Preserving my family’s memories is important to me, and I’ve spent many happy hours scrapbooking. Unfortunately, some of the most precious documents are not on acid-free paper. I recently received a Fellowes Saturn2 95 Laminator to review, and I’m using it to preserve my children’s artwork, memorable school assignments and newspaper clippings.
Newspaper clippings are among the most difficult items to scrapbook due to high amounts of both lignin and acid in newsprint. The lignin and acid turn newsprint brittle and yellow over time. The acid in the newspaper clipping can even affect the rest of the scrapbook page.
I’ve scanned particularly precious newspaper clips to preserve them digitally, but I still want to include these items in scrapbooks. Laminating newspaper clippings is not recommended if you are trying to preserve the items for sale to collectors as the lamination reduces the historic value of the newspaper. However, laminating is a great way to include personal items such as graduation announcements, engagement photos or civic awards in scrapbooks as the lamination prevents the paper from damaging the rest of the scrapbook and also keeps the newsprint from becoming brittle over time. I was able to use the Fellowes Laminator to preserve some newspaper clippings that have sentimental value to our family. It is easy to include the laminated clippings in scrapbook layouts.
If I had unlimited space, I would keep all of my children’s artwork and school papers forever. To prepare for the new school year, I sorted through the box containing my son’s artwork and school papers from last year. I selected my favorites to keep and scanned the remaining artwork to keep a digital copy. I also wanted to laminate some of our favorite sketches and early writing samples for display or for inclusion in our family scrapbooks.
Since the Fellowes Laminator so easy-to-use, I was actually able to include my 4 1/2 year old son in the process. First, we inserted the paper into the “laminating pouch” and then we fed the pouch (sealed-side first) into the laminator. The Fellowes Laminator has “Heat-Guard” technology which keeps it cool to the touch, so I didn’t have to worry about burns. This is definitely an adult-supervision project, but it was not unsafe. We also had fun using the laminator on some art projects. We made placements and bookmarks featuring my son’s artwork. Next, we plan to make a pretend drivers license, pretend money and pretend credit cards for him to use playing “store.”
We still haven’t run out of fun things to do with our new laminator. If we do encounter a shortage of ideas, Fellowes also has a Laminating Idea Center with fabulous ideas for craft projects, flash cards and educational tools. If you’d like to purchase the Fellowes Saturn2 95 Laminator at Staples, you can reach $30 off the regular price of $159.99 using coupon code 87298. I’d always wanted my own laminator because I’m such a scrapbooking fan. If one of your passions is preserving your family history, I’d highly recommend the Fellowes Saturn2 95. While there are fancier models, this model was easy-to-use and relatively affordable compared to some others I’ve seen in stores.
Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Fellowes and received a product sample to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.
