The Season for School Supplies

It all starts once the Independence Day merchandise goes out and newspaper ads begin advertising "Back to School" sales. And there marks the start of the school supply season. I love it. And I'm fairly certain my daughter has caught the bug as well. Pens, pencils, highlighters, markers, paperclips, pushpins, notebooks, folders...it excites me to find the latest fun makeover of the simplest of supplies. My excitement is a carry-over from childhood. Shopping for school supplies was a little different back in my day, because it was done before the era of school supply lists. Crazy I know, but we managed to buy school supplies without teachers telling us exactly what to buy. Each summer we traveled to Kansas for our annual family vacation which included school shopping at Wal-Mart. We didn't have a Wal-Mart in Virginia then, and so our tradition of school supply shopping in Kansas was born.

Original site of McPherson, KS Wal-Mart built in 1986.

It is mid-July and our school shopping is done. Savannah and I have successfully found all the supplies she will need for this school year, (plus a few extra boxes of crayons for 40 cents each), and after price shopping a few of the regular stores, Wal-Mart STILL has the best prices. 

Let the labeling begin! I have toned down my label addiction a bit from SGG's Kindergarten year when I labeled each crayon in her crayon box so no classmates could claim her crayons as their own. Doesn't that just drive you batty when someone else is convinced your fill-in-the-blank is theirs? Anyhoo, I've matured in the last couple of years and instead of printing my own at home I have become addicted to Lovable Labels. Addicted might be a strong word but I just love these labels! I love them because you can put them on EVERYTHING! They are waterproof, peel-proof, sun-proof, and come in super-cute colors. Savannah is about out of her label supply from last year since I could use them on all her extra-curricular activity stuff as well. It's amazing how hard it is to recognize your child's tap shoes in the dance recital dressing room. Grin.

We label backpacks, lunchboxes, water bottles, Tupperware, coats, hats, GLOVES (does anyone ever have both gloves at the end of the winter season???), folders, binders, glue, pencil box, you name it. 

And my Lovable Label Tip of the Day... take one of your child's labels and cut off the cute pictures along with their first name and label your family dishes or coolers for safe return after any pot-luck! They stay on even after being washed several dozen times in the dishwasher. Are you sold yet? Get 10% off with coupon code LizGLB1.