Just call me The Laminatrix.

I own a portable thermal laminating machine from
Lamirel. It can handle sizes up to A4. I bought it even if I had no intentions
of hanging a laminated cardboard sign on my door that said “We Laminate IDs
Passports P5.00 Each,” as all these tiny plywood-and-galvanized-iron shops near
my old high school had.

National
Bookstore sells laminating film (these are two sheets of plastic, glued together
on one edge) in several sizes. They are milky and floppy, but come out
transparent and stiff after heating.

So
far, the magic of laminating has allowed me
to:

1. Make makeshift laminated candleshades. A
reasonably thin, lightweight sheet (textured, colored, drawn on, printed) can be
laminated, rolled into a cylinder and secured around the base of a candle
(ensuring a safe distance from the flame, of course).

2. Create personalized bookmarks as Christmas
gifts.

3. Make pendants inspired by scapulars.

I
have made my Lamirel suffer:

1. Dried
leaves

2. Hair and fiber and
ribbons

3.
Band-aids

4. Crayon shavings that I hoped would
melt ( they didn’t)

Do you have a whim
machine of your own? Let’s have a whim party one day. Everybody gets to bring
their own “why do I have this” object and we can swap them around for a couple
of hours over diet soda and wasabi-flavored tofu chips. Who’s
game?