We’re starting new series here at the Office Ink, introducing you to the people at OnTimeSupplies.com. We thought you might like a peek behind the curtain. We’re a small business, with just a handful of employees running a 24 hour online office supplies store. First up is Rachel, an OnTimeSupplies.com Customer Service Representative in Atlanta, and one of the newer members of our team. Rachel talks about the ins and outs of her job, her favorite office supplies, and how she stays sane and productive while working from home.
How long have you worked for OTS?
A little over a year.
How has your job changed since you started at OTS?
When I first started with OTS I was part-time but now I’m full-time. Originally, I was taking calls and processing orders but now I do that and some other things as well.
What does your current job entail?
I have the privilege of serving our customers. Sometimes that involves taking an order and other times it requires getting them product information, assisting with a return, or finding the right product to meet their needs.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
I love our customers and that we are company that seeks to make our customers happy and to give them the best experience we that we can.
What’s your favorite/handiest office supply?
I have two – my wireless mouse and my personal organizer. I hate the mouse on laptops and am so glad I have the wireless mouse to ease my frustrations. I’m really big into priority planning. My husband teases me because I’m a little old school and prefer hard copy calendars over electronic assistants so, I have a personal organizer by Franklin Covey to help me manage my time and commitments.
Do you have any tips for other people working from home?
Make sure you have a space that you can work from that is separate from the rest of your home life. It is way to easy to open your laptop in the kitchen and get distracted by dishes sitting in the sink. I have a dedicated work space in my home which allows me to set boundaries to go “to” and “from” work as if I worked away from home.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month: win Pink Ribbon Products
Update: this contest is now closed. Find out if you won.
The popular National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Give-Away is back at OnTimeSupplies.com. Enter today for your chance to win tons of cute Pink Ribbon products and support Living Beyond Breast Cancer, an fantastic organization dedicated to improving the lives of women living with breast cancer. OnTimeSupplies.com sends LBBC a donation for every valid contest entry, so enter today.
How to enter the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Give-Away:
Sign up today.
OnTimeSupplies.com accepts contest entries until October 16, 2012.
Tell your friends!
We donate to LBBC for every valid contest entry, so tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter to enter too!
Follow Office Ink!
We’ll announce the winner here October 19th.
Teacher Classroom Organization Tips
The school year is in full swing — your students are turning in assignments, permission slips are coming in, paper work is going out. If you’re already drowning in clutter, we can help. It’s easier to stay organized when you have a place for everything. Check out these classroom organization tips from real teachers and learn how to keep your classroom clutter-free.
Classroom organization tip #1: repurpose household items.
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Store yarn in empty hand cleaning wipe containers. Easy to measure, easy to cut & tangle free. source: growingpk.com |
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Recycle milk jugs into pencil boxes. source: innerfunchild.com |
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Store bulletin board letters in CD Binders.source: growingpk.com |
Classroom organization tip #2: label everything!
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Organize paperwork with labeled binder clips. source: hbgirl71 |
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No forgetting that these pencils belong to Teacher! source: AlwaysLearning |
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Sort & store daily lessons into labeled storage bins. source: Mrs. Terhune’s First Grade Site! |
Classroom Organization Tip #3: organize your files.
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Use a file tote to neatly transport files and ungraded assignments. source: E, Myself, and I |
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Create a “master book” for worksheets & assignments with 3 ring binders & hole-punched pocket folders source: American College of Education via: AlwaysLearning |
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Collect permission slips & other forms from home in interoffice envelopes.source: Tips for Teachers |
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Organize paper work with labels, color coding, step file source: Stacie Wilkie |
Do you have any classroom organization tips for your fellow teachers? Let’s hear ’em! Leave your advice in the comments.
2012 Back to School Give-Away Winner
First, we have to give a big thank you to Avery! They donated $500 in free school supplies to make this the biggest give-away in OnTimeSupplies.com history! And thanks to all the teachers and parents who entered the Back to School Give-Away on Facebook, Twitter and here at the blog.
Ok, now for the part you’re all waiting for. The winner of the Back to School Give-Away & more than $500 in free school supplies is…
Jami Hamel Dela Cerda!
Congratulations, Jami! Everyone else, take heart. We’ve got another massive give-away coming up next month. Stay tuned for another chance to win free stuff from OnTimeSupplies.com.
School Supply Checklist
Don’t want to to take your chances on winning the Back to School Give-Away? Use this school supply checklist to get everything your kids need for the new school year.
Elementary School Supplies
Basic school supplies for early learners:
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Pencils | |
Crayons |
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Pencil-top erasers | |
Washable markers |
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Scissors | |
Watercolor paints |
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Ruler | |
Sketch pad |
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Pocket folders | |
Glue sticks |
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Notebook | |
Supply box |
Middle School Supplies
Middle school students need the same supplies as younger kids, plus:
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3 Ring Binders | |
Colored pencils |
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Wide-ruled notebook paper | |
Dictionary |
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Index Tabs | |
Calculator |
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Spiral notebooks | |
Assignment notebook |
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Erasable Pens |
OnTimeSupplies.com has everything you need, and at bargain prices to boot! Plus, they ship everything the same day, so your school supplies will arrive in just a day or two.
Tip: use Post-it Notes to clean your keyboard.
Martha Stewart is a genius. I saw this tip at Real Simple and just had to try it out. The results are in: if you don’t have a can of compressed air on hand, you can totally use sticky notes to clean your computer keyboard.
Step 1: Fold up the sticky part of the Post-it Note.
Step 2: Slide the sticky portion between your keyboard keys.
Step 3: Get grossed out by all the debris hiding in your keyboard.
Clearly, I need to stop eating lunch at my desk.
Cutest 2013 Calendars at OnTimeSupplies.com
OnTimeSupplies.com has new 2013 calendars in stock. Here’s a round up of the cutest, in our completely objective, unbiased opinion.
Puppy Calendar: nothing’s cuter than puppy pictures…
House of Doolittle Monthly Calendar
…except maybe kitty pictures: Kitten Calendar
House of Doolittle Monthly Calendar
Nature Photo Calendar: a better view than your cubical walls or the parking lot.
AT-A-GLANCE Erasable Yearly Calendar
Floral Calendar: a pretty calendar to get you through the drab winter months.
AT-A-GLANCE Desk Pad Calendar
Pink Ribbon Calendar: cute calendar & GREAT cause!
AT A GLANCE Pink Ribbon Monthly Calender. A portion of proceeds goes to City of Hope.
Fantasy Island Calendar: a scenic calendar to fuel your fantasies of retiring in Tahiti.
AT-GLANCE Monthly Calendar
Cute calendars are a great way to brighten up your work area, without going to extremes. These 2013 calendars will brighten up the dreariest office cubicle. You can see more pretty calendars for sale at OnTimeSupplies.com.
Teacher Bulletin Board Ideas: 10 Inspiring Back-to-School Boards.
Want to welcome your students back to school with an awesome bulletin board? Check out these teacher bulletin board ideas. Each of these boards was created by a real teacher — with a real teacher’s time and budget constraints. Prepare to be inspired!
Bee-Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
The cool part about this theme is that each cell of the “honeycomb” is a student drawing. Awesome class art project!
source: msdurning.blogspot.com
T-Shirt Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
This board is also personalized by contributions from students — each t-shirt is hand decorated.
source: proteacher.net
Train Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
Psst…you could use this one year after year. Just swap out the student pictures.
source: Classroom Displays & Bulletin Boards
Sheep Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
Baa puns never get old! Plus, the sheep are an easy class art project, requiring little more than paper bags, glue sticks, construction paper and cotton balls.
source: San Bernadino County Schools
Fish-Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
The hand-painted paper plate “scales” make for a fun finger painting project.
source: kids-finelines.blogspot.com
Fall-Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
The text on the leaves is computer printed, instead a hand written, giving the whole board a polished look.
source: boardsgalore.com (Not linked because the site appears to have malware issues.)
Undersea-Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
A flashy board created with lots of sparkly borders metallic trim.
source: californiaenglishteacher.blogspot.com
Falling Leaves-Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
A beautiful, simple board, though cutting (then stapling) all those leaves seems like a lot of work! Time for a class project!
source: thevirtualvine.com
Bug-Themed Classroom Bulletin Board
You can’t forget the convenience, and polished results, you get from prepackaged bulletin board kits.
source: proteachers.net
You can find every thing you need to make your bulletin board ideas a reality at OnTimeSupplies.com, including:
- bulletin board paper
- bulletin board trim
- construction paper
- cut-out letters
and more. Need a little more inspiration to get you going? Check out bulletinboardideas.org. They’ve compiled hundreds of great ideas from teachers around the country.
Win $500 in FREE school supplies! [Updated]
Update: The 2012 Back to School Give-Away is closed. Thank you for participating. See winner here.
Update: OnTimeSupplies.com teamed up with Avery to make the Back to School Give-Away bigger & better than ever! Now you can win $500 in FREE school supplies! We’re giving away tons of great Avery office products that help you stay organized all year. Plus, everything your kids will need this school year and next — Crayola markers, Mead notebooks, Ticonderoga pencils and so much more.
You can can also enter the drawing here on the blog. Just subscribe to Office Ink and paste “I want to win FREE school supplies from @OnTimeSupplies! http://bit.ly/aBfbMa” in the comments of this post.
Up your odds of winning for by following and posting on Facebook and Twitter. That nets you three contest entries. For a complete list of all the prize, plus all the rules, head on over to contest page at OnTimeSupplies.com. Good luck!
FREE Office Supplies for Product Testers
***UPDATE 3/7/2018***
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY OFFERING THIS PRODUCT TESTER PROMOTION, BUT WE MAY DO SO AGAIN IN THE FUTURE AND WILL UPDATE THIS PAGE ACCORDINGLY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST!
Signed up to become a Product Tester for OnTimeSupplies.com? Your free office supplies should be arriving shortly. Once you try out the products, you can post your review here.
Thanks to every one who signed up! We can’t wait to hear what you think. And there’s still time sign up for the next batch of free office supplies. Just head on over to our Facebook page to sign up to be a product tester.