Discount School Supply Review and Giveaway!

9:22 AM

When searching for school supplies for the boys this year, I came across Discount School Supply. This online company is dedicated to providing high quality school supplies to schools, day care centers, teachers and even parents. Very rarely do you find a company that has products geared towards schools and teachers, which also sells to individuals. I love the fact that they have art and school supplies in bulk, but also allow you to purchase in smaller quantities as well. With four boys at home, I dread leaving the house to go school supply shopping with the masses and I know this will save me a ton of time and frustration in years to come.

{In Their Words}

"In 1985 Discount School Supply (DSS) produced its first 16-page catalog of arts and crafts materials for young children with a single focus – to offer the highest quality products at the lowest possible price supported by an extraordinary level of service.

Twenty five years later, you’ll find that our focus remains unchanged. Our largest DSS catalog has grown to over 500 pages; we have developed multiple complementary catalogs, including titles in Arts & Crafts and Infant/Toddler products; and the company has grown to become a direct-marketing leader in the early childhood school supply market."

{My Take}

Discount School Supply sent me and the boys several supply and craft items to review and we had a blast with them. Everything was great quality and was on par with name brand supply items such as Crayola. The first item we received were the Colorations Jumbo Colored Pencils. These came as a two pack with 12 pencils in each box. I loved these colored pencils, because they were perfect for little hands. My four and six year old had a much easier time controlling them than the traditional slim colored pencils. I have seen chubby crayons and markers, but never colored pencils.

Next, we were given the chance to try out a 12 pack of Canvas Pencil Bags and this is the item we had the most fun with! These are white canvas zipper bags that can be decorated and customized by your children. Great for families or even classrooms, as you can see from the pictures, we all had a fun time decorating our own bag. Yes, I made one too LOL.

To decorate the bags, we were sent a 24 pack of Colorations Fabric Markers, which are really easy to use and will come in handy for many other craft and school related projects as well. Visions of custom made pillow cases and t-shirts come to mind. We also used Colorations Fabric Paint that came in six different 4 oz. bottles to decorate our bags and I am happy to report that it dries quickly and comes off of furniture and hands quite easily.

The last two products we reviewed were a 16 pack of Colorations Super Washable Classic Markers and a 24 sheet set of Repositionable Alphabet and Letter Stickers. The markers are your traditional classic markers, but they really are super washable and there was no furious scrubbing to get off the boys' homemade tattoos with these babies. The repositionable alphabet stickers were probably my favorite product out of the bunch. There are so many possibilities with these. From labeling of children's books and toys to the making of a chore chart and practicing of site and spelling words, this product has come in quite handy around our house.

I will mention that the fabric markers will bleed through a single side of a canvas bag and other materials, so it is best to put something under the side you are working on. I placed a piece of paper inside each bag to prevent this from happening. Also, be careful not to squeeze the fabric paint too hard when you are placing it on a surface for your child. I squeezed to hard with the blue paint and the top came off and I got a bit more than I had bargained for. Other than that, the products were all delightful and it was nice to not have to fight the masses in the store to get them.

{Buy It}

You can purchase any of the products listed in this review as well as thousands of other single and bulk supply items and even strollers, storage and cribs from the Discount School Supply Website. They also have a great clearance section that is not to be missed!

{Win It}

If you want the chance to win your own set of school supplies, which includes each of the great products that I was able to review above, then this is your lucky day. One reader will receive a Back to School pack that includes a 24 pack of Colorations Fabric Markers, a six pack of 4 oz Fabric Paint Bottles, a 16 count pack of classic Super Washable Colorations Markers, a two pack of 12 count Colorations Chubby Colored Pencils, a 24 sheet set of repositionable Alphabet and Letter Stickers and a 12 pack of white canvas pencil bags of their own. That is a value of $51.24 and a prize that you will get a lot of use out of.

This giveaway will end on September 9, 2010 at 8pm EST and one winner will be chosen via random.org at that time. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Open to US residents 18+ only.

Mandatory Entry

In order to enter this giveaway, you must visit the Discount School Supply website and comment here about one product that you absolutely love.

No other entries will be counted unless the above mandatory entry is completed.

Additional Optional Entries

Feel free to do as many or as few of these as you like, but be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry so that it can be counted! If your email is not listed in your blogger profile, please leave one in your first comment so I can contact you if you win.

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* I received supplies from Discount School Supply for the purpose of this review, but was not compensated in any other way. The thoughts, opinions and words expressed here are entirely my own and were not influenced by anyone else.

Kathleen

Kathleen is a homeschooling mom of four boys with a serious case of the Wanderlust bug. Her love of travel extends to her children, and has resulted in the family visiting 48 states to date, and traveling nearly a third of the year. She is the owner of LifeWith4Boys.com where you will find information on Family Travel, recipes, reviews, lifestyle and more.