Using Washi Tape in Your Planner

If you’re like me, you’ve taken a turn down Washi Tape Lane for a little bit and have been heart-eyes about all the beautiful patterns and colors and textures and….. wait, what do I do with this again???

First, this isn’t your typical Scotch tape – this is CUTE tape.  It’s paper-like and pretty easy to work with.  It comes in all widths and patterns, and sticks lightly to things, which makes it perfect for general paper crafting and planning.  Here are a few ways I use it in my planner.

There are so many ways to use washi-tape in your planner! Here are just a few // http://www.prettyprintsandpaper.com

1. If you want to do some basic memory keeping, I use washi tape in my travel logs to add my ticket stubs, business cards, and other things I collect through my adventures.  It’s MUCH easier than scrapbooking!
2. If I have an extra sheet or list I want to add, I create a “tip in” by using washi tape to connect the list to my page.  I have used it for that reading list for a class I was learning how to teach, as well as a “run sheet” of an on-going mindsweep.  It is lovely laying next to my planning pages.
3. You can highlight different pages in your book for easy-finding.  This was a goals sheet I wanted to be able to reference.  Others will use washi tape on all the edges of the same month, or to color code their different collections.
4. You can use thin washi-tape as an outline of your layouts in your bullet journal – just an easy way to add intrigue (and stop drawing lines! LOL)
5. Create your own tabs for quick flipping.  I have done this for gift-shopping during Christmas, and special “to do lists”
6. Adding things into my Travel Journal, including journaling cards or little keep sakes.

Other ways I use my washi tape:

• Personalizing my electronics chargers
• Differentiating my keys
• Adding a strip of flair to my pages
• Covering up mistakes!
• Re-purposing layouts.  If a planner already has a Sunday start across the top, you can add a strip of washi to change it to a Monday start.  Or, you can block out the time strip and instead use it as a check list.
• Decorating edges of envelopes
• Adding some intrigue to my gift wrapping
• Holding down my watercolor paper
• On Pens: If the tape is a traditional washi, markers like a Staedtler Fineliner will write on it just fine.  Otherwise I use a Sharpie pen or fine permanent marker.

Where I get my washi tape:

There are SO many places to get this stuff, and I’ve typically gotten mine from Michael’s, Amazon, and Target.  I have gotten a few from VeryStationery on Instagram, and a few speciality washi tapes from various shops I stop by on vacation (hello, Paper Ya in Vancouver!). They’re typically $3-$4 (USD) a roll, with fancy stuff at $5 a roll. I think the thin washi is the most useful (as borders and such), with the 10mm width a second place for titles, edging,  and so on.

Storing my washi tape:

I don’t have a fancy solution for this – I just have a white ceramic bowl. I don’t want to get anything bigger because I don’t want to get any more washi until I’ve used more of my current stash!

Traveling with my washi tape:

Ain’t nobody got time to carry full rolls of washi tape with them! Put those old gift cards to use! // http://www.prettyprintsandpaper.com

Of course no one is carrying full rolls of washi tape with them – grab an old gift card and wrap some tape around it.  No need to put the full roll on, either! I just wrap the tape around probably 7 times and that is good enough for general use for a bit since I’m not a heavy washi tape user.

The other truth is, you know you never use all that tape.  So save up those gift cards and start sending happy mail to friends or pen pals – I often make sure to wrap up cards for my girlfriend to share the love and get some variety in return.  Spread the love!

Whew. Okay.  There you have it – some of my favorite ways to use washi tape.  What are yours? Let me know down below!  If you liked this article, I invite you to share it, pin it, tweet it, whatever other verbs there are!

Yours,

Jessica