An age-old parenting battle is getting kids to clean up their toys and deciding appropriate discipline when they don’t. Once again, Tarragon and Chelsea have created a craft designed to remove the battle and focus on the fun. A rapidly circulating idea is the Ransom Chore Box, wherein one places toys that have been left out to be returned only upon the completion of a chore. So if we were picking up the toys anyway, why not get a chore out of our kids to get it back? It made total sense to us.

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With 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.

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One of the main problems with paper documents is that they can only withstand a certain amount of handling. Over time, paper can become torn, stained, and so on. It will also yellow if enough time passes. That’s why pouch laminators were invented. These devices make it possible for everyone to protect their documents with laminating film.

If you have a laminator, you won’t need very many supplies to use it. In fact, you only need to have a selection of laminating pouches. A pouch is basically just a piece of plastic that’s folded in half. You stick your document in it and then ruin it through your laminator. These supplies are very easy to use but you need to keep some things in mind when shopping for them. Here’s a quick guide to choosing laminating pouches so you can choose ones that are right for your needs.

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When you need to protect your documents from overhandling, tears, and spills, there’s no better way to do so than by using a pouch laminator. These devices are terrific for a variety of environments including the home, the office, and schools, but you should know a bit about them before investing in one. That said, here’s an article that’s all about pouch laminators. There’s even a brief tutorial on how to use one of them. Let’s get started….

Hot and cold lamination. Pouch laminators are thermal devices that heat up to melt the adhesive in sheaths which are known as laminating pouches. Hot lamination is good for most items, but there are times when you might need to use a cold device. Cold lamination is best for items like ink-jet printouts and photographs because these items can be easily damaged by heat. If you plan on regularly working with these materials, select a machine with a cold setting so you can laminate them using self-adhesive pouches.

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Lamination is popular for a lot of reasons. For one thing, it can make your documents more durable so they can be handled repeatedly. Also, laminating them can make them look fantastic, especially if you use a machine like the Akiles Pro-Lam Ultra. A lot of people have questions about this machine, so here’s a handy FAQ. Be sure to continue reading to see if your question is answered.

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