Review: BIC Pens and Pencils for Back-to-School (Giveaway)

BIC sent me some of the new stationery products they've released for the back-to-school rush to supplies.  Ball pens in a variety of colors and styles, mechanical pencils with colorful barrels and chrome accents, and erasers with contoured grips (which are also PVC-free--great!). I couldn't help but smile when I opened the box. I always loved shopping for back-to-school.

I loved picking out the pens and pencils, selecting a notebook, wondering if I could persuade my mother to pay more for the style I really loved. Granted there weren't as many options then. I distinctly remember buying a Big Chief tablet to go to grade school. Do you remember those? I think they faded away sometime in the 1990s...but I remember them so fondly. And I believe I went to grade school with a cardboard pencil box. Pretty different from all the plastic ones filling bins in the seasonal aisles. (I found a fun tin one for Audrey.)

There are so many options now. It must be hard to pick for those of you shopping for serious supplies. My girls' list is pretty short and simple so we aren't there yet. There weren't any pens on the list for instance, and mechanical pencils (such as the colorful ones pictured above) are a bit too advanced (strange for a generation using iPads, but anyway...).

But my girls loved coloring with this bright assortment! I am going to drop them in a zippered pouch for when they need a quiet distraction. And I personally am partial to a very smooth writing instrument, so I love the BIC Velocity, which claims to be the "smoothest pen in the universe." Wow. I can't vouch for that, but it was fun to write with, especially in lime green.

I think if my girls were in the higher grades it would be great to think about different colored inks to go with different subjects. Anything to make it more interesting and help them feel better prepared. Or perhaps there could be a rainbow of these pens stashed in a Trapper Keeper notebook so they could pick a color according to mood. Do they still make Trapper Keepers? They were very cool back in my school days.

What were your favorite school supplies? What do you love to purchase for your school-going children today? Leave me a comment and let me know and you'll be entered to win a a set of colorful BIC supplies for your school goers--or you! (U.S. residents only) BIC will be sending one reader:

• BIC Velocity^® Bold Fashion Ball Pen, 8-Pack
• BIC Cristal^® Bold Fashion Ball Pen, 10-pack
• BU3 Grip Fashion Ball Pen, 8-pack
• BIC Erasers, 4-pack
• BIC Atlantis^® Fashion Mechanical Pencil, 4-pack
• BIC Clic Matic^® Mechanical Pencil in Fashion Colors, 4-pack

To enter please leave me a comment below (multiple entries possible):

1. Tell me which school supplies make you feel sentimental. Which do you remember being excited about? What do you enjoy purchasing for your children?
2. Which of these fun new BIC colors would you choose to write with?
3. Follow/Subscribe to Aesthetic Nest and let me know.
4. Like Aesthetic Nest on Facebook (here) and let me know.

This giveaway is open for entries until midnight, Tuesday, August 28th and then I'll pick a random winner. Good luck!