Black Friday is almost here! If you’re not sure what to get this year, here are some of my favorite planning supplies you can find on Amazon. You can find some of the items I’ve recommended in this post from the brand’s own website but if you buy on Amazon you can combine items from different brands and save on shipping.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links I’ll receive a small commission in exchange for referring you (at no extra cost to you).
This gift guide includes more than 50 items across these categories:
- Planner Stickers
- Pens
- Highlighters
- Stencils
- Sticky notes
- Stamps
- Pen storage
- Washi tape
- Discbound punches
- Dot Markers
- Brush Pens
- Planners
- Dot grid notebooks for bullet journaling
Plenty of options for you to pick and choose gifts for yourself, friends and as stocking stuffers.
Planner Stickers
I prefer to use functional stickers only, so have not included decorative stickers on this list (although there are many to choose from on Amazon).
Quick list (photos below)
- Sunny Streak
- Sunny Streak habit tracking stickers
- Savvy Bee stickers
- Mountain Daily stickers
- Maalbok stickers
- Mirida Daily Icons
- Homework2
- Vladi Creative Store
- Little More
- Papercode
- Clever Fox
Maalbok stickers (the types of stickers, colors, fonts etc. remind me of the Happy Planner)
Mirida Daily Icons . This brand has fitness icons and productivity icons too
Homework2 – these are a bit larger than most at 0.6 x 0.6″
Vladi Creative Store (they have other themed sticker kits too)
Little More (see my review of the Little More notebook here)
Papercode (love the monthly tab stickers – perfect for bullet journaling)
Pens
- Papermate InkJoy ballpoint
- Papermate InkJoy gel
- Papermate flair UF
- Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.5
- Staedtler Triplus Fineliner 0.3
- Uniball Signo 0.7 Gel
- Sakura Ballsign 0.5
- Pilot pop’lol 0.7
- Marvy Japan Le Pen
- Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic
- Sharpie Art Pen
- Pilot Frixion erasable (I prefer the color sticks version nowadays – nicer rainbow colors)
- Kaco Gel pens
- Tombow Twin Tone dual tip markers (thicker end only, the fineliner tip is too small for my liking)
If you’re looking for a wider variety of shades of the usual rainbow colors, there are plenty of different colorways in the PaperMate Flair fineliner packs. Make sure you check the thickness you are buying as the packaging is very similar for the Ultra fine and medium.
I rarely use needle tip or fineliner pens. Fineliner pens usually have too much resistance for me (I write quickly) and I write on an angle so the ink usually skips on a needle tip. The Sharpie Art Pen are almost exclusively the only fineliner and needle tip pen I will use these days (I like them better than the PaperMate Flair).
Kaco Gel pens (these write really smoothly)
Stencils
There are an overwhelming amount of stencils to choose from on Amazon. You’ll need to carefully compare the designs as the same stencil design can be in packs from different brands. Also check the page size the stencils are intended for. I’ve seen some brands use the exact same photos and it’s only in the listing title and description that tells you the page size the stencils are intended for e.g. A5 or B5
If you want metal stencils there are less options compared to Etsy. My personal preference are plastic stencils anyway – they’re cheaper, lightweight so shipping costs less and you can actually fit a pen into the stencil. The metal stencils tend to be really narrow and I usually struggle to fit a 0.7mm pen tip into the grooves. You can use a bit of washi tape to hold a plastic stencil in place while you use them if you’re worried about them slipping (or I use erasable pens).
My favorite stencil brand at the moment is the Speedy Stencils:
- Monthly layouts #1
- Weekly layouts #2
- Weekly Layouts #3
- Assorted mini stencils
- Habit trackers, mini monthly calendars and flag banners
- Time saver
Here are some other options
Helix circle maker
If you’re wondering what people use to make neat circles at different sizes for mandalas, annual overview pages and habit trackers, it’s the Helix Circle Maker. I did a full tutorial on how to use it in this post.
Highlighters
- Zebra Mildliner
- Staedtler Textsurfer
- Stabilo Boss
- Stabilo Boss Pastel
- Monami 601
- Unipropus window
- Tombow Kei Coat (these have extra plastic around the highlighter nib so the ends don’t lose their shape)
For help choosing, see: Highlighter swatches and thickness comparison (38 brands compared) and Pens & Highlighters Smear Testing: Which ones don’t smear
Sticky notes
My favorite brand is the Post it Note 3M. They cost more but they are definitely worth it. Nicer colors, more sticky and the stickiness lasts a lot longer too.
- 4 x 4″ Lined
- 3 x 3″ post it Note 3M
- Post-it Page Markers, 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in
- Filing tabs (great for bullet journaling)
- 2 x 2″ square (that I use for blog planning)
- 1.75″ long x approx 0.5″ high for meal planning and monthly blog planning
- 2 x 1.5″ for pre-planning the week (deciding what I’m going to plan in each section of the page)
- 4″ wide x 6″ high jumbo size and lined (for ‘overflow’ tasks in the weekly spread)
If you need some inspiration, see this post: 10 ways to use sticky notes for planning.
Frixion erasable stamps
There’s a huge range of Frixion stamps but weirdly, Amazon only has this bundle of weather icons.
Poppin ruler
Expensive but I promise it’s worth it! I’ve had mine for years. It’s heavy so doesn’t slip when ruling up spreads (especially handy if you are at the front or end of a softcover dot grid notebook), it has large numbers, inches and cm and nice colors to choose from.
Acrylic Pen Cup
I have multiple copies of acrylic pen holders including a classy pen holder with a gold bottom similar to this one (version without the gold bottom here). Pen ink lasts longer and comes out of the tip more evenly if you store pens on their side so I actually have a few of these stacked on my desk. You can get pen holders that come in sets of 3 together as one piece like these and sets of 4 as well. I used to buy pen cups in in all different colors and patterns but I prefer the acrylic pen holders now as they coordinate with anything.
I don’t have one but I’d like to get one of these acrylic lazy susan’s to store scissors, whiteout, butterfly clips etc
Acrylic costs more than plastic but it’s far more durable and doesn’t look cheap and tacky. I’ve had the same acrylic storage for 5+ years.
I avoid acrylic organizers that display the pens on an angle like this. It tips all the ink to one end of the pen, you can’t store many pens and all the tiny apartments are limiting.
Washi tape
My sister (Carefully Crafted) ordered these rainbow washi tapes for me. Amazon has a similar rainbow set in 3 sizes (5m x 3mm), (5m x 5mm) and (5m x 7.5mm).
Related posts:
- Favorite washi tape for planning, planner decorating & color coding
- 7 Useful washi tapes for bullet journaling
- Favorite days of the week washi tape
- My all time favorite washi tapes (and how I organize them)
If you’re looking for thin washi tape with patterns, try these.
Discbound
My favorite binding style as it allows you to remove, rearrange and add pages to create a planner customised just for you.
The three punches I recommend (in this order) are:
- ARC by Stapes
- Happy Planner (Big if you want to do up to 8.5 x 11″ page size or Classic if you only need it up to 7″ wide x 9.25″ high)
- Levenger Circa portable punch or the Levenger Circa punch if you want to punch through stronger materials like laminate
If you’re having trouble deciding which punch is right for you, see my comparison: Discbound punch comparison – ARC versus Levenger versus Happy Planner
You can get the Happy Planner and accessories on Amazon but the Me and My Big Ideas website always has discounts so purchase directly via their website for a better deal.
The one exception to this is their discbound punch. The shipping cost via Amazon works out cheaper if you buy heavier items, especially if you’re shipping to a country outside the USA.
Stamps
I don’t use the type of stamps where you peel the stamp off, attach it to an acrylic block and then stamp because it takes too long for me. But if you want to try these type of stamps here are a few options:
- Peter Pauper Press dot journaling stamps (I’ve tried other supplies by this brand and have no complaints about quality)
- Lawn Fawn ‘plan on it’ stamps (there are plenty of other designs to choose from as well)
- Acrylic stamping blocks
- Contact USA Stamp set mum life
- Exceart months of the years, days of the week and mini monthly calendars
- Kwan crafts mini icons
- Kwellan words calendar weeks, months and dates
Contact USA Stamp set mum life
Exceart months of the years, days of the week and mini monthly calendars
Dot Markers
A planner supply that far more people should know about! My 2 favorites are the Tombow Play Color and the Zig Kuretake.
See my comparison of the 2 in this post: Dot Marker Comparison: Zig Kuretake Clean Color Dot versus the Tombow Play Color Dot
For tips on using dot markers: 7 Ways to use dot markers in your planner or bullet journal
Brush pens
For me, my go to will always be the Tombow dual brush pens. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives on Amazon. I haven’t tried the Koilox or Caliart brands I’ve listed below, but I’ve tried brush pens are all different price points and have never had issues with the color of any. The tips can become blunt more quickly if you buy the cheaper ones, but since I use them in a similar way to highlighters (I gave up trying to learn how to do calligraphy), it doesn’t bother me if the brush end loses it’s sharp tip.
- Tombow bright colors 10 pack (my favorite colors)
- Tombow Retro colors 10 pack
- Marvy Le Plume (these are thinner so in my opinion easier to use than the Tombow)
- Koilox (36 brush pens and has 4.5 star rating)
- Fudenosuke hard tip neon
- Fudenosuke hard tip rainbow
- Caliart (34 pack for a very affordable price)
Planners
Too many to list! Here are my favorites:
Clever Fox
They have plenty of planners to choose from including daily, weekly, budgeting (coil bound version too), meal planners, wellness planners and food journal. The paper has almost no ghosting (it’s only 120 GSM thick but the quality is on par with some 160 GSM notebooks I have).
The parent company (SV Digital) also has the very similar Go Girl Planners, Legend Planner and Puffin Planner. The layouts of the planners and fonts are slightly different between the brands.
Blue Sky
This company has it’s own website however the last time I checked, they don’t ship to Australia. However, if you’re located in Australia like I am, the Amazon USA website does allow me to check out and ship to my Australian address. Shipping is expensive but I’d rather pay expensive shipping than not be unable to purchase the item at all.
My favorite layout from Blue Sky is this weekly spread with days of the week on the left and plenty of checklist space on the right.
There are 4 page size options: 5 x 8″, 7 x 9″, 8 x 10″ and 8.5 x 11″.
Wordsworth Planner
The Wordsworth planner has a mix of lined, unlined and dot grid writing space for each week – something I haven’t seen in a planner before this one. See my review here and a past weekly spread here.
Other planners you can find on Amazon
- Panda Planner (my review here)
- Eccolo planner (my review here)
- The Simple Elephant planner (my review here)
- Bloom (my review here)
- Roterunner Purpose Planner (my review here)
- Live Whale Planner (my review here)
See all of my planner & bullet journal reviews here (I’ve done more than 200 reviews!)
Bullet Journal Notebooks
The Clever Fox would be my top pick. The quality of the paper is great for the affordable price. There are plenty of cover colors to choose from and the pages lay flat no matter where you open the notebook.
Make sure you get the 2.0 version – it has better paper than the original Clever Fox dotted notebook and a cover with doodles on it, not just a plain color cover like most dot grid notebooks.
More dot grid notebook options
- Jumping Fox (my review here)
- Scribbles That Matter (my review here, my comparison between the iconic and the pro version is here)
If you’re overwhelmed by all the supplies on this list, here is a good place to start:
- If I only had $50 to spend on planner supplies, this is what I’d buy
- After trying more than 20 pen brands, these are my top 5
- Highlighter Brands Comparison (And My Favorite Highlighters for Each Brand)
Shop all of my favorite supplies in my Amazon shop here.
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I don’t know if I’ve taken the time to tell you, but you are my favorite resource for anything to do with journals, planners and supplies and the first place I go for anything to do with planning/journaling. This article is a prime example. Anyone who wants to know what supplies to invest in can get pretty much any information they need right here, all neatly organized in one article. THANK YOU for all you do for us. You spend so much time and energy on all this so that we don’t have to! You are a GEM.
Hi Cat,
Thanks for your feedback – glad you find my posts helpful! 🙂
Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see on the blog.
This is an amazing post, with lots of stuff I had never seen before despite spending a lot of time on Amazon and being a stationery addict. I love the way you have organised all the information, making this a great resource – I have bookmarked it for future reference.