Make your planner pop!
Create a personalized cover and reminder stickers for your agenda
By Leslee Mason
There’s nothing like a crisp new day planner to inspire you to turn the page on a new year. But why not go beyond the bland options in stores and make your planner stand out with a cover you create.
We all know days can quickly meld into one another, which can make keeping track of appointments and special dates tricky, so finding a good way to remember to-dos is key. This year, personalize your planner and make your priorities pop with a little extra help from sticker paper.
IN THIS STORY
Importance of planners
“What you do with the minutes of your day ends up shaping your life,” explains Hellen Buttigieg, a certified professional organizer and owner of We Organize U in Oakville, Ont. “A planner allows you to choose consciously how you’re going to spend the time you have.”
By organizing and using a planner, she says, you take more control of the life you want. Surprisingly easy to make, stickers can help make important dates — birthdays, appointments and urgent to-dos — stand out on a page.
“It’s a fabulous way to make staying organized more fun, especially for people who resist using planners because they’re a more right-brained creative type,” says Buttigieg. “If we’re busy and stressed, and we can look quickly at our calendar and see a picture of what we need to be doing, we can respond much quicker.”
Sticker paper
Typically used to jazz up scrapbooks, cards and other crafts, sticker paper can be found in craft and office supply stores. Available as full sheets (8½” × 11”), you can use them to create one big sticker to wrap around your planner or design a bunch of smaller ones and cut them any way you like. Then stick them on your wall calendar or in your daily planner.
Here are instructions on how to make reminder stickers and a personalized cover for your planner using sticker paper.
Supplies
- sticker paper
- heavy white paper (e.g., 35 lb. weight)
- colour printer
- paper scissors or shape utility knife
- agenda or daily planner
Choosing and sizing your image
- Download our free templates for a planner cover and/or reminder sticker.
- To replace the agenda cover or sticker image with one of your own, click Insert > Clip Art. A searchable menu will appear on the right side of the screen. Enter a search suggestion such as “party” and click Go. (Be sure to deselect Photos, Movies and Sounds in the Results drop-down menu first.) For even more image choices, click Clip Art on Office Online.
- Once you’ve selected an image, click on it and move it into your document.
- Size your image by clicking it and then dragging the corners until you find the size you like.
Creating your agenda cover and stickers
- Copy and paste the image as many times as you desire; then repeat the previous steps to search for and add more images.
- To personalize your agenda cover in Word, click on the image. Picture Style options will appear under Format in the top toolbar. Choose from several different borders including a thick or bevelled matte frame or opt for a soft edge or shadow.
- Click on the text box to replace the existing type. Adjust the font size and colour.
- On the sticker page of the template, remove any stickers you don’t want by clicking them and hitting delete.
- Test-print your images on plain paper. If everything looks OK, print onto the stick paper, following package instructions. Once the images are printed and dry, cut out the stickers using sharp scissors or a utility knife. Then affix the stickers to your new agenda.
Now you’re all set to organize your life and make the most of every minute.
