Great craft supplies to buy during back to school

As a kid I always remember the excitement of Back to School.  It was capitalized in my mind.  Back. To. School.  The smell of new crayons, and the excitement of buying the perfect notebook for that year.

Now, even as a homeschool Mom I still have that feeling.  I can’t wait to get the new school supplies, and get my new school year all organized.

{I’m linking to the Amazon affiliate links in case you don’t have easy access to my mentioned places, but buy these items at my suggested location, because it’s usually cheaper there}

Buy these craft supplies at the Back to School sale:

• 24 pack Crayola crayons– they’re about $.44
• 10 pack of Crayola markers– about $.88 (sometimes)
• Elmer’s Glue– $.50 (Amazon price seems to be similar)
• Elmer’s Gluesticks– $.22 for a 2 pack (I linked to the Amazon 30 pack, which is also a great price, and I’ve bought before)
• Fiskars scissors– about a dollar (buy a lot of these I swear something eats our scissors)
• Ticonderoga Pencils  (I have bought this specific item from Amazon as well)
• Pencil sharpeners (I have since decided I like the one at Hobby Lobby better)
• construction paper  $1-2
• spiral notebooks $0.01-0.50 (Office Max or Office Depot often has a sale for a penny, limit 3)
• pencil boxes (the cheap kind that you get at Wal-Mart for 3 for a dollar, you’re going to need a place to store the stuff, I laugh at the price of $7 on Amazon)

I’d actually suggest getting several of the above items while they’re at a great price.  I usually make it a goal for that month or so to spend about $5 each time I go grocery shopping on school supplies.  That way I can get a lot, but not break my budget by buying it all at once.  Notice, this is most of the stuff your elementary-age kid has on their supply list.

I’ve had the best luck with Crayola and Fiskars, so that’s why I put those particular names.  Rose Art has come up in quality a lot recently, so there’s probably not the problem there used to be.

Future Ticia here, at this time I bought so much of these supplies that 4 years later I’m still using the same supplies of the crayons and markers.  The glue sticks and pencils I go through like crazy.  The pencil boxes I use for giving to charities.

You could get the Crayola or Rose Art watercolor paint, but I’ve noticed the colors tend to be muddy, so I haven’t found a good watercolor yet.

Things to buy at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby or whatever craft store you go to:

These items I tend to buy when they are on sale, or when I have a coupon.

• paint– I like Crayola best, but they’re only sold in sets of 3, and I always run out of one of the three colors, so I’ve tried the ones at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s but the red just isn’t as good, it seems more pink to me.
• specialty craft scissors– they can often be found at Michaels in the dollar aisle
• stamps and stamp pads– these are never ending, so just choose ones you think you’ll use, I buy them on clearance often, if you want washable, then you need to be more particular, though I WARN YOU WASHABLE IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE.
• popsicle sticks– or other small wooden things
• fun foam– I love this for kids learning how to cut
• paint– you can get 4 sheets of these for a dollar, and there are so many things to do with this
• pipe cleaners– I have to hide these or Batman will create this:

Trash to Treasure craft supplies:

These are the items that usually go into your recycling bin, that you can use for all manner of projects.

• containers of all sorts and sizes- butter, oatmeal, cereal boxes, milk cartons, you name it
• plastic lids
• lids from juice cans

And the adventurous craft supplies:

• egg cartons (NEVER throw these out, unless you go through a lot of eggs)
• corks
• shoe boxes (save every single one you can get a hold of, especially if you have an elementary age kid because there are so many school projects that use these)

Did I leave any important craft supplies off the list?