It’s no secret that I love planner stickers. A lot! Over the past 2 or so years I’ve created over 350 planner sticker designs which you can find in my Etsy shop. If you’re just joining the planner sticker craze or are feeling overwhelmed with all of the different types of stickers to choose from, I’ve put together a list of the main types of stickers and when I recommend using each type.

1. Planner Specific

There are many shops selling planner stickers (in addition to mine!) so you can find just about any sticker sized to fit the exact planner you’re using whether it’s the Erin Condren Life Planner (ECLP), Plum Paper, Day Designer, Simplified Planner, Happy Planner etc.

Keep in mind that you can use stickers that are ‘sized’ to suit a certain planner with any type of planner if you trim them down to size or cut in half to fit the different size boxes for daily, weekly or monthly planning in any of the different types of planners. You can also ‘stack’ multiple stickers one atop another. If you want to print the stickers at smaller size (just scale the page to ‘70%’ or ‘80%’ from your print menu, see this post on printing tips for more details).

If you like my style of planner sticks these are the main pre-sized stickers that I have:

ECLP Full box size
ECLP Half box size
ECLP Horizontal planner
ECLP Horizontal planner (or can be used with any planner) divider strips these are ideal if you’re using a planner which has a long horizontal writing section for each day and you want to divide into 2 sections e.g. work and home, business and day job, work and school, work and chores, chores and meal planning etc.

2. Editable/Choose your own titles/header stickers

I designed these to suit the Erin Condren vertical life planner, back when it still had the morning day and night title headers. The newer versions of the planners now have a blank space above each section of the daily boxes where you can write in a heading. Or, if you tend to use the same titles each week, you’ll no doubt find these stickers useful!

Some headings you might use to organize your planner include:

Different colors for each subject you take at school or college, or if you’re a teacher, each subject you teach
Extracurricular activities
Chores/cleaning tasks
Cleaning zones – you might also like this cleaning zones planner insert
Meal planning – you might also like this meal planner insert
Children’s schedule
Exercise
Scheduling
Mom
Dad
Bills to pay
Blog to do
To do
Business to do
Things to order (if you have a business, direct sales business etc.)
Errands
Reminders/Don’t forget
Appointments
Organizing by school subject e.g. assignments, homework and examples for math in blue, or all exams in blue, all assignments in pink, all homework in orange etc.
Different colors for different clients e.g. if you have a photography business
Different colors for different products you’re working on if you’re a business or different projects if you have a hobby e.g. sewing
Any recurring/routine task that you’re sick of hand-writing into your planner all the time!

There are 8 different colors, perfect for color-coding!

These sticker can also be used for list making in the sidebar of your planner, or just for general notes and reminders in the monthly view. they’re a great option if you don’t want the more common 1.5” wide x 0.5” high size offered in my shop (and most planner sticker shops), with an icon on one side and a white writing space on the other. If you just want your planner to be super functional with text only then the editable header stickers are perfect for you! 🙂 You can also cut out multiple stickers together as one piece/to create one big list sticker – because they’re printable and you cut them – you get to choose how long to make the list based on what you need J Some options are to stack (place on top of each other) one color, alternate (e.g. blue and pink) or use a different color for each task on the list.

If you want a little more room to write but still want editable stickers where you can choose your own titles, try these.

I shared some free pineapple ombre list planner stickers I created for the Erin Condren Vertical Life Planner in this blog post (they can also be cut in half/trimmed to size if you’re using another type of planner).

Remember that just because a sticker is ‘sized’ for a certain type of planner doesn’t mean it’s stopping you from using it for a different type of planner – just trim to size!

3. Icons

These are my favorite stickers – they don’t take up much room and add a nice pop of color to your planner! You can also print a LOT of icon stickers on only one page of sticker paper. My icon stickers are formatted to print as many stickers on the page as possible (and they’re close together to minimize cutting) – 270 icon stickers will print on a single sheet of letter size paper! You can purchase re-positional full sheet label paper from Online Labels for 30c a page (or 0.001 per sticker!)

Types of icon stickers:

Want to learn how to make your own planner stickers? Click here for step by step tutorials!

4. Functional Stickers

These are stickers that serve a popular such as making a list. They have a purpose and help you plan your day rather than just look pretty on the page (although they can do both!) Popular types of functional stickers include:

Lists. I shared some free printable flower list stickers in this blog post (they are sized for the Erin Condren vertical life planner but can be cut to suit any size planner).
Medication tracker
Routine and habits trackers
Reminders
Appointments
Hydrate/water intake tracker
Fitness tracker
Study habits and college planning
TV show stickers
Birthday reminders
Work

The main 2 sizes I use (and which I offer in my shop) are the 1.5 x 0.5” – these are essentially the icon stickers but with more room to write with a writing space on the right.

5. Sidebar stickers

These are stickers you place in the side section of your weekly or monthly spread or your planner (or you could place these on the left and right of a notes page if you wanted to. I personally prefer to use routine tracker, meal planning and to do lists in my sidebar. I also created these bill due stickers at the request of a few customers. You also also stack the ECLP full box stickers, half box size or any types of stickers to create a custom sidebar.

Other sidebar stickers you may be interested in:

Anything checklist
The 6 section anything checklist
Direct sales planner
The ECLP full box planner stickers in my shop are great for stacking (place one on top of each other) to create a sidebar that suits your exact needs. Some include: social media engagement/posting tracking, meal planning, more meal planning, cleaning routine, work, habit/daily routine tracking (cut multiple stickers out as one ‘piece’) et.!

6. Notes page topper stickers

These note page topper stickers are unique to my shop! Other planner sticker shops haven’t copied my design for these…yet (they’ve stolen all my other designs so I wouldn’t be surprised if this became mainstream soon #rantover) basically you can add these to the top of a lined blank notes page and turn it into a cute list instead of just a boring blank piece of paper! I previously posted about how I use the blank notes page of my planner.

7. Scrapbooking/decoration/cute

These are stickers that are typically Erin Condren Vertical Life Planner full box size or half box size. If the pattern is pastel you may be able to write over the top of it, otherwise these are just for decoration in your planner. Because I don’t use my planner for decorating (I am very much a functional planner girl!) I haven’t made any of this type of sticker. Many people also use washi tape to decorate their planners. My sister sells a ton of washi tape in her Etsy shop if you’re in need of some!

8. Samplers

These are a page with a bunch of different sizes of stickers and amybe only one or 2of the same stickers e.g. 2 dollar sign stickers mixed with icons for bill paying, bill due (with space to write on the sticker) and other money themed stickers. You can find all different types and sizes of samplers. Some themes you might come across include:

Lists
Money & bill paying
School and college

Sampler stickers are usually more decorative but can also be functional. I have some flag list sticker samplers with 3 different size list making flags in my shop if you’re interested:

9. Holiday/Seasonal

These are stickers for special occasions and one-off events such as

My holiday full box stickers and Christmas countdown, countdown to vacation, Countdown to Disney vacation .

10. Flags

Flags are a cute way to add interest to your planner if you’re sick of rectangle stickers or draw attention to important events, priorities, things are due etc. You can find:

Flag reminders stickers such as payday or rent due
Flag list stickers

11. Inspirational Quotes

These can boost your mood, inspire and motivate you to take action! I created these with some of my favourite quotes!

12. Corner stickers

Short on space? Try triangle/corner stickers!
– Bill due
– Payday
– College or school
– Teacher
– Travel
– Money
– Dollar sign
– Party/birthday/celebrate

13. Date Dots

Purchased a perpetual/undated planner and it’s driving you nuts? Want to add dates but don’t want to hand-write the dates or don’t like your messy hand-writing? Does your planner start on a Sunday but you want the weeks to start on a Monday? Try some date dots!

14. Unusual Shapes

If you do a search on Etsy for planner stickers you’ll find that the most common shapes for stickers are circles, rectangles, squares and flags. These are certainly the most functional shapes but if you’re looking for something a little different, try teardrops or I’ve also seen some cute hexagon icon stickers.

15. Bundles/Themed Kits/Sets/Color-Coordinated

You can find sticker bundles for themes such as:

My planner stickers come in 8 different types of colors (and can also be printed in greyscale if you prefer!) Some of the ways you can use color-coded stickers for planning are different colors for:

Family member
Chores
Meal planning
Level of importance/priority/urgency
If you’re a service based business, a different color for each client
Days of the week
Morning, afternoon, evening or other times during the day
If you’re a blogger, for different tasks in your workflow e.g. shooting videos versus writing blog posts and social media

If you’re not sure where to start or what stickers are right for you…

Ask yourself how you use your planner? Do you want something that is functional and practical or more of a scrapbook/journal you can look back on later.

If you’re more into functional planning (like I am) then I recommend:

Icon stickers
Functional stickers
Sidebar stickers
Notes page topper stickers
Color-coded

If you’re more into creating a scrapbook/journalling then I recommend:

Themed kits
Inspirational Quotes
Holiday/seasonal

You can, of course, use a combination of both!

If you’re not sure what sort of stickers you need, ask yourself:

What do you find myself repeatedly writing in your planner?
What takes up room in my planner? Is it your hand-writing? Messy hand-writing? Planner stickers can solve those problems!
What do I keep forgetting to do? E.g. you’re paying late fees because you forget a bill was due
Do you prefer to schedule by hour or or do you prefer to just write lists?
What are you actually using your planner for? Do you use it to keep track of your blog? Your business? Your direct sales business? School? Your family? Meal planning? As a food journal and exercise tracker? Work hours?

If you want to get into planner stickers, the ‘basics’ I recommend you start with are:

Bill due or money stickers
Birthday reminders
To do
Don’t forget

It’s best to start small by purchasing only a few themed kits to try them out and see if they suit your style of planning, or by purchasing only 1 or 2 sticker sheets from a few different shops (if you prefer printed and already cut planner stickers) to test the quality and service. it can be tempting to buy everything under the sun but set a budget and stay strong (even when you’re hit in the face with over 50,000 search results for cute planner stickers on Etsy!)

If you’re tossing up between printable and printed stickers, here’s a price comparison:

Printable Planner Stickers

Full sheet label paper can be purchased for approximately $0.30/sheet (I recommend Online Labels or eBay). I shared a list of a few different places you can buy label paper from in this blog post. Printable planner stickers range anywhere between $1/sheet to $4/sheet on Etsy.

Make sure you look for those that:

Fit a lot on the page (because you’ll go through less label paper and get better value for money!),
Have multiple icons the sheet (you probably don’t want to be printing 1 page full of bin day stickers where the icon is the same – that would get a bit boring!)
Cutting lines or the stickers are close together to minimize cutting

If you want to cut your stickers using a Silhouette (the machine that Etsy sellers offering printed and cut planner stickers use), it costs around $200. See this blog post for more help with printing stickers using a silhouette. I use a guillotine and print 5 sheets of stickers at a time. You can cut by hand using scissors, use an exacto/cutting knife or a paper trimmer.

Printed & Cut Stickers

Most printed planner stickers on Etsy will offer half a letter size page of stickers (or sometimes only a quarter of a full page size – stingy!) for $3-$5 USD plus a couple of dollars shipping (more if you live in a different country to the seller).

So you can purchase a printable template once and print it an unlimited number of times for your personal use, or you can buy one sheet of already printed and cut stickers (plus shipping) which will probably only last you a few weeks – months. Now of course I’m bias because I sell printable planner stickers but they are genuinely better value.

If you’re purchasing printed sheets of planner sticker kits, these can get expensive. Like, really expensive. Kits are usually between $10 and $30. Now I know I’m bias because I sell digital not printed planner sticker, but when you do the math, printable planner stickers really do work out cheaper in the long run. Let’s say you use one themed kit per week and the kit costs $15 (including shipping), that’s going to cost you $780 a year. That’s. Frickin. Insane! A cheaper option would be to purchase a silhouette machine, print and cut them yourself!

If you’re interested in printable planner stickers but you’re not sure where to start, you might like the bestsellers planner sticker starter bundle from my shop – it includes 25 pages of printable planner stickers for just $15!

A list of all of the available sticker in my shop is at the bottom of this blog post.

Still confused by how printable planner stickers work? See the FAQ & Printing Tips

See how I organize my planner stickers in this post (includes some free printable labels too!)