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I just picked up two desk apprentices for $24.99 each. The last one I bought cost me over $40.00. Of all the non-curriculum items I've ever bought for school, this has been my smartest and most used purchase. I now own three.

 

Just in case any one is interested...

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Last time this was mentioned on this board, I went out and bought a second one. They were on sale a month ago at Staples. Now I have two and both are getting great use!

 

I don't have room for three, not at the moment anyway, but I can see myself making some room...

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Last time this was mentioned on this board, I went out and bought a second one. They were on sale a month ago at Staples. Now I have two and both are getting great use!

 

I don't have room for three, not at the moment anyway, but I can see myself making some room...

 

I remember that thread, and I ALMOST went out and got one, and then decided against it...but now I want one again. :tongue_smilie:

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I am sure that I am the ONLY person in the world who didn't love the desk apprentice. I like the idea of it, and I had one for a long time, but I sold it to someone here. I actually can't remember who. :blushing: Maybe it's because we do school at the kitchen table, and we don't have much storage space. We ended up moving into the floor for meals, and it was so heavy, it was a pain. Staples does run specials on them really often so that is nice.

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Guest ME-Mommy
What exactly is a desk apprentice?

 

:iagree:...What *IS* a desk apprentice?? Will I want one when I finally figure it out?? LOL :blushing:

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Guest ME-Mommy
Guest ME-Mommy
I just picked up two desk apprentices for $24.99 each. The last one I bought cost me over $40.00. Of all the non-curriculum items I've ever bought for school, this has been my smartest and most used purchase. I now own three.

 

Just in case any one is interested...

 

Can I ask where you got them for that price?? :) (Because they aren't that price at MY Staples... :( )

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I am sure that I am the ONLY person in the world who didn't love the desk apprentice. I like the idea of it, and I had one for a long time, but I sold it to someone here. I actually can't remember who. :blushing: Maybe it's because we do school at the kitchen table, and we don't have much storage space. We ended up moving into the floor for meals, and it was so heavy, it was a pain. Staples does run specials on them really often so that is nice.

 

The desk apprentice never appealed to me. I think it will take up far too much space, and it looks cluttered.

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I don't think mine is anything special either. It takes up a lot of space, some of the side spaces aren't big enough for larger textbooks, anything I put in the center that's not hardback, tends to slip down inside, and I just don't think it's serving a much better purpose than anything else.

 

 

I am sure that I am the ONLY person in the world who didn't love the desk apprentice. .
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I don't think mine is anything special either. It takes up a lot of space, some of the side spaces aren't big enough for larger textbooks, anything I put in the center that's not hardback, tends to slip down inside, and I just don't think it's serving a much better purpose than anything else.

 

To keep that from happening, I bought some cardboard magazine holders, Two of them fit perfectly in the middle with just enough room left for a 2 inch binder.

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I like the look of these but unless I had a dedicated table for school, I don't think it would work. I have to keep things out of reach of the kids when we're not actively working on things otherwise everything would be ripped and scattered. These look kind of heavy and awkward to be moving all the time.

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Guest ME-Mommy
The desk apprentice never appealed to me. I think it will take up far too much space, and it looks cluttered.

 

I don't think mine is anything special either. It takes up a lot of space, some of the side spaces aren't big enough for larger textbooks, anything I put in the center that's not hardback, tends to slip down inside, and I just don't think it's serving a much better purpose than anything else.

 

If anyone has one and they would like to part with it, I might be interested. ;)

 

PM me...

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I don't use mine for school, but for mail, magazines, catalogs, etc. I put hanging files in them middle and have a file for bills, church info, coupons, etc. I put magazines in the side compartments (which works well. When the compartments are full, time to sort out and toss magazines!) and I keep pens in the corner pockets. One outside compartment is for envelopes, return address labels and stamps. It sits on a small chest by the front door so when the mail comes, I just sort it into the right files and this eliminates my famous piles of stuff on the end table. It also eliminates the need to cover the fridge with calendars and phone lists.

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Guest ME-Mommy
I wish they'd make a mini apprentice. I love it but it's just too darn big.

 

Just a thought: a friend of mine bought 2 "Tool Turn-a-bouts" from Pampered Chef. It doesn't hold books, paper, etc. but it's great for organizing markers, highlighters, pencils, pens, colored pencils, rulers, hole punch, etc.

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I bought one for $24.99 yesterday. My plan is to keep all of my teacher's books in it so that I'm not constantly running up and down stairs from kitchen to schoolroom.

 

Cuz ya see...I am in the kitchen all morning long! Broken dishwasher, three meals, 6 people equals me in the kitchen ALOT!

 

I needed something besides my countertops to hold all the Saxon solutions manuals, CW teacher's manuals, etc. Plus the ruler we can never find, the pencils, glue, tape, stapler and etc. need to live somewhere also. And they need to be within easy reach of me but away from the toddler.

 

Where else do you all keep your stuff? This is good to talk about because I waste SOO much time looking for things I just should not be looking for.

 

Thanks for the coupon. I bought a desk and chair for $24 each also so hopefully they'll accept my receipt and give me a store credit. YAY!

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Yes!!!! That would be awesome! Great for pencils, markets, crayons, small stuff!

 

They sort of have something like that at Target. I bought one for my son. It holds all our colored pencils, markers, regular pencils, pens, scissors, scotch tape, big pads of post it notes, tabs, glue sticks, hand held pencil sharpener and white out. And it still has room for more. I think it was $4 or $5. Oh, and it rotates.

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I bought one for dd for this year. At the end of the first week, I asked her what she liked best about school this year (meaning, a subject, a curriculum, etc.). Her answer? "The Desk Apprentice!"

 

I thought it was pretty awesome, too, and went to get a second one which is currently holding all my knitting stuff (which didn't have a good home).

 

I want another one for my teacher-stuff, and ds has requested one "as soon as we move" (his current desk doesn't have room, and there's nowhere else to sit one for him, either). The nearest Staples is a 25 minute drive (despite living in metro ATL - so weird!) - definitely worth the drive!

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They sort of have something like that at Target. I bought one for my son. It holds all our colored pencils, markers, regular pencils, pens, scissors, scotch tape, big pads of post it notes, tabs, glue sticks, hand held pencil sharpener and white out. And it still has room for more. I think it was $4 or $5. Oh, and it rotates.

 

Thank you!! Right now I have all that stuff in a bunch of small baskets, and what a pain in the bootie that is!!

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Does anyone have one of these:

 

http://www.staples.com/Staples-SpinWorx-Rotating-Desk-Organizer/product_678939?cmArea=sku_pd_box2

 

They are calling a desk apprentice jr and it looks like it would work better for my needs than the big desk apprentice.

 

That looks great! But it's pretty expensive. Someone further up on this thread said they have something similar at Target for around $5 or so. I'm going to check that out!

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That looks great! But it's pretty expensive. Someone further up on this thread said they have something similar at Target for around $5 or so. I'm going to check that out!

 

The one we are using is still smaller than that. I just needed something to hold all the things we'd normally throw in a pencil box (it holds more than that) but in an organized and easy to access manner.

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Mine is mostly filled up now :) you can see photos of it on my blog:

Rowing Downstream

 

I love it so far. My boys are in love. And my DH, who always thinks my organizing obsession goes a bit too far, well--he wants one for his office :) It's so....spinny :)

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To keep that from happening, I bought some cardboard magazine holders, Two of them fit perfectly in the middle with just enough room left for a 2 inch binder.

 

I have my writing and math whiteboards on either side of the eraser holder (which I put spang in the middle). That provides center braces. I like the magazine holder idea.

 

I love how everything day to day (except math, which has its own grip with books and manipulatives) all fits in ONE place, and I can put the books kiddo can do by himself (handwriting drill) in the outer slots, and he can get them himself without knocking loose anything else.

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Mine is mostly filled up now :) you can see photos of it on my blog:

Rowing Downstream

 

I love it so far. My boys are in love. And my DH, who always thinks my organizing obsession goes a bit too far, well--he wants one for his office :) It's so....spinny :)

 

Ohhhh, I forget it has racks for hanging files.

 

I looked at the smaller one someone else mentioned. I don't have room for it right now, but it was a solid as the DA. These babies can carry weight and not grind or judder. I'm 3 years into it, and it still looks/acts new.

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I am sure that I am the ONLY person in the world who didn't love the desk apprentice. I like the idea of it, and I had one for a long time, but I sold it to someone here. I actually can't remember who. :blushing: Maybe it's because we do school at the kitchen table, and we don't have much storage space. We ended up moving into the floor for meals, and it was so heavy, it was a pain. Staples does run specials on them really often so that is nice.

 

Every year I look at purchasing it and every year I veto it. I just don't have the room for it in our kitchen or dining room and I am not sure it would improve my quality of life over the way we store things now.

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Am I the only one that wishes that they would make it in pink? :blushing:

Well, I'd happily settle for any color except black — I call mine Desk Vader. It's sure useful, but I hate having this giant black lump in the middle of my bright, pretty, color-coordinated schoolroom. :tongue_smilie:

 

Has anyone ever tried spray painting one of these? I really want to try, but I'm afraid the paint will chip off and look ratty. I sure would prefer it in another color though. I think Staples is missing a huge market opportunity here — yes, they're useful in offices, but if they came in a few colors (or even just white) there would probably be millions of them on kitchen counters and in pantries and closets all over America!

 

Jackie

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I just picked up two desk apprentices for $24.99 each. The last one I bought cost me over $40.00. Of all the non-curriculum items I've ever bought for school, this has been my smartest and most used purchase. I now own three.

 

Just in case any one is interested...

 

Thanks for letting us know about the price reduction! I went and picked up a second one today for art supplies.

 

Found a 20% off coupon that's good til the 21st of this month:

 

Coupon

 

Thanks!

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Well, I'd happily settle for any color except black — I call mine Desk Vader. It's sure useful, but I hate having this giant black lump in the middle of my bright, pretty, color-coordinated schoolroom. :tongue_smilie:

/QUOTE]

 

Contact paper.

 

Treat it as a scrapbook. :)

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Am I the only one that wishes that they would make it in pink? :blushing:

 

I would love one in pink :D

We already own 3.

I bought the older kids each one last year for school stuff.

They are not needed now but I will find something to put in them.

My husband starts school on Monday, maybe he will want to use one.

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