Using Washi Tape for Planning

I've had a lot of questions about my editable planner so I thought I would do a blog post  to answer some of those questions. The planner is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store and it is editable so you can have your name on the front too! I also wanted to share what I did with Washi tape!  I'm sure you've seen it all over by now.  It's basically a patterned tape that can be used for a variety of projects.  What I learned about Washi tape is that it is VERY forgiving which makes it perfect for using in your weekly planner or on your calendar.  It has more of a paper texture than tape.  It can be placed and then easily peeled off.  You can write on it with a Sharpie and it won't leak through the tape or the paper.  Don't confuse it with the patterned Duck Tape which can also be found everywhere. 

Why would you need to know all of those things?  Allow me to show you with pictures! 

I had my binder bound at Office Depot.  It is spiral bound. The binding was $2.99 and I think the front and back cover added up to be about $1.00 total.  It took about 15 minutes. 

The back cover is the same as the old green planners that I used to use (and love).  The leathery type backing that has a little shine to it.  

Now for the Washi tape.  I have 2 colors of tape.  The mint colored tape is something that I'm really excited about.  It applies to me and it may or may not apply to you.  The page shown is my Month at a glance page in my planner.  I use it to write down all of my scheduling for both home and school.  I have step daughters every other weekend.  Sometimes it gets confusing to plan events and have to count out what weekend we have them and what weekend we don't.  I specifically created this calendar so the week would start with Monday and then Saturday and Sunday would be together on each page.  I used the mint Washi tape to mark the weekends that I do have them.  Notice I did not write in the box.  This is because sometimes life happens and our weekends get switched.  If this happens, I can pull the Washi tape off and change it as needed.  The Washi tape comes off easily and does not pull off paper!!!  Last year I took a highlighter to my calendar marking the weekends.  Yep...then a weekend changed and I had a hot mess on my hands.  I plan to do 1-2 months at a time and it won't be a big deal if it changes.  It's really nice to have it at a glance like this!  

I used the pink pattern Washi tape to mark off events that cover multiple days.  Above, I have my bachelorette weekend blocked off and I have the first week of teacher workdays blocked off.  I also did single days in September (holiday and early dismissal).  I wrote on top of the Washi tape with a Sharpie.  Most things should stay the same but if something were to change....just remove the Washi tape! 

***Please note that for whatever reason, a Sharpie marker does not smudge off of the Washi tape but my Sharpie pen did.***   

This is how I blocked off days on my planning pages.  This shows me when I turn to this page I will be out from Wednesday on.  It's not like I will forget my wedding week, but you get the idea.  Have you ever flipped to a week and started to plan only to realize that you just planned an entire day/week of lessons and there was a field trip or holiday you forgot to write in.  What if there was a field trip and the date changed? Just remove the Washi tape! 

I originally saw this idea here but I'm sure there are others.  There are entire Pin boards devoted to Washi tape.  So far, is the only use I have found for it. 

If you are interested in the planner itself (which comes in different color combinations) click here.