Favorites for Friday: Xyron Sticker Machine

Making labels for your classroom?  Goodie bags?  Group supplies?  Personalized magnets with your classroom theme to put on your board or filing cabinet? Crafts?  

This week's Favorite for Friday is the Xyron.  Do you have one of these yet?  If not, don't walk, RUN!!! to your nearest craft store.

I'm a crafter in my spare time, so I have lots of sizes of Xyron machines.  I like this 5 inch Creative Station for my classroom the best.  It doesn't take up much space in my cabinet and it's great for the little things I realize I need in the middle of the day.

I also have the Xyron 900 at home and I use this a lot for classroom items as well. This one is great because a standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper slides through it easily.  

These machines are great for putting adhesive on the back of any thin, flat, item (photos, posters, labels) and the adhesive comes in either permanent or repositionable (no more sticky putty!). Want to get really crafty in your classroom?  This machine can also laminate AND make magnets!

Here's a list of some of the things I have done with this machine in my classroom:

*classroom library books labeled with levels

*organizational bins labeled

*Desk name tags laminated

*Folder/Notebook labels

*Treat bag toppers/labels

*Nametags (first day, field trips, etc)

*Winning the Pencil War pouch labels

*Personalized magnets for my board and file cabinets (use your student's photos!)

*Personalized magnets for parents at Back to School night/Conferences with contact info

*Class Schedule items on magnets for the board (easily adjustable!)

*Stickers for teams during activities (kids can easily see who is on each team when they're wearing that sticker!)

*Prizes!  (For incentives, I let students draw pictures on an index card and then turn the drawings into stickers they can keep)

*Independent Centers/Games labels (stick the cover sheet from TPT right onto the folder/envelope!)

*Stickers that say "Ask me about..." for students to show off a great day

Remember, Joann's and Michael's stores have a teacher discount program.  At Joann's you need to sign up for their card, but both places will give you the discount as long as you can prove you're a teacher (bring your school ID).  

There are tons of sizes and versions of these machines.  Choose what works for you and your budget, but truly, I LOVE these machines!  I can't imagine not owning one.  (Even my husband uses them -- he uses the adhesive cartridge to make labels and laminates his fishing license every year so it doesn't get wet on the lake.)