I have had good luck with my sticker machine. I started out really small to see if the labels would actually stick, and then went slightly bigger (to a 5" machine). The model I bought (Create -a - Sticker) can retail for up to $39.99, but I bought mine at Wal-Mart for $19.99 and refills are only $9.99. This is for 18 feet of stickers. The cartridges come in permanent or repositionable, and I have found the permanent one is still repositional if you try to move it within a minute or so, but then it really IS permanent. The stickers stick to cellophane and paper very well. I have also tried it on tulle, which does not work so well.
The sticker machines are very easy to use - they are manual and you feed your item to be stickied in one side and either pull it manually through (the very small one) or turn a knob. The only things you need to do to get maximum usage and little waste is to fill up the width of your sticker as much as possible before pulling through, otherwise you are just going to waste product. I have found a method where I have made tags/labels that are 2-7/8 in width. Then I put them side by side and put them through the 5" sticker machine (which creates just slightly over 5" stickers) - there is no waste except at the top and bottom, which is very little.
If you want more information, I did post a detailed how-to somewhere in the forum when I first started and I can find the link for you.
I have all kinds of tools and supplies for paper because I used to be a scrapbooker, so making finished labels is easy -- I use a paper cutter to cut the labels quickly, and occasionally, if I'm making a tag (no sticker) I use the decorative scissors to fancy-up the edge. So you would run a strip through vs. individual labels, then cut them.
If I were having to label a lot of bars and had a lot of stickers to make, i would probably invest in the larger sticker/laminator by Create-a-Sticker because it has so many options and could do full sheets. But since I'm 'small time' right now, the 5" works great. I have found it to be a quality product for very little cost.
Hope this helps - good luck!