In this post I will be using a laser printer (not inkjet) to print my design in black.  You then place some foil on top of your printed out design and run it through a laminator.  Laser printers work via heat, that is why this technique only works with laser printers.  Everywhere the black is (or other color) the foil will get transferred too when heat is applied to it.  

 I had a very old laminator, that decided to die on me when I decided to do this project.  I have heard others using a hair straightener in place of a laminator.  So, I will also be using my hair straightener.  A laminator will provide a more even distribution of heat, but the straightener should also work.   

I recently got a laser printer. So, this will be the first time I am using it.  The laser printer I have is a Lexmark c3224dw.  I like that it has a spot in the front for different sizes of paper.  You have to insert your paper in the spot as well as indicate your size on your computer before printing.  My first attempt I only sized the paper slot.  I can always cover up this mistake with another piece of cardstock on top of it.  I was pleased the printer was able to print nicely on cardstock paper that had been cut down to size.  Just remember the printer needs a bit of a boarder.  It cannot print all the way to the edges of the paper.  I thought I did enough of a boarder, but I guess I did not, because a little bit of my design was cut off.  It still looks okay though.  So, this is one downside to this foil technique.  

Now that my design was printed on my cardstock, it was time to transfer the foil.  I placed this self-healing mat between my card to help protect it and give it some support.  This was just a cheap one from Dollar Tree, but the hair straightener got so hot that it started to warped the self-healing mat.  Also, some of the mistake print on the back side of the card came off on to the self-healing mat.   

This technique did not work great.  Some of the foil paper did transfer to the ink, but you can still clearly see the black ink.  The silver is not just over the black printed area.  It is messy and did not transfer as nicely or thickly as I would have liked.  I had my straightener on the highest temperature.  In the foil paper you can see where it tried to transfer.  I will probably try this technique again in the future when I get a new laminator.  I thought about using an iron, but I feel like it would give the same results as the straightener.  Also I would like to point out that this foil also came off on my hands, and left them shiny looking. Have you tried this technique before? If so I would love to hear how yours turned out.  

Based on this attempt I would say the Cricut foil technique is hands down the way to go.  It was easier to line up your design where you want it.  It also did a nicer job of applying the foil to my design. If you would like to see my post about using the Cricut foil tool, then just click here. If you do not have a Cricut machine, then it might be worth trying the second method, but make sure to use a laminator.  Many printing shops or office supply store use laser printers to do their printing.  So, if you do not have a laminator, then you could get a print from one of these types of stores.