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Monday, November 16, 2015

Mommy Monday: my favorite planner supplies

It's about that time of year when everyone starts thinking about calendars and planners for the new year. It's enough to make this planner girl squeal with excitement! I've been in love with my planner for several years now, but only started decorating it (somewhat) this school year. I've finally gotten to the point where I am happy with the way my planner looks and I enjoy my weekly planning times, so I thought I would share my favorite planner decorating supplies with you this week!


In this post I will be focusing on supplies for decorating your planner pages. If you want to see my favorite supplies for planner binding and setup, you can get started with this post on my planner setup for the 2015-16 school year.

So, on with the supplies!


As a single mom and full-time teacher I don't have the time or money, let alone space in my planner pages, for the full-out scrapbooking style planner decoration that I love to see on Instagram and YouTube. But I have found a happy medium that allows me to be creative and colorful without taking away from my time, budget, or planner page real estate. I've put my favorite supplies into five categories- first up is, of course, washi tape!


Washi tape is one of my favorite ways to decorate in my planner. I like to add some to the top and bottom edges of my planner, and I also make little flags to denote extended events and appointments. I know it looks like a lot of washi, but I am actually due for a little purging- some of it I stopped using months ago because it got tacky and difficult to use (considering I've had them for over 2 years that doesn't upset me too much). It is a fun and cheap way to add some color to my pages, though, and it's so easy to use!


My pens are another staple for my planning. I recently got the Frixion erasable ink pen in black, which I use for the bulk of the writing in my planner. It is so nice not to have to cross things out or pull out the white out every time plans change or I make a mistake! I use the sharpies to color my planner stickers (more on that in a second) and write on washi tape, and the colored Staedtler pens I use to mark the classes in my lesson planner, which I color-code by grade so I can quickly find each grade's lessons when I am looking in my planner.


Let's call this the slightly-miscellaneous category. I use the Avery all-purpose labels, which I color with the sharpies, to mark appointments, blog posts, and other events in my planner. After I color them, I use the small planner icon stamps from this Etsy shop to make my own, repositionable stickers! I also sometimes use the patterned stickers to mark important events. The glue stick is perfect for making my own page flags and stickers, because it is repositionable too! I use it to add sticky notes, scrapbook paper, and other things into my pages.


Speaking of sticky notes.... I keep a bunch of pages flags on my dashboard (see my tutorial for making your own dashboard here), and I keep larger sticky notes and notepad paper on the back of the dashboard too. These are great for marking things in my planner that I want to make more noticeable, or that I think the date might change. I also use the bigger notes for grocery lists and other reminders that I can pull out and take with me on errands.


I really resisted the cutesy, purely decorative stickers for a long time, but I have finally succumbed to the pressure. These sticker books are great because each book is $1, and you get a ton of coordinating stickers in each set. I've seen them at Staples, Michael's, and JoAnn Fabrics, and they come out with new sets every season. I like to give half to my daughters to use in their art projects and keep the other half for myself. If anyone asks, I bought them for the kids! ;)

If you want to see all of my supplies in action, I've uploaded my first "plan with me" video on YouTube last weekend. And if you want to see more of these, subscribe to my channel and you'll get an email when I add new videos (no promises, it is holiday season after all, but I will do my best)!


And that's it! Which ones are your favorites? Do you have other recommendations for supplies I should try? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

9 comments :

  1. I always envy people who plan like this. My planner is always a random mix of to do lists and reminders it's not really very organised at all! I need to up my game so thanks for the inspiration! #twinklytuesday

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    1. It really is the perfect combination of crafting and organizing for me. Thank you for the comment!

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  2. I love planner supplies! Thanks for sharing this great list. I love to see what others are using and their beautiful planners. #twinklytuesday

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    1. Thanks for reading! I also love seeing other people's planners- I get so excited :)

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  3. I bought some washi tape for my planner, but sadly, haven't found a way to use it yet. Perhaps that will be my New Year's resolution :) #fermatafridays

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    1. Ugh, Jennifer, this is ridiculous. My new year's resolution is to get you using washi tape. Seriously. :P

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  4. Oh my goodness I love this. All that prettiness! I always get excited at this time of year for new planners and then I am rubbish at keeping them up to date. Maybe I will strive to do better this year! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday

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    1. Haha, isn't it funny how everyone gets in a planner/calendar frenzy this time of year? You never know, this could be your year though! :) Thanks for commenting.

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