How to Choose {and use} a Binding Machine!

Howdy folks! I have been on the lookout for a binding machine for quite some time now. Every year when I make my scrapbook calendar gifts for my parents & in-laws I wish I had a proper matching bu the problem was I couldn’t decide on what machine to get as they can be quite an investment. Also I wanted to make sure the consumables (binding wires/combs) were going to inexpensive and readily available forever. I did not want to buy a cute machine to find out it was discontinued and you couldn’t find wires for it. So I pretty much decided that whatever I bought would have to take standard binding combs. My Friend Tracey let me borrow her Bind it All (Zutter) and It was cute, small and punched well but the holes were too small to fit the standard office supply combs and you have to keep moving your paper and punching multiple times if your book was wider than 3″. That’s too time consuming and for a $75 investment I want to do it all in one shot. I looked at the Cinch by We-R-Memory Keepers too but it was pricey (as were the wires for it) and it was still to small to punch the length I wanted. Note: you can disengage any of the pins in the Cinch to make shorter books, a unique feature. What I ended up buying was this office style binding machine for $19.95 from MyBinding.com and I couldn’t be happier! Here is my first project:

 

I am not affiliated with mybinding.com, I just wanted you to know what I bought and where I got it incase you wanted one. The regular retail price said $109 (weird) but it was on sale for $19.95 + $15 S&H so I paid $34.95 and it arrived in a week. This machine worked with the standard binding combs I picked up at Staples and other discount stores. My combs cost between .02 and .18 each, not bad. I wanted to shoot a video to show you some different ways to bind your projects (with or without a machine) and also share with you one of my favorite Christmas gifts to make (A DIY scrapbook calendar) so if you have 13 minutes to kill why not have a look-see:

Here is a link to the FREE website where I print my calendar grids.

Also, I want to share the Chic Scrapbook Calender kit I created to make a scrapbook photo calendar, all you do is add your photos and print! You can use it year after year because there are no dates on the pages, you simply print out your calendar pages from a website such as the one mentioned above.

 I hope I gave you a few ideas and information on book binding and choosing (or not) a machine to do it with. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment and I will answer you. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!