Laminate It!

These past few days I have been spending a lot of time getting organized around the house. While going through my cookbooks, I found a serious of scraps of paper and print outs containing some of my favorite recipes. Of course, they are all food stained (as they have been heavily used over the years) and in some cases only readable by me. I decided to transfer them all to recipe cards that could all be organized in this cute little box.


Of course that doesn't solve the food stain problem that is bound to occur the next time I make these things, so I decided to laminate them. We just got in a great new thermal laminating machine from 3M. It laminates items up to 9" wide and it's very light weight, easy to operate anad economical.


To start my recipe card project, I trimmed the edges of the card ever so slightly so that, once laminated, it would still fit into the box.


I used these 4x6 laminating pouches


And placed the card in the pouch like so making sure it was centered in the pouch to ensure that all sides would seal properly.



Just turn the machine on and once the green "ready" light lights up, you're good to go.


Adjust the guides as needed and just slide your piece through the machine sealed side first.



It only takes a few seconds to feed through and you end up with a perfectly laminated finished piece!


I just trimmed the edges and now it is a perfect fit in my recipe box! Only 30 or so more to go!



Here's another fun and practical project for the laminating machine...
I decided to plant some herbs and found that the seed packs I purchased had all of this great information about care for the plants and also some great artwork.



Usually when I plant the seeds, the packages they came in tend to go missing almost immediately. To preserve that great information I cropped down the packages and laminated the pieces so I could put stick them in the soil and have an ongoing identifier for each pot.


I am loving this new machine! What other fun uses can you think of? - Amanda

Setting the Table

Once your invitations are out and RSVP's start rolling in, it's time to think about your reception and the fun things that go with it like menus, favor boxes and place cards. Today I am going to share with you the place cards I made for my recent wedding.

My first piece of advice for anyone throwing a dinner reception is start with the place card holder. First, it might be difficult to find exactly what you want and second, the shape and size of the card holder will dictate the place card itself. After a lot of searching, I decided on these shell place card holders (above).

And because the slits in the shells were so thin, my original plan of using card stock was dashed. But, no fear, Paper Zone had a text weight (thinner paper) in PZ facets that matched our menus and invitations.

So, to create my place cards I used a few sheets of PZ facets in Belize, some American Crafts ribbon in a chocolate brown, a honeycomb-like stamp, Fresh Ink in Slate and rub on letters from Making Memories.

I started by using the wavy edge blade of my Purple Cow trimmer to cut scalloped edge pieces of paper about 2" by 3". You can use any scalloped edge scissor or trimmer. I just preferred a softer edge than a straight line. This became my base. HINT: if you are doing a destination wedding, cut extras and take them with you. Always be prepared for extra guests or mishaps!

Next, I stamped the top third of the piece of paper with the gray ink. If using a stamp like the design I chose, be careful to line up the pattern.

Next, I used my trusty ATG gun to glue a strip of ribbon along the bottom edge of the stamp.
Cut the edges of the ribbon to match the size of the place card and the shape of the scalloped edge. Use good scissors or the ribbon might fray!

Next, I used these lovely rub on letters from Making Memories to add my guests names. These particular letters are hard to photograph, but in the sun, they were a shimmery silver and looked gorgeous. Another option for adding guest names is to print the names on the paper before cutting it down, or use any other rub on or letter stickers.

Once the names have been added, I made a small bow with the ribbon and glued it on (this time using my 3M glue dots) for an added touch and your done!

Next time I will share with you our menus (that were so easy the groom made them!) and our quick and easy favor boxes.

Thank you for letting me share some of my big day with you!

--Kim