When I was a little girl, stickers were my jam. I mean, I would work extra hard on my math facts just for the opportunity to earn a bubble-gum scratch-and-sniff sticker. I had a sticker book where I proudly boasted my favorite Cabbage Patch puffy sticker collection and I traded stickers with friends after school.
While I lost my sticker book somewhere over the years, I never lost my affinity for stickers. Maybe it’s because stickers are the one form of decorating a piece of paper I can actually manage. I have no talent for sketching or painting, no ability to even draw a straight line. But give me some stickers and a sheet of paper and I can bring on the magic.
Somewhere in my 30’s, I became slightly obsessed with planners. Maybe moderately obsessed. But now that I’m in my 40’s, it’s safe to say I’m completely obsessed. I have five kids. How else could I keep track of all the moving pieces of daily life? Then one day, a woman I follow on social media posted a picture of her planner and my jaw dropped. Her nice, neat, organized planner page was covered in stickers and washi tape and my inner-sticker-collecting-little-girl squealed with delight.
Hi. My name is Heather. And I am stressed, blessed, and planner obsessed.
Do you even see the mounds of creative possibility here? I get to make to-do lists, track the books I’m reading, map out a monthly menu rotation, record our upcoming appointments, journal my Bible study notes, AND cover everything in beautiful stickers and washi tape.
How could I not be obsessed?
I started following other sticker/planner lovers and found out there’s an entire community of us. There are people who get paid to decorate their planners and share them on social media. What!?!?!
Now, before you roll your eyes at me and tell me it’s a waste of time and money, I hear ya. I was skeptical, too. I thought that by the time you finish decorating your planner spread, you could have checked two things off of your to-do list. But it turns out, decorating my planner actually motivates me to use my planner more.
I started with one planner, using it to record upcoming appointments and to-do lists. Then I added a faith journal planner. When I went back to college and started my own business, I bought new planners for those tasks, as well. The next thing I knew, I was using seven planners in 2022 and it got to be a little overwhelming.
That’s when I found the concept of the “FrankenPlanner“.
And boy, is it a monster of a planner.
I started off with five Happy Planner planners, all the same size, but in different layouts based on my preference for different needs. Then, I pulled out the first two months of each planner and combined them into one planner. I bought dividers and labeled them for each section: Faith, Everyday, School, Ministry, Business. And then there’s a section called “Daily” where I insert long to-do lists on super busy days.
In each section I’ve found different uses for the monthly calendar spreads, year-at-a-glance pages, and weekly layouts. I’ve stocked up on washi tape, colored pens, and the most beautiful stickers I’ve ever seen. Happy Planner makes sticker books for just about every purpose you can imagine. But I’ve fallen in love with the stickers made by Heather Kell with Kell of a Plan and Jessica Guiterrez with Live.Love.Posh. I highly recommend checking out these ladies’ businesses. Their work is gorgeous and makes planning so much fun.
Are you a planner person? Do you use stickers? I’d love you to join the conversation and share some of your favorite spreads.
