Not your run-of-the-mill office supplies

A few weeks ago, I shared some fun business card cases, many from etsy.com. By far, I find etsy to be the best resource for non-traditional finds. Whether it's handmade or vintage, it will most likely be one of a kind (or at least very few of the same kind).

Here are some of my office supply picks from etsy.com


Some other great resources for office supplies that aren't run-of-the-mill:

• See Jane Work
• The Office Stylist's Sorting With Style
• Paper Source
• Kate's Paperie
• Muji
• Iomoi
• ProfessionGal's new shop, when it opens (I'm sure it will be on this list!)

Where do you go for office supplies?

Office Supply of the Month | Whiteboards

As a schoolchild, I was what you'd call a teacher's pet. I volunteered for everything. Sharpen the pencils? Sure! Pass out worksheets? Yes! But my favorite task of all? Erasing the chalkboards. Something about wiping the slate clean in preparation of a new subject or new day was sort of refreshing. The downside? Chalk dust.

The sea change from chalkboard to whiteboard began sometime during my junior high years. By high school, about half of the classrooms had replaced their chalkboards with whiteboards. They were even better. Loads of colors, easier to wipe. I used to a large, colorful whiteboard in my cubicle (Tasks were color-coded by project and person responsible. Deadlines in red, of course), and I'm still trying to figure out how to work a whiteboard into my current setup (likely in the entryway, since the office space is running low on wall space).

History
Whiteboards were invented sometime in the 1950s or early '60s. Their invention is somewhat unclear.  Some think that they were invented by Martin Helt, a photographer who was looking for a wall-mounted option to jot down notes next to the telephone. He found that a sharpie ink on film negatives could easily be wiped off with water, and ran with that idea.

Regardless of their origin, whiteboards were first commercially produced in the 60s, and were initially made of porcelain mounted on steel. Film laminate whiteboards followed soonafter. Whiteboards became popular in the 1980s, led by businesses and then classrooms, once studies began warning about chalkdust allergies and asthma. By the mid-90s, they were the classroom writing board of choice, and the rest is history.

You can use dry erase markers on glass, mirrors, laminated paper, sealed ceramics, metal, or specially treated wood for the same effect.

Uses
Write on them
Draw on them
Distract children by letting them draw on it
Projector screen
Permanent calendar (tape down the grid with thin electrical tape and you won't have to worry about redrawing lines every month...Sharpies wipe off when you draw over them)
Making a cool video
Ok, there are not that many uses for whiteboards, but they can be pretty fun


Fun with whiteboards

Are you a whiteboard user? Do you prefer classic whiteboard, clear glass or mirror, or some other kind of surface?

Office Supply of the Month | Correction fluid

I'm not sure about you, but I generally think of Wite Out before I think correction fluid. It's one of those brand names that's somehow seeped into our everyday vernacular, like Kleenex and Chapstick.

Back in the early typewriter days, there were very few ways to correct a document with a typo on it; usually the answer was just to toss it and start over. Inventors started by creating special typewriter erasers, complete with eraser shields to protect the type around the mistake. Then erasable bond paper allowed typos to be erased by a regular pencil eraser, but the coating also made any ink easily smudged. Then came correction fluid, and later on, correction tape built right into the typewriter, which used a sticky substance to pull the ink powder right back out of the paper.

Typewriters have a soft spot in my heart...my parents had an electric one, and even after we had a home computer, I'd pull it out to play with and use from time to time. I typed all my college applications on that machine, lining up the row so it would fit in the little spaces just right. The case was the size of a suitcase, and it took all my strength to lug it from the study room across the house to my room (good thing we still had carpet upstairs back then).

Our typewriter had correction tape built in, so I rarely used Wite-Out with it, which is why I'm so fascinated with the fact that the product has held on so long even after the technology that necessitated it has solved the problem in a different, more efficient way. Maybe folks are just having too much fun with it (see uses below).

History
The invention of correction fluid is traced back to Bette Nesmith Graham, a typist. Frustrated with the existing options for correcting typos, she created a tempura paint-based solution in her kitchen blender in 1951. The resulting liquid dried quickly and opaquely, and could be typed over. She bottled up her concoction, dubbed it "Mistake Out," and distributed it at work. In 1956, she started her own company and sold the product from her house for almost two decades. Somewhere along the line, she changed the name to "Liquid Paper." In 1979, Graham sold her Liquid Paper Corporation to Gillette Corporation, and the brand was later acquired by Newell Rubbermaid in 2000.

Liquid Paper (and probably other correction fluid manufacturers) has had issues with its products containing harmful chemicals in the past, and some brands may still carry small risks. There are water-based products on the market today if that's something you're concerned about, although they tend to be slightly thinner and dry slower.

Uses

• Paint your nails (bonus if you can find colorful correction fluid). You can do your whole nail or use a pen for
• Make etchings in metal more visible, like on file cabinet lock numbers (dab it on and swipe it right back off before it dries...the excess will remain in the grooves of the numbers)
• Label keys or other items that pen ink won't stick to and sharpies may not show up on.
• Use as touch-up paint for white items.
• As a paint pen for crafts. 

Fun with correction fluid

Some discontinued colors (sometimes on ebay or other websites): Green, blue, pink

Do you still use correction fluid? Or did that go the way of the typewriter?

Office Supply of the Month | Sticky notes

I can't believe it's taken me a long time to get to one of my favorite office supplies ever, but I think it's mostly because I see sticky notes as less of an office supply and more of a life tool. It's true—in my home office, I have an entire desktop organizer dedicated to various sizes and colors of sticky notes

Those white drawers on the left by the lamp are exclusively for sticky notes. Flags go in the top drawer, small rectangular notes in the middle, and regular 3"x3" notes and specialty notes (stars, footballs, etc.) on the bottom.

I use sticky notes for everything: edits on documents that I don't want to mark up, to-do lists, makeshift index tabs, directions, addresses on shipments (for ops staff to send), cleaning my keyboard (sticky side down). Although my home supply is typically the smaller stuff, at work I also like the lined kind (about 4"x6") or even the large wall-posted sized ones for meetings and brainstorms. Adhesive + paper = endless possibilities.

History
Sticky notes were (not so intentionally) invented in 1968 when 3M chemist Dr. Spencer Silver developed a pressure-sensitive, reusable adhesive. Initially, 3M struggled to find a use for this new discovery, and it wasn't until 1974 that Art Fry, one of Silver's colleagues at 3M, came up with the idea of using the adhesive on strips of paper to use as a bookmark in his church hymnal. In 1978, Fry began marketing the product under the brand Press n' Peel, but the sales were disappointing. Post-its were officially introduced into the U.S. market in 1980. Post-it flags came soon after in 1987. The patent for Post-its expired in the 1990s, opening the door for other manufacturers to get in on the sticky note market.

In case you're curious, 3M has a fun timeline of fun facts about their Post-it product on their website.


Uses
Bookmark
Marking notes and comments
Art
Index tabs
Sticking reminders or inspirations quotes in high visibility places
Makeshift lint roller
Label things temporarily
Flipbook
Measurements


Fun with sticky notes

What are your favorite uses for sticky notes?

Office Supply of the Month | Highlighters

If you're anything like me, you love color coding. Seriously, I think I may need an intervention. One of the best inventions in color coding ever: highlighters. I've got green, yellow, purple, blue, and orange at my desk, and it's not uncommon for me to use all those colors in one document (usually while reviewing and trying to understand--not an editing tool).

History
A highlighter is a felt-tip pen filled with transparent ink. Felt-tip pens were first invented in 1952 by Sidney Rosenthal, who attached a wool tip to a glass ink bottle. In 1962, Yukio Horie of Japan took the idea further by creating a fiber-tip pen (using bamboo fibers) that used dye instead of ink. In 1963, the Avery Dennison company introduced their "Hi-Liter," which was a fiber-tipped pen with translucent ink. While initially the Hi-Liter was available in pastel colors, the company introduced a flourescent yellow in 1978, still the most popular highlighter color today.

Uses
Marking up documents
Drawing and art
Giveaways
I used to color my nails with highlighters before my mom let me use fun colored nail polish. Anyone else?

Fun with highlighters

I'm a huge fan of How It's Made. And guess what? They've covered highlighters. Enjoy!

Are you a fan of highlighters? What is your favorite color?

Office Supply of the Month | Pushpins

I love a good bulletin board for its utility and versatility, and no bulletin board would be complete without pushpins to secure things on it! Also known as thumbtacks, map pins, or drawing pins, these small supplies pack a lot of punch into a tiny piece of metal. It is basically a short pin or nail with a rounded or otherwise enlarged head for easy insert and removal using your fingers. They work best when used on a porous but somewhat dense surface (not great for those padded cubicle walls).

There are a few notable differences between thumbtacks and pushpins, and even among pushpins there are several varieties (map pins being among those). In daily vocabulary, however, they're often rather interchangeable (unless you work in the office supply business, I suspect).

• Thumbtacks generally lie flat. You push them in with your thumb.
• Pushpins usually have a plastic handle of some sort.

History
The invention of the pushpin is usually credited to Edwin Moore of Pennsylvania, and dates back to 1900, although some reports identify his invention as what we now call the map pin. The modern pushpin is often credited to Heinrich Sachs of Austria (1888), Johann Kirsten of Germany (1902), or Mick Clay of England (1903). Mass production began shortly after, and the rest is history!

Uses
Posting things on walls, bulletin boards, and other pin-able surfaces
Making nail-head lined things (using the single nail head-type pins, not the trim that comes in a strip)
Making art
Jewelry display
Mark places you've been on a map


Fun with thumbtacks

Or make your own decorative thumb tacks [Project Orange].


What are your favorite uses for pushpins? Favorite types?


_____

Completely unrelated

Sweet Cassie over at Oh, Say Can You Say? gave me the Versatile Blogger award last week! I'm supposed to share seven random facts about myself and tag 15 other bloggers to do the same. Since I've shared facts on here several times already, I'll be doing my (all new) things on Facebook this time and instead of tagging other bloggers, I'd like you to share something each day in response to my fact! If you'd like to see which bloggers I enjoy the most, just click on over to my blogroll--I could never narrow it down to just 15.

Office Supply of the Month | Adhesive tape

This month's office supply isn't really just relegated to the office. I keep it at my desk, in my toolbox, in the living room, you name it. It's the sticky stuff! There are a multitude of tape options to choose from: clear tape, packing tape, duct tape, masking tape, double-sided tape, painter's tape, paper (washi) tape, electrical tape, surgical tape.

History
Tape is pretty simple. It all starts with adhesive, which can take on natural or synthetic forms. The earliest found adhesive substance dates back to 4000 BC and is believed to be made of tree sap. In the centuries following, other adhesives were found and made, most commonly from fish and fish parts, but also from animal bones, milk, rubber, and starch. The first patent for an adhesive was issued in Britain in 1750; many others soon followed.

Other fun dates:
1921 - The Band-Aid is invented by an employee of Johnson and Johnson.
1925 - An engineer at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (now 3M) creates masking tape to prevent the bleed-through common to cloth-backed tape when spray-painting automobiles.
1930 - A clear tape called Scotch Brand Cellulose was invented by the same 3M engineer.
1942 - Johnson and Johnson creates duct tape, a waterproof and super-grippy tape, for use in World War II to seal canisters and repair equipment in the field. Duct tape is basically cloth tape coated in polyethylene.


Uses
Sticking things together
Taping up a hem
Labelling your lunch
Water/smudge-proofing (tape over ink)
French manicure guide
Tape over wires to avoid tripping
Taping down a collar
Repairing things
Painting
Reinforcing holes in punched paper
Lint roller (roll a piece of tape adhesive side out, slip over finger, and roll over clothes)
Keep belt ends down
Decoration
Clean between keyboard keys
Fix shoelace ends
Taping a heel tap back on


Fun with adhesive tape

What is your favorite kind of tape? Your favorite use for tape?

Office Supply of the Month | Binder clips

I have a confession. For the longest time as a kid, I had no idea what binder clips did. In fact, I was a bit scared of them. Could. Not. Figure. Them. Out.

Now, I love them. I love that they can hold way more than a paperclip without the permanency of a staple. I love how they come in various sizes so that you can choose just the right one that sits nearly flush with your papers without sticking out awkwardly. I love using them away from the desk. But enough about that.

History
Louis Baltzley is credited with inventing the binder clip in Washington D.C. in 1910; a patent was granted in 1915. Back then, the most common method for binding larger amounts of paper together was punching holes and sewing them together.  Not exactly a very versatile solution. 


Uses
Binding things together
Desk-side cable management (via Lifehacker. I do this at home.)
To keep toothpaste rolled from the bottom up rolled (I do this, too)
Makeshift clipboard (binder clip + thin, hard surface)
Hanging a packet of things
Chip clip
Duvet cover clip
Wallet
Keep trash bags from slipping down
Refrigerator beer stacker

Fun with binder clips

What are your favorite binder clip uses? Favorite binder clips?

Office Supply of the Month | Staples

Pardon me for skipping the Office Supply of the Month for December. I was all caught up in this remixing challenge (you may have heard of it), and didn't realize I'd forgotten it until it was way too late! But have no fear, I am back on track with this whole posting thing. For this month--staples!

History
Staples have a long and varied past; metal staples have been found possibly dating as far back as the 6th century BC in Iran, and are thought to have been used to secure stones together in construction. The first known stapler was invented in the 18th century for King Louis XV of France. Following that, several mechanisms for stapling were invented, ones that would insert the staple but not secure it, and others that would secure the staple after it had been inserted.  A handheld stapler that would both insert and clinch a staple was patented by Henry Heyl in 1877.

Uses

• Stapling things to a bulletin board, item by item or to cover the whole thing (like I covered mine with fabric)
• Staple up a falling hem
• For crafts: staple chains, sticking in the sides of wax candles (designs)

Fun with staples

Do you have any interesting uses for staples or staplers? Do you prefer traditional, staple-less or electric staplers?

Introducing the Office Supply of the Month

I've been waxing on for a while about how I'm running out of things to put on my wish list (confession: I'm not. I still want things I don't need just like everyone else in this world). But to toss some variety into the mix, the second Monday each month will be dedicated to an office supply.

November's inaugural pick: the trust ol' paperclip.

History
The first U.S. patent for a bent-wire fastener was issued in 1867 to Samuel B. Fay, although Fay's version was designed to secure tickets or tags onto clothing and bears little resemblance to what we use today.  Not long after, the modern paperclip was patented in 1899 by William D. Middlebrook of Connecticut, along with the machine to produce the clips.  Around the same time, a Norwegian named John Vaaler received a German patent for a similar invention, although slightly different in form, but did not manufacture his invention.

Uses
Holding papers together
Closing potato chip and other food storage bags
Clipping back hair
Other jewelry and craft uses
Poking an inset button (for example on a watch)
Ornament hook
Other uses

Fun with paperclips

Are you a classic silver paperclip user or do you prefer a fun variant? What are your favorite unconventional uses for paperclips?