Articles

Stationery Check-List: the Essentials You Want At Home.

We’re providing this stationery check-list because… stationery… who can live without it, right? Even if we live in an age of tablet computers and smartphones, some things are just better by hand. Or need to be handled that way. While not strictly speaking “stationery”, we’ll look at a few office supplies too.

Pens

You know the advantage a pen has that a smartphone doesn’t? You can actually use it to take down somebody’s number or other details over the phone. Unless you have two phones. Some people do. Or more.  

But until you can stick your phone up on the fridge, a pen and paper will always have its uses. Not to mention the personal feel that writing by pen has, whether it’s notes to your other half, reminders, or just about anything, the pen is not going out of fashion anytime soon.

Most exams still require you to write by pen. And many people prefer it for taking notes, either in meetings or at school or varsity.

Pencils

They’re like pens, but erasable. They’re the equivalent of getting married one night in Vegas and getting it annulled easily, as if it never happened, the next day. Pens are like being married anywhere else. They’re supposed to be permanent.

But we digress.

Pencils are for sketching and doodling while you’re talking to that chatty aunt of yours who can’t take a hint, or for making non-permanent lines if you’re doing a design – such as adding a new wing to the house. Pencils are also for art.

Sharpener

Sharpeners. Unlike ‘rulers’ (see below), their names are quite adept at describing their purpose. (Rulers do not rule over anything. You don’t ‘rule’ a straight line. Rulers, to be fair, could be said to rule at neatness, however.) Sharpeners are what make pencils so efficient. Without them, you’re left to scraping your pencil with a knife. And that can lead to bloody mishaps…

Save a finger, use a sharpener.

(We also have ‘sharpeners’ in-store of a different kind. That would be our study guides for school set books and course works. They will definitely sharpen your kiddo’s grasp of the subject matter at hand.)

Scissors

Do you have a pair? You’d be surprised by how useful these are. Some people, when they need to cut something, will saw it with a kitchen knife – say, a knot or those plastic attachments to a newly bought boxed item – which is not a good idea. One, there’s the risk of the blade slipping – and that potentially could cut you. Two, it dulls the knife unnecessarily on a task it wasn’t designed for.

Scissors, on the other hand, are designed for cutting knots and those plastic things, because of how it exerts pressure as part of its cutting mechanism.

Ruler

Sometimes you need to draw straight lines, right? For what reason, we don’t know. But unless you’re a master artist, you probably end up with something squigglier. And squiggly is not good. For instance, nothing looks better than a personal journal with no lines in them and yet all your writing is straight.

You can use a ruler to do straight lines with a light pencil, write your thoughts down with a pen, then erase the lines. That’s the perfect way to do it. Your kids can also use your rulers for sword fights in the garden.

Eraser

Essential if you plan on using a pencil. Cancels out mistakes made with one. Pity you can’t use it on other aspects of your life. Like that loud colleague at work who won’t stop talking about her ten cats. (Not that we have anything against cats.)

Stickers

These come in all shapes and sizes. Labels, for instance, are quite handy. And you can put it on your lunch box. For some weird reason, someone (we won’t mention any names, but we have our suspicions at our own place of work) keeps taking other people’s food out the office fridge – but they won’t do it if they see an item with a name label on it.

It’s like you have to remind them it isn’t theirs even though they should know that, because it isn’t theirs!

Other types of stickers include stars. These are great at motivating your children to be well-behaved little ones. Because you can make a board with their names on it – and every time they do their chores or in some other way are good, you place a star. When they have enough stars, they get a treat!

Glue

Great for scrapbooking, crafts, projects, and affecting minor repairs around the house. Essential to have if you’ve got kids – they can always use glue for schoolwork.

Highlighters

For highlighting key points. Such as leaving a note on the fridge that reads CLEAN your room NOW or NO PLAYSTATION FOR YOU TONIGHT!

Honourable mentions:

Printer ink

An essential supply for home if you’re into printing out your precious memories from your cell phone. Or it can be used passive-aggressively to print out a meme (using a meme making app) featuring your kid’s messy room with the words: A SHINING EXAMPLE TO ALL SLOBS. Sometimes, sarcasm works. Especially if it goes in the hallway inside a photo frame (you can get these from us too).

Laminator

Used for preserving important documents and photos, like the one you just printed out featuring a really messy room. (You plan on shaming your kid in ten years’ time when they bring someone home to meet the family.)

Shredder

For destroying the evidence before the Hawks come (they obviously take messy rooms very seriously these days in their bid to clean up the country).

Best of all, you can get all your stationery (and most office supplies) at your nearest PNA!

Share:

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *