The Back-to-School Shopping Begins...

Even when I was a little girl, the smell of new crayons filled me with anticipation...

I would find myself peering into classroom windows every August--whether or not it was my school! The stacks of books, the sharpened pencils, and the shiny waxed floors always left me feeling giddy. I should have known then--rather than changing my major twelve times in college--that new crayons and shiny floors would be in my future.

I generally spend my limited back-to-school funds at two places: WalMart and Office Depot. Our school doesn't give us any funding, but there are just some things I cannot do without! WalMart has wonderful Back-to-School sales items, and Office Depot has just changed its Star Teacher purchasing policy: You can now get 10% of your purchase of school supplies back in Office Depot Rewards (Which equates, simply, to more spending money at Office Depot!) It used to be 1%... but I am really liking the sound of 10%!

So I made my first trip to WalMart this morning and I returned with several bags of treasures...

With the exception of the small purple whiteboard (I couldn't resist!) everything in the picture above was less than a dollar--most of the items were 88cents! Those mini clipboards are my favorite! I'm not sure what I am going to use them for, but I am sure that I love them!

And there were more good buys... The crayons were only 50 cents. You can often find them for 25 cents at a sale somewhere in early September, but I wanted to cross them off my list today.And I bought 36 glue sticks for 10 cents each. Colored erasers and multiplication flash cards for 88 cents each? You can't beat that price! And I just adore those cheerful magnets... They match my room perfectly!

I still had more things to buy... And while only the folders were 88 cents, the rest of these things were calling my name..

My room is purple, turquoise, hot pink, and lime. My notebooks and the white board pens have to match the decor right? And who can resist the blinged out pink calculator? I'm trying out the curtain panel to cover my supply closet this year... and I already have a lime and a turquoise panel at school. Yippee! My heart is racing!

I will posting soon about the way I organize the supplies in my classroom. But for now, I am just admiring the pretty colors and thinking about possibilities. And the smell of new crayons is making me happy!

What about you? Have you finished your shopping yet?