One mobile abridged library, comin' up

[slipjig3]

My new used Oldsmobile, a.k.a. Harold the Hoopty Car, desperately needs a bumper sticker. Originally, I was going to order a Trogdor the Burninator thing, but you can only get it as part of a $12 four-pak, and they're charging something like five bucks in shipping, aaaaaaaand I'm not going there, thank you. Plan #2 was to scan in the "Harold the Hoopty Car" card from our Chez Geek set, enlarge it somewhat, get it copied onto a full-sheet magnet, and cut it out, but I don't know how weatherproof it would be. Plan #3—rifling through random catalogs—is excellent for reminding yourself of how many craptastic bumper stickers are on the market today.

Congratulations, dear reader. You've officially been designated Plan #4.

Any suggestions as to where I might be able to procure a good sticker or two? Any and all suggestions will be considered.

Comments

[icarusfallen8.livejournal.com]

My response:

The bumper stickers I made myself worked very poorly. I tried spraying them
with fixative and covering them with clear packing tape, but they weathered
badly anyway, and the color ink faded in the sunlight. (The black ink faded
much more slowly.) I never got around to trying laminating, because I
couldn't think of a good way to secure them. (I had printed earlier ones on
label paper.) Epoxy would do it, but then I'd never be able to remove them.
The packing tape also weathered badly, eventually becoming brittle, and
refusing to come off in a couple of spots.

I eventually went to the custom printing store at Crossgates Mall (Mugs N'
More). I gave them the text for three of my four bumper stickers, and the
URL for the graphical one I had designed ("Jingoism"). They did the
printing with all weatherproof materials, and I've been pretty happy with
the results. But the color one is fading in the sunlight again. (Luckily,
I had outlined the letters in black to help the contrast, so the word is
still legible even though the image as a whole is nearly gone.)

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Thank you much for the info! All stuff I was wondering about, actually.

[icarusfallen8.livejournal.com]

I talked to my coworker yesterday about bumper sticker making. She told me about a sticker factory in Albany. Behind the factory if a dumpster where they throw out the ends of rolls of stickers. Sometimes they have multiple feet of still usable blank white sticker material. Also sometimes there are some amusing stickers in there. I plan to stop by some night and do a dumpster dive. If you are still looking to make a Hoopty sticker, I'll save you some.