Washi Tape

I have officially discovered washi tape courtesy of Daiso. What is it, you ask? In short, skinny masking tape with colorful or cute designs.

For quite a while I've been wondering what the craze was about, but after purchasing some last night and decorating some notebooks, I totally get it. You can see a before picture of my planner in my post Executive Homemaker II, but just to be a good sport, I'll include it here.

The after picture really shows the difference the tape makes. Yes, I went a little crazy, but the tape is so very very cute.

I even went so far as to decorate the dividers and pockets inside It reallly brings the whole thing together and reflects my ability to do cute very very well. The tape even helps me show what's happening on my planner pages and gives them a happy burst of color.

As mentioned in my Executive Homemaker II post, I purchased the Arc notebooks from Staples in preparation to make my own custom planner for 2015. The pages I have chosen for my planner are colorful, so the washi tape just adds a burst of color (read: cute) to the cover and dividers. In addition, I added labels from my thrift store labelmaker. It finally feels complete.

Executive Homemaker II

Please note: if the pictures don't make sense in the post it is because I am ridiculously tired and cannot think straight right now.

In this post I shared links to the pages I used to create my Executive Homemaker binder. After finding the Arc system and splurging, I decided to update my binder system and planner, too. With 2 children, my planning needs have changed, and so must my binder.

So, I have created a spreadsheet in Google Drive that shows which files I used and who created them. I only shared which pages I used rather than the files themselves so as to not infringe on copyrights.


I plan to use my new Martha Stewart discbound notebook for something, though I have not decided what. In the aforementioned splurge, I also purchased 2 of the poly cover notebooks in junior size (for less than $2.50 each!)

and another poly cover notebook in the letter size.

Once I purchased my original notebook (used for blogging, now), I was sold. Despite money being tight, I can see myself using these notebooks for a long time and a lot of things. They have the versatility and strength of a 3-ring binder with the flexibility of a spiral bound. So, I purchased the hole punch from Staples.
I have heard that Staples is discontinuing the Arc line, but I do not know when. So I was relieved to learn of another supplier, Levenger, and their Circa notebooks. While Levenger's are pricier, they are made from leather and the rings, from aluminum. They also have some neat accessories.
I am cheap, though, so I just purchased generic pocket dividers and punched them with the Arc hole punch.
I will soon have the perfect (custom, colorful, happy) planner (mwahahahaha!) because I can never find a pre-printed one that I like.

Customizable Organizing Binder

My new favorite binder system, M by Staples: Arc.


The generic tab pockets I added and punched with the Arc hole punch (see below).




The generic pocket folder I hole punched and added. So cute!


My hole punch for adding custom printed (read: planner) pages.


Larger size rings to expand capacity up to 200 pages.

The binder and rings are M by Staples: Arc, while the dividers are Avery and the folder is Studio C.

I see great potential for this line of supplies as a binder for my personal planner, teaching, home organizing, menu planning, etc. Also, I already own a junior size version I keep as my blogging notebook/calendar. I bought the Martha Stewart line (Discbound) because they are compatible. After perusing the internet and wandering across iheart organizing's personalized calendar. I decided to go forward with the purchase. Then, I came across another (read:pricier) supplier. This is good to know because I heard from Staples people that the Arc like will be discontinued.