I couldn’t bear to post this earlier. Although schools are going back a whole week earlier this year, my mind would still not allow me to think about school (or work) until after the December Holiday.
I’m a “last-minute Minnie” on a normal day but thankfully I have some fantastic products to make my life a little easier.
This is our first year of receiving the dreaded “stationery” list, though with that the excitement around buying all new sets and labeling is still new and both my son and I have already packed his school bag. It brings back flash backs of my own childhood staying up the night before school started wrapping all my books in my favourite paper, insisting that I needed all new everything every year at school, with my mum ensuring me it didn’t all need to be brand new.
CNA has always and will always be my go to store for all things stationery. Whether it was matching purple files for me during my high school years or fresh jumbo crayons for my son about to start big boy school, they have always been my first point of call. It was only recently that I realised however, that they really do cover all back to school needs, from school bags and books to lunch tins and juice bottles! We were in and out of our local store within 30 minutes, with all items ticked off. All items are also available online and if you spend over R350, your delivery is free.
Here are some of my favourites from the back to school selection:
The ”Roamer” range at CNA offers a wide variety of durable and affordable school bags and lunch bags. The type that can be passed down year after year. Have a look at some of the options here.
We adore our bento style lunch boxes and I have been using them for the boys for well over a year now. CNA stocks a wide variety including the ever popular Sistema and Addis ranges. Whether your little ones are into cars, Spiderman, Barbie or something a little more refined, I’m confident you could find your choice in store. This year we have gone with the Sistema Bottles where you can freeze the inner part to keep your water cool throughout the day.
I couldn’t help but pick up a “space case” for my son, while he still let’s me choose his stationery. This is a nice flat one from Penflex and he can decorate it with whatever stickers he wants. It’s an absolute steal!
Talking about stickers …. I am so incredibly thankful that we have moved on a bit from the old “hand stitched” labels in clothes. I found an old ream of about 200 labels from my school days when I went home the other day. To think of the hours spent stitching those into school clothes sends shivers down my spine ! Tower labels has a brand new range of labels specifically designed for school, and making parents lives a little easier. TOWER are Southern Africa’s largest office stationery and label supplier and pride themselves on delivering products of the broadest range and highest quality, and you can actually purchase a lot of their products at CNA, including their super cute “reward” and “lunchbox love note” stickers!
We received the standard and pre school pack to try out, though there are four new offerings,
including a Standard Pack (R225.00), Mini Pack (R125.00), Iron-On Pack (50 for R90.00) and Pre-School Pack (R150.00). You can customise your order online here, and can include everything from your child’s name to grade, subject and even their school logo if you wish!
The Standard Pack for Aadam literally contained everything we needed for his first year at big boy school, including:
- 2 Bag Tags
- 8 Shoe Labels
- 44 mini labels
- 30 Book Labels
- 60 Wrap-Around Labels
- 50 Iron-On Labels
- 44 Stationery Labels
We got this for Yusuf and I love the fact that it includes little Happy Birthday labels, I just wish you could add a little colour or a character to this one. The pack contained:
- 1 Bag Tag
- 21 Birthday Labels
- 60 Wrap-Around Labels
- 30 Book Labels
- 44 Mini Labels
- 50 Iron-On Labels
- 44 Stationery Labels
This is also perfect for preschoolers or small playgroups. You can add your child’s name, grade and school logo to the stickers and the pack contains the following:
- 1 Bag Tag
- 4 Shoe Labels
- 12 Book Labels
- 42 Wrap-Around Labels
- 30 Iron-On Labels
- 22 Stationery Labels
With this package you can choose between 50 and 100 iron-on labels with your child’s name, grade and school logo.
The stationery labels as well as the Mini-labels are all dishwasher safe, goodness knows how many juice bottles we lost on the playground last year, so this is a real life saver! The shoe stickers are perfect for Yusuf just beginning to distinguish between his left and right feet. Top Tip: Cut the sticker in half and place half in each side of the shoe. That way your child can look at the shoe and “match up” the stickers to place on the correct foot!
I’ll definitely be ordering for years to come through MyTowerLabels, they offer a door to door courier service, affordable prices and a quick turn around time. In fact, if you choose to order your labels through TOWER, you can use a special “inthesestilettos” discount code to get 10% off your order
Simply visit their website at https://www.mytowerlabels.com/ make your selection and on checkout add in the “Inthesestilettos” code. Its valid until 30 June 2019.
There you have it, that’s how we have survived the “Back to School” rush. Bring on the 9th January, “Big School”, we are ready for you! Good Luck to all newbies starting out, its the first day of an incredibly exciting journey!
Do you have any back to school products or services that made your life easier? I’d love to hear about them!
*Sponsored post – however all thoughts and views expressed are my own.