto GPs can hang up their creations and they easily fit into an envelope.

I have made my own tabulated currency converter for going on holiday once and laminated it, credit card size so I could just put it in my purse.

Just bought a Brother hand held label maker ........

I use it to laminate drawing of my DS.Mostly I do with paper.Has not tried anything else

laminating baby scan photo confession -