10 Imaginative School Supplies

With school coming back into session everywhere, we become nostalgic for a time when we'd gleefully grab our day-glo trapper keepers, lace up our Reebok Pumps, throw on a Starter jacket and race to the bus stop. Ok, we're kidding — getting to school was kind of a drag.

Thankfully, companies like Yikes! and Lisa Frank decided to make the school day a little more whimsical with a grip of bright and sparkly school supplies. Though we would hardly advise taking those kinds of writing utensils with you to a college campus, they did kind of inform our taste for off-the-wall notebooks, pens, and pencils. So with that, here's our gallery of 10 Imaginative School Supplies.

Century Novelty, $1 each

Stanley Cup-hopefuls and casual fans can both agree this is a pretty good take on your standard pencil. Here the blade becomes an eraser, with the rest of the stick forming the pencil. All they'd need is a penalty box-shaped pencil case and you'd be set.

Perpetual Kid, $12

Man's best friend now helps him stay on point, literally. This dog butt pencil sharpener keeps your lead in check and barks while it's working. It comes with its own tray for shavings, which is a lot easier than cleaning up after a real dog.

Supermarket, $82 for 6

The "magic" in these pen cubes comes from the magnets inside. They hold pens at different points that they're attracted to. You can also stack them on top of each other or play around with different combinations. F*cking magnets... how do they work?

Wacom, $200 (Coming Mid-September)

Go from doodle to digital with ease thanks to the Inkling from Wacom. The technology in this functional pen traces your movements on-screen. Ideal for rough drafts and the beginning stages of fleshing out an idea, you can then take your first pass and clean it up on your computer.

Fashionary.org, $24

A moleskine for the stylish set, Fashionary books combine a textile lexicon, silhouettes, and figure templates in a convenient notebook. Available in menswear and womenswear versions, you could use it to actually design on the go, or just as a really awesome notebook.

Design Within Reach, $60

Part of Design Within Reach's 2002 Stainless Desk Set, this clean-looking stapler is sleek, simple, and practical. Its subtle presence lends itself well as a desk accessory, attractive without drawing attention to itself.

CultPens.com, $35

If you were one of those people that couldn't resist taking apart their ballpoint pens, this offering from Parafernalia is ideal. The pen body is made from a single piece of pressed steel that you mold into shape yourself. Nothing is wasted as the remnant of the original metal transforms into an equally attractive pen stand and ruler, and if you've got the skills, you can even make it into a retractable pen.

Questo Design, $18

This quirkily-designed pen holder by John Brauer is part of a series of similiarly-crinkled items like a wastebasket and tissue holder. It does its job without being boring, and that's exactly how we'd define a successful marriage between form and function.

MoMA Store, $11

This mash-up is essentially all 12 years of grade school rolled into one spiral-bound, college-ruled notebook. Integrating a combination of graph paper, sticky notes, flash cards, and legal ledger, you'll be having flashbacks to passing notes in class in no time. Do you like this concept? Circle Yes, No, or Maybe.

KnockKnock, $4

Post-Its kind of lost their eye-catching ability once people started making giant pixel collages out of them. For the times when you need to grab the attenton of your roommate, professor, or even yourself, opt for these WTF notes. KnockKnock has a grip of other similarly cheeky stationery.