I got into the planner craze in 2016, big time. I mean, it’s what us 90s kids used to do back in the day, right? So it was easy to fall back into the habit. I still have my DayPlanner from 1997 because it was awesome. I even used it as a purse, I was so cool. I’ve always been the kind of person to remember more if I write it down. A lot of people use their phones, and I do too, but mostly for the calendar reminders. All the fun stuff goes in the planner. Add colorful pens, cute washi tape, and so! many! stickers! It puts me right over the moon.

Buckle up, this is gonna be a big post with lots of planner love and pictures!

I had been using a notebook at work for a long time because it was a nice, easy, and super effective way to keep everything organized. I never used fancy stuff like stickers in it though. Mom gave me a couple of her old school (haha she was a teacher get it) lesson planners that are organized by class and week. I love the size and the layout, so I used it for the 5 working days of the week. Once I left my job, I didn’t want to waste the notebook, plus it’s what I got used to by that point. So I’ve been playing around with layouts and styles, still weekly, and now I’ve been working on getting the next notebook ready for 2017! I filled up the old one so this time I got to plan it out better. I am a pinterest qween, so I pin a lot of cool ideas and inspirations for the planner there, including lettering ideas. (I’m totally going to get into hand lettering, but that’s another post for another day.)

I made a list of what pages I wanted and got those started by writing/drawing the titles. Here’s what I have so far. I put working pages in the back of the book so I can add more as needed. Index is in the front along with a quick reference page – I’m even numbering the pages for this reason. I think I’ll be able to get more than one year in here, which would be pretty nice.

…you get the idea.

Other supplies! Fun stuff!

I have a subscription to PipSticks and if you love some sticker awesomeness, you should look into it! They have every kind of sticker you remember and love, as well as some new fabulous designs I’ve never seen before. This little sticker pack is a ray of sunshine once a month in my mailbox.

It helps immensely that I got a new desk over the holiday break. It was my grandpa’s desk! I remember sitting at it and reading comic books when I was a kid, way back when we’d drive to across the west to their place for Christmas. Those were very good days.
This winter we went full tilt and reorganized/cleaned out the office. Our office is our main “adult” space that the kids don’t get to play in, so you can imagine how much we’ve squirrelled away over the years we’ve lived here (thirteen years already?). I found stuff from high school for pete’s sake…anyway, we got a bookcase to hold the stuff that is usually piled on my desk, to make room for the new one. I’m focused on keeping it nice and neat this time. Everything I use is within reach now! What a concept.

I hope the new year treats you well! I’m hopeful and I personally plan to make my 2017 as colorful and fun as possible.