This post is Sponsored by Officeworks*
It’s that time of year where the school holidays are nearly over and everyone is either scrambling to get just a little more time in the sunshine or just counting down the days until school starts back. The new school year has always been one of my favourite times of year. As a kid I couldn’t wait to get back to school and learn something new. Super nerd over here! But my most favourite part was always the stationery shopping in the week before school. I still love it even now, and I look forward to one day having some kiddos of my own to pass the stationery-loving gene on to. For now, I’m just the Aunty who wants to talk about how awesome a well stocked pencil case is.
What you’ll need:
- Studymate Tartan Pencil Case – I love a big pencil case that fits everything in it like this one
- Faber-Castell Classic Coloured Pencils – These were my favourites growing up, I still have some from high school in a tin just waiting for the nieces and nephew to visit so they can draw with them.
- Faber-Castell Connector Pens – Connector Pens are not only great for colouring and art projects but hours of fun too. They sit so nicely in the pencil case too.
- Staedtler Tradition Graphite Pencils HB – HB pencils are the one thing that it’s great to have a stash of. Only send a couple to school and keep some in a draw at home in case the others get lost during the year. (If you’re in the US, these are equivalent to the No.2 pencil)
- Maped Mini Softy Eraser – I didn’t start using these erasers until I was in France as a grown up, but they are the best for actually removing grey led marks. (I *may* also use them to clean pen marks from my desk and light colour stains from my walls – shh!)
- Stabilo Boss Highlighters – Your kiddos may not need these highlighters if they are in primary school, but these were my go-to in high school and I think I still have a couple that are working from back then!
- Studymate Metal Wedge Sharpener – A good sharpener is a must for any pencil case (or home office)
- Bostik Blu Stick – I think I’ve mentioned this before but this is my favourite glue stick because the glue sticks! (and I love the novelty factor of being able to see where the glue is before it dries clear)
- Bic Reaction Retractable Ballpoint Pens – Lots of kids use computers now, but there’s still a need for the 3 colour essential pens – Blue, Black and Red
- Studymate Stainless Steel Ruler 30cm – Rulers are a must in a good pencil case too! You never know when you’re going to need a straight line
- Celco Blue Student Scissors – Scissors that work really take the frustration out of any craft activity, thankfully there are more left handed ones on the market these days too for us lefties!
- Jasart Brush Pack – keeping some paint brushes in my pencil case was a great way to always be ready for my art classes. (I may have been terrible at art, but I was always prepared) ;)
- Sandisk 8GB USB – USBs weren’t even around when I was at school (we had floppy disks – I feel so old ;) ) but I know that they’re pretty important these days, so a couple of well labelled ones would be a must in the pencil case too.
Every year when I was growing up, (and even now when I need office supplies), we would always head to our local Officeworks store. It didn’t really feel like back-to-school time until I got to go stationery shopping! We lived by the beach so our holidays were low key, and a trip there symbolised that it was nearly time to start a new year with a new teacher. I couldn’t wait to label all my books and pencils with my name. I guess everyone makes their own fun at some point ;)
If you’re not as much as a stationery enthusiast as me, Officeworks is offering their School List Service where you can drop off your school list in store (or select it online), they’ll collect the items on the list and pack your order free of charge and then you can either pick it up in store or have it delivered. (Check their website for details) If you’re short on time, or just don’t love stationery shopping, that sounds like a great idea to me! They’re also offering a Parents’ Price Promise: find an identical stocked item on a quoted school list at a lower price and they will beat it by 10%! (Check their website for details on this too) Always good to get the best deal!
Giveaway:
The lovely folk at Officeworks have given me a $50 Officeworks gift card to give away to one lucky Australian winner!!
To enter, just leave a comment below answering the question: What is your favourite piece of stationery for your pencil case (or desk)?
- Open from 23 January 2014 to 30 January 2014 at 8pm ADST for Australian Residents only
- Prize is 1x $50 gift card for Officeworks stores in Australia
- Prize will be drawn at 8:05pm ADST 30 January 2014 winner will be emailed – your address and name will be forwarded to Officeworks (so they can post your prize) if you win
- You must enter a valid email address in the email section below and be contactable if you win
- One entry per person
- If the winner doesn’t reply by 5 February 2014 the prize will be redrawn
- Winner will be drawn using random number generator – this is a game of chance
GIVEAWAY CLOSED – WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED – THANKS FOR ENTERING!
Disclaimer: I worked with Officeworks to create this post. The images are theirs, and were provided for this post. The words and opinions are my own. They have reimbursed me for my time – this helps me to keep this blog running and sharing great content with you. Yay! As always, I only share things I think you’ll love or find helpful. Enjoy and good luck! x
my favourite products are fineliners!! you can get them in theeee best colours these days :D i love the artline 0.4 glossy set – pretty colours!
For me it is good old fashioned pencils (2B) I have my best ideas when i have a clean, cute notepad and freahly sharpened pencil in my hand!
a few good artline or uno signo type black pens, great for journaling and doodling too!
I’ve never seen those erasers before might have to add some to my stash!
My go-to piece of stationery, and I am FOREVER buying them, is the BIC four pen. IT’S FOUR PENS IN ONE!!! What more could you ask for! Also 2B pencils. They are everywhere in my house. And post-its. I may or may not have a post-it addiction. And highlighters. I can see 14 in front of me on my desk right now. And stamps. Buy ALLLL the stamps. And rulers. And paper. And Notebooks. And Organisers. And…
Ok. I may or may not live in an Officeworks.
Pens. Pens, pens, pens. All the pens!!
And perhaps a notebook to write in with my new pens :)
The BEST pencil case items are uni-ball eyes in hot pink, aqua & lime. They write beautifully & the colours are sublime. And – even better – I can buy thrm from Officeworks! Easy!
I love sharpies!!! I seriously cannot live without my sharpies! I draw on and personalize EVERYTHING in sharpies :D if I won I’d defiantly buy as many sharpies as I can!!!! I keep running out! :D
The 4 colour pens- I’m a uni student who uses LOTS of colours for notes. InkJoy pens are also a fave. And the little post-its to flag textbook pages
I can relate to this a lot! I think part of the reason I kept studying after high school was so I had a legitimate excuse to go stationery shopping every January – all those clean binders and dividers and plastic pockets!
Kind of impossible for me to pick one favourite stationery item…though the thing I always have in my pencil case is my favourite pen ever (I hate using anything else) – Pilot Super Grip in fine, it has to be fine!
I’m an organisation/planning freak, so for me nothing goes past a great roller bal gel pen in fine (0.3) and a blank notebook. Officeworks have the best range of basic notebooks which can be used to doodle, plan and write notes in. They have kraft covers with a coloured book-bound spine and they come in blank, lined and grid in a few different sizes. My kinda heaven!
Ooooo for me it’s highlighters!! I have a box of 6 different colours at work & if anyone steals them there is trouble :)
I’m like you I LOVE office works :)
Definitely post-it-notes. I’d be lost without them to scrawl things all over!
Two words:
FABRIC MARKER
Forget all those stickers that DO come off in the wash, you need a fabric marker texta to name every single piece of clothing – and often in multiple places, just on the tag is not enough!
I’m in heaven if I can find a good pencil sharpener.
Sounds odd, I know, but I have gone back to taking notes in pencil and the pencil has to be SHARP!
So recently I stood in the pen aisle and carefully selected a fancy pencil sharpener – just for me! The kids are not allowed to touch it but I may buy them one of their own for school ;)
Thanks for the chance to win – I LOVE Officeworks!
OMG love love love stationary! My thing is notebooks…big ones, small ones, thick ones, pretty ones…I have a bedside table full of them for lists, dreams, goals, more lists, to do’s, and of course just for ideas. I love opening up a brand new pretty notebook…it’s like starting a new year/job – it can be anything you want it to be!
I like a nice sharp HB Pencil, eraser of course and my all time favourite piece of stationery is a highlighter… the brighter the better.
I’m a sucker for a fancy folder and highlighter pens, yellow is my favourite.
Hi Dannielle, thanks for the chance to let you know that paper is my favourite piece of stationery, big time! So many different colours, weights, feels, textures….well that’s feels I guess! Just love paper. Maybe it’s because I love writing letters?
Sharpies!!! I love them in ever colour & size
I’m a complete sucker for all things stationery, but my one thing I cannot live without & would be my favourite is my lovely diary!
Oh I love stationery!!!
At the moment my favourite thing is washi tape – on letters, parcels, envelopes, everything!!
I also love a good pen – smooth black ink across a page is to die for!!
I love me a good old yellow covered spirax notebook. Get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I get a new one.
Post it notes also float my boat!
For me, it has to be my yellow spiral pokey notebook
And my blue BIC pen!
Since becoming pregnant with bub #4
it seems that I truly do have baby brain!
I’m SO forgetful!!
For my kids
I love the tri-grip pencils, both lead and coloured
My son has Pervasive Developmental Disorder
And one major hump for him was holding a pencil
Correctly, Tri-Grip pencils are brilliant for that!
I love a perfectly sharpened lead pencil
Staedtler triplus fineliners. They make me so happy…
I used to loooove coloured pens because I tried to colour coordinate my class and lecture notes, LOL. Plus colour in your school notes make everything so much more interesting. :)