If you’re just joining the planner sticker craze or are feeling overwhelmed with all of the different types of stickers to choose from, here is a list of the main types of stickers and when I recommend using each type.
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).
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.
Read more: Favorite brands with functional sticker books for planning and bullet journaling
While some stickers are ‘sized’ to suit a certain planner, you might be able to trim them to fit or cut list stickers in half or thirds to fit different size boxes for daily, weekly or monthly planning in another planner. You can also ‘stack’ multiple stickers one atop another.
If you want to print the stickers at smaller size, experiment with the scale function in your printer menu (e.g. scale to 70% or 80%, see this post on printing tips for more details).
Using Erin Condren size planner stickers in the Mini Happy Planner
If you like my style of planner stickers, 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. Headings / titles / phrases planner 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 in a planner other than Erin Condren, you’ll no doubt find these stickers useful.
If you’re not sure what stickers you need, heading / title / phrases stickers are a good place to start:
- They usually come in multiple colors – perfect for color-coding
- They’re functional but still add color to your spreads and are more interesting to look at than just your handwriting
- People who make and sell these usually include multiple copies of each sticker to fill out an entire sticker sheet, rather than an assortment of different size and types of stickers (so it’s easier to find the sticker you’re looking for)
- Text stickers need to be small so you can usually fit a lot of them on a sticker sheet which is more economical
- Use in multiple sections of your planner – sections for each day, sidebar, notes box, monthly calendar, monthly planning, habit tracker pages, notes pages
These foil stickers are from the Paper Studio. Their sticker books have a mix of functional and decorative stickers.
Some phrases / 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
Related post: 30 Sections to include in your weekly planner
If you want a little more room to write but still want editable stickers where you can choose your own titles, try these. 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. 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 to learn how to make your own text label stickers with whatever phrases you need, see this post for a tutorial.
If you don’t want to make your own stickers, try this collection from Sunny Streak.
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)
Week 40: Using the MAMBI Happy Planner Horizontal
Types of icon stickers you may find helpful:
- Car
- Travel
- Money
- Bills
- School/college/teacher/education
- Cleaning
- Blogging
- Social Media
- Home/rent/mortgage
Related post: FAQ, printing tips & where to buy label paper for printable planner stickers
4. Functional Stickers
Functional stickers could be checklists, reminders, icons and routine task phrases like ‘wash the dog’. 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
- Colored dot stickers
The main size I use (and which I offer in my shop) is 1.5″ wide x 0.5″ high. These are essentially the icon stickers but with room to write on the sticker instead of on the page beside the sticker.
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).
For whatever reason, it’s actually quite hard to find functional sticker books. Most are decorative or only a few sticker sheets of an entire book are functional. I compiled a list of my favorite functional sticker book brands in this post.
Life Organized Planner Stickers
Weekly planning in the Erin Condren using only solid dot stickers
5. Sidebar stickers
These are stickers you place in the column that’s beside the days of the week on the weekly or monthly spread or your planner.
I personally prefer to use routine trackers, meal planning and to do lists in my sidebar. You could add bill trackers, vitamins, fitness etc.
You can 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’)
Related post: How to Make Printable Labels in Photoshop
6. Notes page stickers
I designed these to fit 2 on the width of a medium size planner (about 7″ wide x 9″ high so Erin Condren, Plum Paper, Happy Planner etc.) to create 2 columns for list making.
- To do list (2 columns per page)
- Assorted headings (2 columns per page)
- To do list (1 column per page)
- Flag banner
- Christmas lists
I also made stickers designed to fit up to 4 per notes page plus some space for any other reminders you need to add.
- No junk food
- Savings
- Cleaning routine
- Online shopping
- Mileage
- Bill Due
- Workouts
- Checklists
- No Spend
- RAK
- Work schedule
- Birthdays
- Subscribers
- Steps
Related post: how to make a personalised Erin Condren planner cover
7. Scrapbooking/decoration/cute
These are stickers that are typically the size of a full box in a vertical weekly planner (or half the box). 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 and only use functional stickers, I haven’t made any of this type of sticker.
If you don’t want to use decorative stickers, try washi tape instead.
Related post: My all time favorite washi tapes (and how I organize them)
8. Samplers
These are a page with a bunch of different sizes of stickers and maybe only one or two of the same stickers e.g. two dollar sign icon stickers mixed with other icons for bill paying and other, different sized 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
- Chores
Sampler stickers are usually more decorative but can also be functional. The Happy Planner budgeting sticker books are a good option
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, pregnancy, 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:
11. Inspirational Quotes
These can boost your mood, inspire and motivate you to take action! I created these with some of my favourite quotes.
Related post: 50 Motivational Quotes to add to your planner
12. Corner stickers
Short on space? Try triangle/corner stickers.
13. Date / number stickers
Purchased a perpetual/undated planner and hand writing in all of the dates is driving you nuts? 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 stickers
See this post for a list of my favorite brands of date dot stickers: 10 brands that have date dot stickers for your planner or bullet journal
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:
- Color
- Shape e.g. hearts
- Occasion e.g. Christmas or vacation
- Mickey mouse
- Get it all Hydrate stickers
- Get it all Flag stickers
- Get it all planner stickers
- Get it all travel planner stickers
My planner stickers come in 8 different colors – perfect for color coding. Use different colors for:
- Each 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
More color coding categories and tips
- 50 Category Ideas for Color Coding Your Planner
- Favorite color coding planner supplies for less than $5
- 6 Ways to color code your planner to increase productivity
- Color coding your planner: how to choose which colors to use
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
- Dot stickers
- Date dot / number stickers
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 am I repeatedly writing in my planner?
- What takes up the most room in my planner? Is writing the same things? Is it your hand-writing?
- 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?
- Do you brain dump in your planner? You might need title stickers to make mini lists for each day or washi strip stickers to create sections
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
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 to test the quality and service. It can be tempting to want to BUY ALL THE STICKERS but just buy a few and see if you like them first, by the time you add shipping costs it can really start adding up.
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 (if you start printing 1 page full of bin day stickers where the icon is exactly the same – it might get 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 many 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 paper guillotine and cut 5 sheets of stickers at a time. You can cut by hand using scissors, use an exacto/cutting knife or a paper trimmer.
Related post: 4 Tools for cutting printable planner stickers (and my favorite method)
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) 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 or months. Now of course I’m bias because I sell printable planner stickers but they really are 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 stickers, 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! It’s much cheaper to purchase a silhouette machine, print and cut them yourself.
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!)
How to prepare and plan for a craft show, trade show or handmade market
Want to learn how to make your own planner stickers?
I have an ecourse where I teach exactly how to make them. There’s a few sample tutorials in these posts:
- Silhouette Studio Software versus Photoshop: Which is better for making planner stickers?
- How to make planner stickers for free using Silhouette Studio (Introduction – Video Tutorial)
- How to make planner stickers – creating perfectly proportioned shapes in Silhouette Studio (video tutorial)
Want to learn how to make your own planner stickers? Click here for step by step tutorials!
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