Back to School with Poundland - great value stationery for students from infants to university

September is fast approaching, which means that the children will soon be heading back to school for the new academic year. It has become a ritual in our household to go shopping the week before school to buy the kids some brand new stationery to start the term, and they enjoy picking out the latest colourful pens, pencils and pencil cases.

Poundland has sent us some of their back to school range to try out. They have products suitable for infant school right through to university. With everything costing just £1, it makes it easy to budget. The range has plenty of appeal, with colourful, vibrant designs adding a fun element to education.

For the older kids there are some excellent Nu branded products including their binder folders, perfect for keeping A4 notes well organised. The range accompanies a free app - Nu Notes allowing you to capture, store and organise handwritten memos. You can scan, save and share notes through a unique interface on Android smartphones and iPhones.  The revision cards are very useful, helping you to memorise those all important facts for exams.

Poundland has some really fun products to inspire younger children including their highlighters which look like cosmetic items. The nail varnish and lipstick styled highlighters are fun and quirky. They also have a really funky neon range to add some brightness to the school day.

There are lots of craft, colouring and sticker sets featuring children's film and TV favourites such as Peppa Pig, Spiderman, Finding Dory, The Lion Guard and The Secret Life of Pets. They are perfect for keeping little ones entertained, and are great as the summer holidays come to an end to keep children busy.

For budding artists, Poundland has lots of crafty products including a range of ready mixed paints. The metallic paints come in handy resealable pouches and are ready to use to create some lovely shiny pictures.

Poundland is great value all year round and is the place to shop for lots of back to school essentials. Whatever age your child is, from infants through to university students, Poundland can supply their stationery needs.

                   

#JustWrite this Christmas with Bic

According to research conducted on behalf of Bic, it has been found that almost half of 13-19 year olds have never written a thank you letter, 83% have not written a love letter and just over a quarter have never even written out a birthday card.

In the world of social media, instant messaging and texting, it seems that writing has taken a backseat with 1 in 5 youngsters failing to pick up a pen, more than once every couple of months, outside of school hours. Writing is a skill that is creative, helping to unlock an individual’s potential. It is so sad to see it being overlooked in favour of tapping away on a keyboard or touchscreen.

Handwritten letters are so personal and heartfelt, and can be treasured long after any words on a screen have been deleted. 65% of youngsters admitted that they knew that recipients of a handwritten letter, rather than an electronic equivalent, would be delighted by such a thoughtful gesture. Yet they still choose to text rather than write.

The #JustWrite campaign was launched by Bic UK and ROI to try to encourage people of all ages to pick up a pen and get writing. Bic sent us some of their kids' range to help get Freddy writing, and to nurture this important life skill, making handwriting a pleasure and not a chore.

Whether they are writing out cards for their classmates; making a wishlist for Santa or writing a thank you note to the grandparents, there are lots of opportunities for getting the kids practicing their penmanship this Christmas. Keeping a Christmas diary to record all the fun, festive things that they get up to, is a lovely idea to get children putting pen to paper during the holidays. A good way to get children enthusiastic about writing is to pop some lovely stationery items into their Christmas stockings. Who can resist the lure of brand new pens and pencils? The Bic Kids Evolution colouring pencils would be a wonderful gift for a child with their bright colours and extra resistant leads. All forms of mark making help with the fine motor skills needed for writing.

As a parent, I believe that I play a big role in passing on a love and respect of handwriting to my children. Encouraging them to pick up a pen to help me write a shopping list for Christmas supplies or getting them to enjoy some role play, such as pretending to be a waiter taking orders for dinner, makes it a fun activity rather than a chore.

Freddy is 6 and is just getting to grips with hand writing. He finds it a bit difficult to keep his letters neat, well formed and on the line, but practice makes perfect. Using the Bic Kids handwriting goodies, Freddy was keen to write out some family Christmas cards as well as a special birthday card for his nephew Ted, who turns three this month. Making writing fun is definitely the way to go when it comes to getting children to write for their own enjoyment. Freddy loved sitting down and independently using his new stationery to get writing.

Having the child friendly Bic Kids stationery really helped with the physical process of writing. The stationery is designed to encourage correct finger positioning and is comfortable for little hands to hold. The refillable mechanical pencil was Freddy's favourite item from the Bic Kids range. The neat little mechanical pencil comes with a thick HB lead and six refills. It also includes handy sticker name tags to personalise it. Suitable for both left and right handers, it has visual guiding lines for correct finger positioning. The Graphite Learners Pencil is a chunky, wooden pencil with an ultra resistant 2HB lead. The pencil itself is triangular for easy grip and won't splinter if it breaks. It is also made to resist pencil chewing. It is great to see stationery designed with kids in mind!

Freddy's next writing project will be his letter to Santa, which he'll do once he breaks up from school, ready to leave out for the Big Man himself on Christmas Eve!

Cool, colourful stationery stocking fillers from Helix Maped

A great gift idea for school age children is stationery. Kids love something shiny and new in their pencil case or school bag, so it's a good idea to pop some lovely, colourful, kid-friendly stationery in their Christmas stockings. Anything that encourages my six year old Freddy to put pen to paper is a good thing, so if I can add an element of fun to writing, all the better. Even reluctant writers won't be able to resist when faced with a selection of cool, funky stationery,  such as these lovely products from Maped.

Maped Helix is a stationery brand with a long history in making educational supplies. The Maped products are the fun side of the brand, giving brightly coloured, quirkily designed, stationery supplies that the kids will love using. We were sent some products from the range to try.

The product that immediately caught my eye was the Bunny Innovation sharpener. The rabbit's mouth has buck teeth that move up and down when the pencil is sharpened as if nibbling on the pencil, helping kids learn to use the sharpener properly. It's innovative and fun and encourages a child's independence and responsibility when it comes to managing their own stationery.

The Twin Tip pen is the first double nibbed pen with colour changing ability, allowing writers to switch between four different coloured inks. Each end writes with a choice of two colours so switching between them is quick and simple. The soft grip pen makes it comfy to use. Great for diary writing, kids can easily add some colour to their page using just the one pen.

Tatoo Soft Scissors are comfy to use and beautifully designed with colourful handles and matching colourfully designed blades. They are perfect for paper crafting and are 13cm in length making them good for smaller hands to manage. The Graph Pens are vividly coloured, fine markers for writing and drawing. Their triangular shape makes them easy to hold and control. 20 different colours are available in a variety of sets or individually. The Colour Peps Flex Box is another innovative Maped product. The lidded tube contains 12 coloured pencils, which can be easily accessed by removing the lid and squashing down the flexible, concertina-style tubing to create a handy pencil pot. Once you've finished you can unclip the tube and allow it to go back to its full size and pop on the lid, storing your pencils safely and neatly away. It's a fun design that is quite ingenious. The pencils themselves have a soft lead and an easy to sharpen wood surround, making them nice to use.

These are just a small selection from the extensive Maped range. They also stock lots of stuff for left-handers, which I think is absolutely brilliant. Having lefties in the family, I know the difficulties they have when it comes to using some stationery, so to find fun and colourful left-handed friendly products is great for leftie kids.

See the range on the website at: www.mapedhelix.co.uk/products

Playing and Learning with Faber-Castell

Freddy returned to school last week, and after a slightly shaky start is settling down well into Year 2. It is a big jump for him to go from a class where play was the focus into a class that consists of children in both years 2 and 3. Hopefully though, he will do OK and get more confident and discover loads of new things that will ignite his passion for learning.

At home, I think it is important to maintain the momentum and support his formal education with some fun creative activities, so when Faber-Castell sent him a bundle of art goodies, we were very pleased to test them out. Faber-Castell allows children to explore their creativity through the world of colour and their products are individually designed to suit the child's age and development.

The products we received came from the Connector range, which all benefit from having connectable attachments keeping component parts together. We received the Connector Clip Colours, a Jungle Adventure Creative Craft Kit with Connector Pens and a Connector Paint Box.

The Clip Colours Connector Pens have special lids that clip into each other, keeping the pens attached to one another. This is extremely handy to avoid the problem of rolling felt tips, especially when in the hands of a six year old on an arty mission. 

The tips are quite fine and the colours are vibrant, making these pens lovely to use for both colouring in and drawing pictures or designs.

The connectors are used for creativity rather than practicality in the Jungle Adventure craft kit. The pieces clip together in a way that makes them great for modelling. The set comprises of some art sheets featuring cut out animal body parts, which can be coloured in using the 12 pens that are included in the set, and attaching them together with the 20 Connector clips and 50 caps to make a giraffe, a bird and an elephant model. Full colour instructions are included, for completing the project. There is also a background that can be coloured in to create a fun jungle scene. The set gives tips on how to colour in using different techniques such as using squiggles or dash lines. The Connector pieces can be used in a lot of different ways in other creative projects that children will enjoy discovering. At £7.99 this is a good value set, also available in Desert and Ocean Adventure themes.

The Faber-Castell Connector Paintbox is really lovely. It contains twelve blocks of colourful water soluble paint, a tube of white paint and a retractable Clic & Go paint brush in a palette with a lid.

Each individual block of paint can be removed from the palette and they can be joined together using the connectors on their edges. This enables the artist to put together a set of colours of their choosing or order them in the palette to suit their needs. The brush is great as it retracts into the handle keeping it safe from damage when not in use. The underside of the lid of the box can be used to mix paints, which is handy, and the lid clips on securely for storage. Prices start at £10 for the 12 paint palette.

The Faber-Castell products will certainly inspire little artists to create some works of art, but are also suitable for older, more serious creative kids.

Stockists include www.stonegift.com where you can find the range of Faber-Castell Connector products.

Smencils Smell Challenge #getkidswriting

Smencils are scented pencils that come in lots of fragrances, to make writing more fun!  Each Smencil is a chunky no.2 graphite pencil, which is made of 100% recycled newspaper. They come in an individual recyclable plastic tube with a collectible character top cap. They are perfect for stationery addicts and will encourage kids to get writing.

We were invited to take part in a Smencils Challenge to celebrate National Stationery Week. We received a pack of five and Freddy agreed to be blindfolded as he tried to guess the scents of the Smencils.

Take a look at the video below, and see how well he did in guessing the smell of the Smencils!

                              


Having stationery that is colourful and fun can be a real incentive for children to pick up a pencil and write. Even reluctant learners like my Freddy can't resist the lure of a fabulously scented Smencil!

Find out more about the world of Smencils at the Scentco UK Facebook page.
UK stockists include Amazon, where the five pack that Freddy smell tested cost £5.00.

#Win Some Back to School Goodies from Wilko

With the kids staring school next week, we've been buying spanking new, shiny stationery for them.  Nothing beats starting the new term with a cool pencil case filled with fabulous stationery!

Wilko's have sent us some of their new range of stationery, from their Friendly Fairy and Galaxy Gang collections, so Kizzy and Freddy can start September in style.

The Galaxy Gang will appeal to space mad kids with the fun rocket, space and robot design.  I adore the rocket pencil case which is fabulous and it is well made and good quality.  The chunky felt tips are great for little hands and the mini art pack is packed with paints and other arty bits and bobs for creative kids. the stationery set is great value and includes a pen, pencil, ruler, rubber and sharpener.

The price of the Galaxy Gang stationery is really affordable.

Rocket Pencil Case £2.50

Mini Art Pack £1.75

Chunky Felts £1.00

Stationery Set £1.00

The Friendly Fairy range features a cute fairy, love hearts, flowers and stars in pretty pastels and pinks. The A5 notebook will be great for taking notes.  The pencil case is a barrel design with a shiny, satin finish. 

Barrel pencil case £2.00

A5 Notebook £1.50

Chunky Pencils £0.90

Stationery Set £1.00

Wilko's have also sent me a selection of their fantastic stationery to give away to one lucky winner.  To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter entry form and let me know in a comment what is your favourite of the two designs.  Do you like the Friendly Fairy or the Galaxy Gang?  And also follow @LoveWilko on Twitter and keep up with all the latest Wilko's chat!  Giveaway closes at midnight on September 5th 2013.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Some Back To School Essentials

This year I have three children to get ready for going back to school.  So we have already been busy buying uniforms, school bags, lunch boxes and stationery.  We have also been sent some Back To School goodies to try out.

STABILO have a brilliant range of back to school stationery to get the kids excited about September.  We were sent some and my kids were genuinely delighted.  

STABILO's EASYoriginal pen is an ergonomically designed rollerball pen with a special grip meaning little hands can hold it correctly and comfortably.   It comes especially designed for either left or right handed children and comes in a variety of colours. RRP £6.99

The HB, triangular design, ergonomic pencil is perfect for Freddy.  The non-slip grip moulds make the pencil easy to grip, whilst keeping the hand relaxed. to prevent tiring. They come in left and right handed versions for an ergonomic writing experience. These pencils will be invaluable to Freddy who will be starting school in September and is learning to write.  He definitely held them better than he can a regular pencil and they are chunkier too.  The grip moulds are positioned perfectly for his little fingers. There is also a name tag on the pencil so they won't get lost.  I am very impressed by them and hope Freddy will soon using them to write his letters!  RRP £2.99 for two.

Ella was quick to lay claim to the STABILO point 88 fine liners which are available in 25 different colours.  They are perfect for jazzing up school work and have a long cap-off time to keep them from drying out. They have a hexagonal design and a metal enclosed tip. The Colour Parade set, that we were sent, comes in brilliant packaging which opens up to make a stand-up display for easy use.  They are great for school, college and beyond.  RRP £24.48

www.stabilo.com

STABILO also have a great online resource for parents and teachers providing activity sheets for early writers featuring Dock the Mouse.  It is completey free to use and download. It includes an excellent Early Writers Activity Sheet Creator for creating your own worksheets. This is going to be extremely useful with Freddy staring school in September.  You can find this excellent free resource at http://www.stabilo.com/pages-uk/pages/teach.php.  

Asda has sent us some of their Back To School range.  They stock a huge range of top branded products such as these Crayola washable felt pens and coloured Pritt Sticks at great prices.

They also have lots of own brand products from pens, pencils, pencil cases, rulers, geometry sets, calculators, folders and note books.  There are loads of different designs available to suit children's tastes such as the very fashionable and cute owl design. Asda stocks everything your child needs for school in a one stop shop (including a huge range of school uniform items too!)

www.asda.com

Back To School also unfortunately means the return of the dreaded headlice.  So I was pleased to receive a bottle of Hedrin Protect & Go to use.  It is a fuss free spray that can be applied twice a week to protect  your child from infestation or used at times when the risk is increased such as a sleepover.  Simply spray in the hair and it dries naturally leaving hair looking healthy and conditioned. The conditioning spray smells fruity with an orange and mango scent.  Prevention is definitely better than cure! It is recommended for children aged 4 - 11 due to them having greater levels of close physical contact with friends.  It's skin friendly and contains no known asthma triggers. At £4.29 for 120 ml, it is available from Boots, pharmacies and leading retailers nationwide.

www.hedrin.co.uk

While I'm preparing for the new school term September, I'm making sure that I enjoy every second of the summer holidays.  I hope you are enjoying having the kids home too!

The Scribble House

Beautiful Leatherbound 2013 Diary

The Scribble House is the home of luxurious leather gifts which look fabulous and are made to last.  I was offered the chance to sample a beautiful, leatherbound diary so I have no excuse not to be organised in 2013! Perfect for the home or office, these gorgeous diaries just ooze quality and would make lovely gifts.

They come packaged in a smart white box, embossed with a gold logo.  It really adds to the presentation of the diary.  

I chose a Blue Crocodile effect leather finish for my medium sized diary.  

It is embossed with a gold 2013 in the top right hand corner and the cream coloured paper is gilt edged.  Initials can be added by arrangement.

The main section is a week to view layout with hours printed on to help organise your day.  There is a cream satin ribbon to save your page so you always know exactly where you are in your diary.  

Handy calendars run along the bottom of the page to make it easy to check future dates.  The diary also contains maps, space for notes, an address section, a London Tube map and other useful pages.

This is truly a really high quality item that is as beautiful as it is practical.

It is available to order for £49.00.  It comes in both crocodile effect and smooth leather finishes (this option is £46.00).  There is a selection of colours including traditional black and a gorgeous pink.  A pocket sized version and a large desk diary version are also available. 

A Diary from The Scribble House would certainly make a wonderful Christmas gift.

Find this and other gorgeous, quality, luxurious leather gifts at scribblehouse.co.uk

Back To School With Poundland

When kitting the kids out with stationery for going back to school in September, it is nice to know you can save cash by shopping at Poundland where everything costs just £1.  We were sent £10 to stock up on back to school essentials and we enjoyed filling our basket with goodies.  

Poundland also have a range of extra value products that include EXTRA FREE items so you get even more for your money.   More pencils, more colouring pencils, more pens, more highlighters, more dinner money envelopes etc!

The One Direction stationery range is proving very popular among young girls and Kizzy picked out these gel pens.  I'm sure she'll be the envy of her 1D fan friends!!  I may pinch the Harry Styles pen for myself if I can sneak it past Kizzy  ;)

Poundland stocks some top brand products and we got a big pack of Blu-Tack for just a pound.  Other top brands for sale include Bic, Tippex, Uhu and Cadbury's so you know you are getting the best for less.  Kids' favourites such as Disney, Spiderman, Me To You and Barbie are also available.

We were really impressed by the academic diaries.  There are lots of  designs to choose from and they are a fraction of the price of other, similar ones I have seen in other shops.  They are perfect for the older children to keep themselves organised at school or college.

Poundland also have a range of basic essential stationery items at two for £1!

Check out the Back 2 School  at poundland.co.uk

Great Stationery Ideas From Stabilo

With September fast approaching Kizzy is preparing her 'back to school' kit, so receiving a selection of items from Stabilo to try out, made her very happy indeed!  She loves stationery as her bulging pencil case will testify!

Some of Stabilo's Stationery Products

When it comes to stationery, Stabilo produce some very funky and innovative items.  The Cappi Pens are quite ingenious.  They are felt tips with their lids attached to a clever ring which means you will never lose another pen lid again.  As losing lids is a favourite pastime in our house, this will help prevent the dilemma of dried out felts!  They cost £6.50 for a pack of 12.

Another clever idea is the Woody, a chunky 3 in 1 wooden pencil that is a colouring pencil, watercolour and crayon in one, that is perfect for little hands.  Freddy likes scribbling with it and the depth of colour is satisfyingly good on the page.  They are good first pencils for toddlers to encourage early writing skills.  They cost £8.00 for a box of six.

Stabilo also produce a range of ergonomic pens for left-handers which is a great idea.  My husband is a leftie and remembers struggling to write at school and smearing ink across his work in the process.  It is really good that there is now a solution to help left handers with their penmanship!

With handwriting pens, colourful fineliners and cute highlighters to pop into her pencil case, Kizzy will be well prepared for the new school term!

Stabilo Pens are available from Amazon, Cult Pens and other good stationery stockists.

Back To School Savings Challenge

As the Summer Holidays race on, thoughts are turning to the big Back To School shopping trip to prepare for September.  The shops are filled with all types of back to school gear which can be a bit overwhelming.  It is tricky knowing where to start and decide exactly what your children really need.

The Back to School Spending Report surveyed over 2,000 people to find out how people are spending in these cash-strapped times and how they fit the new school year into their finances. The key findings from the report found that 35% of people feel burdened by the expense of kitting kids out for the school year and 15% always spend more than they expected on back to school.  However the stand out stat was that it costs a whopping £121 to send one child back to school every September. This figure includes the cost of shoes, uniform, stationery and school bags.

Most Wanted is the lifestyle magazine from UK's #1 money saving site Vouchercodes.co.uk.  They are dedicated to smarter shopping and are looking for ways to bring down the cost of the Back To School spend! By asking  parents to share tips and guidance on saving money and challenging bloggers to seek the best high street back-to-school basics, all for under £80, they are looking to find the best uniform, shoes, trainers, sports kit and stationery sets on the high street.

Kizzy is about to go into Class 5 next term.  She loves to be involved in the back to school shop and enjoys picking out new things for the new term.  I have been kitting out my kids for school since my eldest started Infants back in 1993!  So I have had lots of practice and have lots of experience in this field.  I love getting bargains and saving money is very important to me as a mum to five children.

Ready For School

• My first school uniform buying tip is to forget designer labels!  The supermarkets stock uniform must-haves for incredibly cheap prices.  If your kids are like mine, their polo shirts get discoloured and dirty very quickly, thanks to spilled lunches and messy art lessons. Asda stocks a two pack with lovely scalloped collars from just £2.50.  A few packs will see Kizzy throughout the whole academic year.  You only need to have enough in use for one to wear, one in the wash and one in the wardrobe.  They wash up really well.   Asda's Teen Bootcut Stretch Trousers start at size 10-11 years making them a really trendy option for young girls who want to look and feel grown-up at school and cost just £7 a pair.  PE shorts, T-shirts and tracksuits are also available at low prices.  You don't need to kit them out in Adidas and Nike...if your child is like mine, they will lose half of their sportswear throughout the school year anyway.  It is much less galling to replace a £2 PE sweatshirt than one that cost £25!

• Tesco also stocks a great range of cheap school uniform essentials and if you take advantage of the Summer Clubcard Exchange you can get £10's worth of clothing for every £5 Clubcard voucher!

• Our biggest uniform cost is the compulsory dark green, logo school sweatshirt which costs £15, but in true frugal style I bought Kizzy the larger size last year, making it fine for another year!  If any of your child's uniform still fits, then carry on wearing it!

• Shoes can pose an expensive problem for us as Kizzy has fallen arches and needs good support meaning that  many off the shelf cheap shoes are inappropriate for her feet.  Deichmann shoe shops sell a huge range of branded shoes and their serve-yourself policy allows us to try on as many pairs as needed to find a pair that supports Kizzy's feet.  The great thing is that they always have great prices and they also have a Buy One Get One Half Price offer on their Back To School range, meaning we can get both Kizzy's school shoes and PE trainers (non-designer of course) for less cash!  I don't go for top designer labels as their feet grow so fast.  And if her shoes from last year still fit her feet, we give them a quick polish and she is happy to wear them until she needs the next size up.

School Shoes!

• Making sure that all your purchases can be returned to your child if they end up in the Lost Property basket at school  is a really important money saving idea.  You can buy iron-in or sew-on labels, but I opt for a laundry marking pen which costs just 98p in Morrison's.  Most school uniform items have a label inside for putting on the owner's name, so a quick session of name writing will have your child's name prominently displayed on each garment.  

• Stationery can be expensive if your buy one of everything for each of your children.  I have learned however, that at Primary School children really only need a pencil case, a couple of handwriting pens, a couple of pencils, a sharpener, a rubber and a 6" ruler.  Forget the geometry sets, calculators, glue sticks, felt tips, highlighters, fountain pens, Sharpie markers and other paraphernalia.  They are not needed at this stage.  Most stuff beyond the basics are supplied in class if needed.  Plain versions of the essentials cost pennies, but if your kids want something a bit fancier then Wilkos current stationery range includes some great designs such as Photography, Nostalgia, Geo and Sweet Shop and currently have a 3 for 2 offer!

• Another trick I have learned is that after September, shops like Asda and Wilkos sell off their Back To School stationery with prices up to 75% off.   I stock up on all the bits and bobs we need, keeping them in a big plastic box in the garage.  I then have a constant supply of pencils and rubbers to give the kids all year round.  (My supply of fancy pens and pencils also make great party bag gifts or birthday presents throughout the year.)

• Lunch boxes can be really expensive.  I have paid loads of money for the latest, zip up, padded design in the past.  But one thing I have discovered is that they get really dirty, really quickly and end up having to be replaced just as quickly as a cheaper version.  Nothing really beats a plastic tupperware box which can have the lid  customized with stickers to make it personalized and easily recognisable in the pile of One Direction lunchboxes that will appear in the classroom come September.  The box can be properly washed every night keeping it hygienically clean.  Popping in a frozen insert will keep the food inside safe.  Drinks bottles are the same, don't waste a fortune buying a fancy one...kids will still chew the top off!  You can buy a cheap one from Poundland for £1 and replace it regularly keeping it hygienic and safe.  

• School Bags can be another big expense if you let them be!  Up until secondary school, children don't have much to carry to and from school.  They do not need something as big as a suitcase!  A simple zip up rucksack, tote bag or a messenger bag is perfect for school.   Wilkinsons, Primark or Asda are great shops to pick up a bag for about £6.

Sending your child back to school needn't be a huge expense.  A sensible , thrifty approach needn't mean that your child misses out on looking good and feeling confident walking through the school gates for a new school year.  Involving them in the shopping and extolling the virtues of saving money is an opportunity to teach them some valuable life lessons.  Remind them that by spending less on their uniform means more money for the fun things in life!!

Disclaimer:  I received payment for contributing editorial input for the back to school report.

Secret Santa Ideas for Fashionistas

If you are looking for the perfect Secret Santa solution for a stylish colleague or a stocking filler for a fashionista teenager  then look no further!

If your Christmas budget doesn't stretch to a pair of Laboutins or a Mulberry handbag, you can still stay on trend with a fashionable gift from Scotch and Post-It, two of the leading stationery brands, who have some practical, yet elegant accessories that will add style to any desk!

How about this trendy mock-croc style Handbag Post-It Note Dispenser?  Perfect for jotting down shopping lists and memos, Post-Its are incredibly useful.  The weighted dispenser looks fabulous and ensures your Post-Its stay put on your desk, close at hand.

If shoes are the accessory of choice, how about this chic Stiletto Scotch Tape Dispenser?  This chic shoe will see any desk step up in the style stakes and avoids any tape related sticky situations by keeping a reel of Scotch Magic Tape ready for use and at hand.

Both items are fun, cute, stylish and designed for that wow factor, yet they are practical too.  They'll turn a work desk into a talking point!

I was sent a stiletto to try and was surprised at how big and well made it is.  It is impressive, girly and looks really impressive in its shiny, black finish.  It certainly makes stationery a lot more appealing and fun!

The handbag is £8.99 complete with one pack of Post-Its.  The Stiletto is £7.99 including a roll of Scotch Magic Tape.

My daughters would love one of each in their stockings...a perfect present for students, teens, work colleagues or fashion loving friends.

Available from Tesco, Staples and Amazon.