You don't need to buy a pre-made sticker kit to have a cohesive planning setup. With a blank notepad, a few sticker sheets, and about twenty minutes, you can build a custom kit that's tailored exactly to how you actually plan. Here's how to do it yourself.
Step 1: Start with a blank base
Pick a plain notepad as your foundation, something with enough pages that you won't run out mid-project. Our Pastel Perfection Notepad and Get It Done Notepad both work well as a base layer for a DIY kit since their clean layouts leave room to build around.
Pastel Perfection Notepad
Get It Done Notepad
Step 2: Add one functional sticker set
Pick a single functional sticker set that matches how you actually use your notepad: date stickers if you're tracking days, or a checklist die cut if you're mainly using it for to-dos. Resist the urge to add more than one functional set at this stage. You want a clear system before you start layering decoration on top.
Step 3: Choose a color palette and stick to it
Before you buy any decorative pieces, pick two or three colors you want your whole kit to revolve around. It sounds like a small step, but it's the difference between a kit that looks cohesive from page to page and one that looks like a random assortment of whatever caught your eye. Pull colors from your favorite die cuts or washi tape and treat that as your official palette.
Step 4: Layer in decorative accents
Once your palette is set, add decorative die cuts and stickers that fit within it. Keep the ratio in mind: a couple of accent pieces per page is usually enough. Overloading a page with decoration can actually make it harder to find the functional information you added in step 2.
Step 5: Build a "kit page" for reference
Dedicate the first page of your notepad, or a separate index card, to a small sample of every sticker and washi tape you're using in this particular kit. When you sit down to plan, you'll have a quick visual reference instead of digging through pouches to remember what you decided to use.
Step 6: Refine after a few weeks
After using your DIY kit for two or three weeks, take stock of what you actually reached for and what sat untouched. Swap out anything unused for something new, and don't be afraid to simplify further if the kit still feels like more work than it's worth. A kit should make planning faster, not slower.
Get everything you need
Browse our full Notepads collection for a base to build on, and our Sticker Sheets, Die Cuts, and Washi Tape collections to build out your own custom palette.
Building your kit on a disc-bound base
A DIY kit works especially well in a disc-bound planner, since you can punch your own base pages instead of relying on a fixed notepad, and swap a page out entirely if a layout isn't working. If you want that level of control from the start, our Planner Discs collection is a good place to begin.