How would you make 780 laminated cards w/ rings CHEAP?

[Geofizz]

I'm putting this here instead of crafts because ya'll are the masters of doing as much as possible on as little money as possible. I can manage the crafty part of it. It's the cost I gotta control.

For DD school's Safe Routes to School encouragement effort, we've discussed doing "passports" or punch cards attached to backpacks to keep track of how many times each kid walks on Walking Wednesdays.

Here's an example card (first photo down on the right)

I like the example there because it has that little ring in the card itself to prevent tearing.

I need to make as many as 780 punch cards. Our budget is limited to what the members of the SR2S committee are willing to pitch in themselves. Labor is easy to come by because our middle school and high school require community service, and so far a lot of older siblings have been chipping in time to help with that kind of thing.

I might be able to extract donations for copying from a local copy/stationary store type place (we've got a local one that does business cards and such), but nothing promised so far.

Ideas on where to get supplies or how to do this cheap? I mean, really cheap? I'd need cards, a way to laminate, those little brass ring dealios and the larger ring for attaching to the backpack. Emphasis on tough and weather/kid resistant.

[CarrieMF]

If this is for school why is the school not providing the paper, laminating, rings, etc?

You don't need to use cards to do a project like this. All you need is regular paper. You should be able to print 8, if not 10, on a regular 8x10 sheet & then cut them out.

Does the school not have a laminator?

The laminating will make them sturdier. Make sure after they're laminated that you leave a scissor blade width around the card or the laminating can come undone. Using 8x10 instead of cardstock will make it easier to hole punch.

The rings are what is going to cost you the most money.

[lovebug]

what is the budget if i may ask? it easier for me to give ideas when i know the dollar amount i am working with.

could you use key rings to attach them? you can get 60-100 for about 2.00-4.00 here at our Joann's.

as a PP said, you can use normal paper for the printing. i would use black and white. that alone will save you tons!

[happysmileylady]

You could use scrapbook eyelets for those reinforcing rings in the corner. Check CL and freecycle for folks getting rid of scrapbook supplies. Or the clearance area of Michaels, Hobby Lobby etc. The actual scrapbook eyelets themselves aren't expensive, but the tools to set them could be, especially if you are going to want more than one person to set them. If you set it up assembly line style so you have just one person setting the eyelets, you would only need one set of tools, keeping the cost down.

[eirual]

I'd format them to be no wider than a strip of packing tape. Use a lazer printer (won't run like an inkjet) on cardstock and use clear packing tape to laminate (I'd assume this would be cheaper, since laminating is usually $1/ft. ...how many cards could you fit in a 2ftx1ft space? and how many to a roll of packing tape?).

You can also format this card to be as small as possible...maybe much more rectangular (1''x3''?) with just a little walking/biking symbol at the front, then 2 rows of squares or footprints or bicycle wheels to punch out?

You may be able to ask a print shop to sponsor you? If they did the cards (like in the picture) in exchange for their logo on the back or a mention in the monthly school newsletter?

[Geofizz]

eirual ~ I do the packing tape thing at home for things. I can't imagine doing that for 780 cards, even with ample high schoolers as volunteers. I'm glad to know others do that!

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

If this is for school why is the school not providing the paper, laminating, rings, etc?

In this day and age, I'm happy the schools are paying the teachers, you know?

This is a program to encourage and educate kids about walking and biking to school. Generally it is coordinated through the city and/or the PTO. In our case, the city is doing the engineering planning part, and the PTO is responsible for the rest. The school is big enough that it cannot handle the traffic when fewer than 40% of the students walk or bike.

I love your suggestions, all. Thanks :

I'll check with the school on the laminator. Duh.

Having a name for those dealios made my search much easier!

Plain paper would certainly be cheaper than card stock, and I hadn't considered it would be too hard to punch through. I'm certainly thinking I need a dry run on a mini batch to make sure it's feasible.

So, I find that eyelet pliers are ~$20, unless a PTO-type just has one - and this is an expense only for year one.

We'll need 6-8 hole punchers, $1.30 each, also first year cost only: $10.80

1" Rings are $0.10 each from usalanyards.com for a total of $78 with possible carry over to subsequent years.

Eyelets are on sale at Joann's right now: $0.89 for 80 for total of $8.90

Paper & Printing (free if we do black and white and copy at the school)

Laminating costs: ?? Do I have to laminate each individually or can I do an 8.5x11 and cut them all at once? If it's $1/ft, then I think I need about 52 feet (one page for 15 cards assuming 3 across and 5 down), so $52 for laminating. This will be a lot more if you laminate the cards after they're cut apart.

Startup: $31
Annual costs: $139

So the biggie costs are the rings and the laminating. Any way to make that cheaper? I think I can get those donations from parents and local businesses -- two new bike stores opened up a block from each other this summer nearby. I think there's a little competition going on there that we could take advantage of.

Any other costs I can trim, particularly in the annual costs (laminating and key rings...)

[Mulvah]

Can you buy laminating sheets in bulk?

Maybe a silly suggestion, but does the school have a yearbook? If so, is it possible to ask a local business to laminate the items for you if you give them a free small ad in the yearbook? I'm not sure if the school has a yearbook or if they do advertising in it, but it might be worth looking into.

[happysmileylady]

You can laminate with scrapbook stuff too. A Xyron machine has laminating catridges. That would be something you would have to research in price though, I got my Xyron a few years ago and I haven't ever bought the laminating cartridges. But I am thinking that might help keep costs down too. I would not recommend laminating before cutting...when you laminate, the plastic creates a seal around the edge of the item. If you laminate before cutting, you lose that seal and make it more likely that the lamination will peel off.

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady

You can laminate with scrapbook stuff too. A Xyron machine has laminating catridges. That would be something you would have to research in price though, I got my Xyron a few years ago and I haven't ever bought the laminating cartridges. But I am thinking that might help keep costs down too. I would not recommend laminating before cutting...when you laminate, the plastic creates a seal around the edge of the item. If you laminate before cutting, you lose that seal and make it more likely that the lamination will peel off.

$60 for the laminator and 60' of refill is $30. So that's less if we keep it up for at least two years. I'm betting I can find a PTO type around here that scrap books, so borrowing might even be a possibility.

So those work ok? Like a kid could fiddle with it or set their backpack in a puddle, and the punch card could survive?

Thanks for the tip!

Maybe this did belong in crafts after all.

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by Geofizz

$60 for the laminator and 60' of refill is $30. So that's less if we keep it up for at least two years. I'm betting I can find a PTO type around here that scrap books, so borrowing might even be a possibility.

So those work ok? Like a kid could fiddle with it or set their backpack in a puddle, and the punch card could survive?

Thanks for the tip!

Maybe this did belong in crafts after all.

Well, like I said, I haven't ever used the laminator cartridges so I can't speak from personal experience. However, I have talked with other scrappers who have and they like the lamination. If you have a PTO mamma or someone who has one, you could ask them, or even try it out to see. Or, check with your local scrapbook store-NOT Michaels or Hobby Lobby, but the actual scrapbook store. They may have one you can borrow to try out.

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by Mulvah

Can you buy laminating sheets in bulk?

Maybe a silly suggestion, but does the school have a yearbook? If so, is it possible to ask a local business to laminate the items for you if you give them a free small ad in the yearbook? I'm not sure if the school has a yearbook or if they do advertising in it, but it might be worth looking into.

Great suggestion. Our yearbook is produced by the school photographer and is therefore ad free except for the photographer's logo.

I'll check with the PTO how they deal with these things. I'm sure they've got something established. We get donations all the time (and our first round of walking wednesday enticements are all donated...)

We also have a reporter for the local paper in our pocket. He'll be doing stories on us all year hopefully, so the companies donating should hopefully be wiggled into those stories.

[FutureMom3410]

In my experience with laminating (we have a machine at work), we always cut after laminating...whether it be just to trim edges, or to cut several pieces out of one sheet that was laminated (like your cards) and we've never had issue with it breaking the lamination and causing peeling. Over time laminated things will get worn and potentially split, but if the cards are just being used for one school year, I don't think that would be an issue...laminating one card at a time will take you forever IMO.

[CarrieMF]

$60 for the laminator and 60' of refill is $30.

If you can laminate through the school they can get deals on the laminating plastic.

The laminator we have at our school you'd be able to laminate 2 2.5(I'd have to measure) 8 x 11 sheets at once.

You can cut after laminating, but if you have alot of wet weather(snow or rain) that can ruin the sheets quite fast & it'd be better to cut before laminating.

If you do not have alot of wet weather you wouldn't have to laminate. You could buy the heavier manilla tag paper & attach it to backpacks.

[lovebug]

did not read through all the replies but you have to cute them out before you laminate. otherwise the laminating will not work.

[zebra15]

http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/Pro...ards_08879.htm

I used these to make something similiar for DS and the avery website has the templates you need making things super quick and simple. The pack of 200 'business cards' was under $5 at wal-mart. I get my lamination done at the local Teachers store, most learning stores have a laminater (ours is 30c a foot)

[bender]

Maybe try luggage laminating tags? My sister's friend used something like these, and they were really sturdy. Way sturdier than the laminating plastic at my school.
http://www.desktopsupplies.com/lamlugtagsiz.html

[CarrieMF]

My sister's friend used something like these, and they were really sturdy.

These things don't need to be very sturdy though. They're being hole punched & when full thrown out or possibly given to the child.

[Geofizz]

You guys are awesome.

Yes, the school has a laminator, and we can do a purchase through PTO for the laminating supplies. No cost on the exact amount, but probably very cheap, likely about $15-$20 per year. That puts our annual costs at about $100 per year, with the bulk of the expense from key rings. I haven't searched out cheaper options on that very carefully. I wonder if a Joanne's 40% off coupon could be put to use there? $150 (start up plus this years cards) is something we can get the donations for pretty easily just amongst this year's parents who are active in getting walking going. For subsequent years, we hope that our SR2S work will all be in place, giving us the ability to apply for grants.

More details on the project the end of next week. Goal is to put them in place January 2011. We'll need to time to make the cards!

Just 71 cars dropped off kids in front of the school for this morning's Walking Wednesday (probably an equal amount dropped kids elsewhere -- which they're not supposed to do), but 145 bikes showed up and many, many, many more kids walked.

[lmonter]

Okay, maybe I'm *way* off base here, but what about those business-card printing sites? Like Vistaprint or whatever else is out there. They do a certain number for free I know, no idea how much they cost after that. If you get glossy ones, that alone makes 'em slightly more durable than straight-up cardstock until they're punched into oblivion. Would negate needing lamination...

Laminators - I found one at Costco the other day, and plan on going back for another two (mostly for the envelopes included!). It's a Purple Cows laminator, and comes with a bunch of the envelopes, all for $20 here at my Costco. Can't beat that.

Key rings... do they have to be key rings? Would little caribeaners be less expensive and still work? Might be easier for little hands to manipulate if need be, too. Might see if someplace like REI or a local bicycle shop would help kick in with something like that...

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by lmonter

Okay, maybe I'm *way* off base here, but what about those business-card printing sites? Like Vistaprint or whatever else is out there. They do a certain number for free I know, no idea how much they cost after that. If you get glossy ones, that alone makes 'em slightly more durable than straight-up cardstock until they're punched into oblivion. Would negate needing lamination...

<snip>

Key rings... do they have to be key rings? Would little caribeaners be less expensive and still work? Might be easier for little hands to manipulate if need be, too. Might see if someplace like REI or a local bicycle shop would help kick in with something like that...

We're certainly going to go to local printing shops for business cards, but as far as I can tell, even if they give them to us at cost, they'll be more than the solution I'm cooking up this way (though a lot less labor).

We live in an environment with ample rain and snow, and the plan is to have them on the kids' backpacks, so they must endure wet. My business cards are the glossy type, and if my wallet gets sweaty in my pocket, they bleed.

Yeah, I'm worried about the key rings, particularly since hte plan is to deploy these things in January. The thought of helping kids mount these in the cold is a problem I'm contemplating. The advantage is that we would deploy them pretty slowly, as few kids walk in the winter, and then more and more would start up again in the spring. This would give us a chance to get them onto backpacks over time. However, even doing 100 on the first day would be a challenge with several adult volunteers. The bulk of the kids arrive in the span of about 10 minutes, so with several adults it would be possible.

The cheapest caribeaners google finds for me are about $0.60 each, putting us at 6x the cost of rings. The local bike shops are certainly on our hit list for donations, though!

Ya'll are awesome. I love the brainstorming.