Well, trips to Lowes and Home Depot left me defeated. Don't get me wrong the guys that helped me and tried to cut the books were super kind but their saws ate, destroyed, tore, and mangled my books. After the loss of my 2nd book the man at Home Depot suggested that I try Office Max.
Look-ie, Look-ie!
It was less than $3 to have these babies cut! Office Max can cut around 8 at a time. I am so super excited about it! Check out my labels below for the front of the books. I am using one for my calendar journals and one for spelling.
You can download the labels that I plan to use on the covers for My Calendar Journals next school year by clicking the images below. If you do so, I would love for you to leave a comment and follow my blog so you don't miss any Back to School Freebies!
I tried several different Home Depot and Lowes last year and couldn't get anyone to try it. Then my hubby took one somewhere and tried it...it was mangled when he brought it home. I never thought about Office Max. I think I know where I'm going to go when I purchase my class set of them. Yay!
ReplyDeleteHeather
Swinging Through Second Grade
OMG. How have I never thought about this?? I love this idea!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKatie
Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans
Awesome...I so wanted to do this last year but my hubby tried to cut one and although it wasn't mangled, it was jagged and I couldn't handle that! Thanks for the info! :)
ReplyDeleteSandy
Second Grade Spots and Dots
I had a friend cut mine last year but I am glad to know Office Max does it! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLaura
Tattling to the Teacher
Awesome Idea!!!! Thanks for sharing. We don't have an Office Max around here...I wonder if Staples can cut the books?
ReplyDelete~Meghan
Inside the Classroom
I go to FedEx. They cut all my school workbooks and then I sort the pages.
DeleteGreat idea!! I will have to find an Office Max!!
ReplyDeleteAloha,
Corinna
Surfin' Through Second
Do we know what this machine is called so I can ask other stores such as Office Depot and Staples?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Courtney
3rd Grade Sprinkles
courtneyice1@gmail.com
Thanks for posting about this. I had some cut last year at Office Max too (the looks the workers gave me at first were priceless). I have been a long time stalker and am now an official follower.
ReplyDelete✰ Stacy
Simpson Superstars
Perfect! I, too, was worried about their saws mangling up the notebooks, but for $3, this is the PERFECT solution! I can't wait to do this for next year :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
~Stephanie
3rd Grade Thoughts
Totally doing this! Have always wondered where to go to do this...I hope all Office Max stores have this!!
ReplyDeleteHaley
Following Optimism in 2nd Grade
I'm headed out to Office Max too!!!! Thanks for sharing this amazing info!!!
ReplyDeleteYou can also do them by hand with a paper cutter, there's probably one in your supply room. Just open the books to the middle and slice away! (it's also a good arm workout!!)
ReplyDeleteNever even thought about doing this but what a great idea.!!!!! Thanks
ReplyDeleteI usually just cut mine with scissors, but it takes forever. Thanks for the info. I will have to check out Office Max.
ReplyDeleteApril
Wolfelicious
Great idea! I was going to try Home Depot, but now I will try to find an Office Max.
ReplyDeleteHeather at TeachItToday
Awesome, awesome, awesome! I have wanted to do this too, but haven't been successful. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteWould you mind linking up info about your calendar journal? I'd love to hear about it!
Primary Inspired
LOVE this idea! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteAbby @ Third Grade Bookworm
Awesome! Thanks for the tip!I'm already a follower:)
ReplyDeleteWill Office Max cut the journals if they are purchased at another store?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!!!
Mine did. :-)
DeleteDEFINITELY think I need to do this. I just stumbled onto your blog, going to follow you for sure, but was wondering if you could tell me what you do for your calendar journal. I am going to try to get a math calendar up and going this year and am interested to see how people do theirs! Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Reaching for the TOP!
I saw this before and loved the idea - totally pinned this so I can feel confident about knowing where to go for the fall! Going to use these during our guided reading groups!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the great tip about Office Max! Every summer I hoard as many of these books at Walmart and every year I regret the amount of wasted paper.
ReplyDeleteI have been a follower for quite some time and always find some great things from you! Thanks so much!
That is so awesome about Office Max! My husband tried cutting them for me a couple years ago without much luck... I had to chalk up and buy him a new blade for his machine! I'm so happy to know about Office Max!!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Teaching with Grace
I did this last year after going to Home Depot and Lowe's and finding out that they don't do it anymore! Office Max was a life saver and she was so nice about it. She wondered why and I explained and she said..wow that's cool! She even gave me a little "teacher" discount, but I think that was just her niceness. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLaura
Kinder Kraziness
Thanks for the tip for office max. I'll try this week!
ReplyDeleteAny ideas on how this could be used in middle school? "I" have issues with the top half of the book only having about half as many lines as the bottom because of the margin @ the top....guess I'm the only one with that type of issue...
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea!! Perfect for math journals and weekly spelling journals. Thanks for sharing your fabulous ideas!
ReplyDeleteShannon
sweetnsassyin2nd.blogspot.com
Monica, I love this idea. I definitely agree that the kids rarely use the whole page, even as much as I encourage them too. I also wanted to say I loved your video on teacher's notebook about behavior management. I did something very similar in my classroom last year and I loved it! I was glad to see that I'm not completely crazy to think the kids can manage their own attitudes and behaviors at school. I'm new to the bloggy world too and enjoy your ideas! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDixie
Such a great idea!
ReplyDeletehive2nd.blogspot.com
I added you to my sidebar.
Love this idea! Thank you so much for sharing it! :)
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Crayons and Curls
I have my husband cut spiral notebooks in half! great minds :)
ReplyDeleteI thought about that, but do you have issues with the spiral coming loose?
Deletenot at all!! unless they unravel it, I guess...but I've never had anyone do that and we've done for like 3 or 4 years now...
DeleteI did this last year, and if they aren't gentle to them, they do come unbound a little. Most of mine were fine, but I had extras for the ones that fell apart.
DeleteAwesome idea!! I'm copying! I am going to these to use in my reading groups. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I'm so happy you posted this. Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Michele
New Adventures in First Grade
That's awesome! What do you put in your calendar journals? My principal wants us to use journals for math calendar but I don't have anything that I would put in it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great tip!
Erin
erin.lamay@gmail.com
I am a first year teacher this year, I love this idea! I want to use them for math journals and I don't know what the other half will be used for. I love these kind of ideas. I will be teaching 2nd grade and any tips will be appreciated. Thank you
ReplyDeleteI am a first year teacher this year, I love this idea! I want to use them for math journals and I don't know what the other half will be used for. I love these kind of ideas. I will be teaching 2nd grade and any tips will be appreciated. Thank you
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! I did call my neighborhood Office Max and found out they didn't have this machine, but another Office store within 15-20 miles did.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting!
Thanks so much for sharing this idea. I just found your blog on Pinterest and am a new follower.
ReplyDeleteLaura
TIPS: Teach, Inspire, and Prepare Students
Thank you so much for sharing this idea! I had no idea that Office Max would do it.
ReplyDeleteSwimming into Second
Awesome! What is this machine called?
ReplyDeleteSuper cute idea. I am not a teacher, but I will likely use this option for cub scouts. I made full size ones last year, and most went unused. I wasn't going to make them for this year, but now...I think I will
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I went to our local Staples to ask about them cutting them and they wanted $2.00 per book-unbelievable when I just paid 40 cents per book!! But Office Max now wants $1.09 per book-anyone cut them? If so what kind of saw did you use? My hubby mangled one so at a loss now!!
ReplyDeleteI actually have called around...home depot, lowes, office max, and office depot. Office Depot said they would try for .75 cents a cut and only cutting one book at a time. I finally got them done at Kinkos for 1.50 a stack of 5. So I ended up with 72 books for 10 dollars. Not too bad.
ReplyDeleteMy original plan for cutting them in half was to use them as vocabulary books so they would each end up with 4 1/2 sized books but have decided to use 1 per student and divide the book into 4 sections...save books and paper since I teach Kindergarten it should be plenty and then I have some for a couple more years and don't have to buy more and have them cut.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THIS! I've seen lots of posts about cutting the books in half but had no clue what to do with them... I love the idea of the calendar journal... can you post and share what you will be including in your journal?? I know other people had asked, but what's the name of the machine the store used? This way I can ask my local stores if they have it!! Thanks again for sharing!
ReplyDeleteStephanie
sgies328@gmail.com
MaMa Goose’s Kindergarten
Does anyone know the name of the machine that's used at Office Max for this? I called my local store to ask how much it would cost and they thought I was crazy and had know idea what I was talking about. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteI asked at Staples about this yesterday, they want 2.00 a cut & can do 2 books at a time. Yikes. We don't have Office Max near here but I will try Kinko's (Fedex Office) and Office Depot.
ReplyDeleteYou can probably get them done at any local print shop. Check around for prices. I was going to have my hubby cut mine at work, but noticed that mine were sewn together. Are they all sewn? If so wouldn't they fall apart once they've been cut?
ReplyDeleteoh WOW! Thanks for this! After several unsuccessful trips, I cut them myself...with scissors....like 5 pages at a time. While I got them cut and watched a couple (ok, a LOT) of Law & Order episodes, your way sounds SO much easier!
ReplyDeleteThe office stores need a laser cutter to do it..otherwise the glue (on the composition books) messes up their machines. My local staples has one, and the manager said we will try one and see how it works..then go from there...going in tomorrow..wish me luck! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating! We held focus groups a few weeks ago with teachers and they were all talking about this!
ReplyDeleteSo, would you purchase half size comp books if they were made and sold at stores like Wal-Mart or Target??
I would absolutely purchase half size books. In fact, I have already bought mini composition books at our local dollar store! Keep me posted! I would love to announce that half size books are on sale!
DeleteMonica