5 Quick Ways to Accomplish the Elusive Sticker Organization

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No one told you that part of having a planner or scrapbooking hobby would be the rapidly growing sticker collection. Sticker organization is not as easy as you would think.

Your brain just can’t wrap around all the different ways that you could organize your stickers.

• by color
• by theme
• by size
• by collection (the original way they came)
• mixed and matched by holiday

See what I mean? That is just the tip of the iceberg. The issue starts to be the overlap in themes. Where does the sticker go that is animal themed and mostly green? My brain explodes over the decision of adding it to the “animal” section or the “green section”.

The question becomes, how to organize stickers in a way that works for you.

Save Time Searching for Stickers with Sticker Organization

Sticker organization isn’t just about how you categorize your stickers. It is also about how you store your stickers.

Ultimately, it is about how quickly you can find what you are looking for so you can finish that planner spread or scrapbook layout without getting bogged down in the process of looking for the sticker you wanted to use.

When you only have a few sticker books or sticker sheets, the choices are so much easier. But as your collection grows, the time you spend looking for that one specific sticker also grows.

How to store stickers?

There are a handful of ways to store your stickers that you will find when you start researching. Some of the best ways to store stickers are:

• photo albums
• recipe or photo boxes with tab dividers
• envelopes
• labeled craft drawers
• IRIS storage boxes for 12 x 12 sticker sheets
• 12 x 12 storage envelopes by theme

You might end up trying a few different sticker organization ideas. Just because it looks pretty, does not mean it is always a functional way that works for you. Try it on a small scale and tweak it as you go.

I have done a few things with my stickers in the past, including a HUGE scrapbook binder. Ask me how often I hauled that thing out. Not very.

How to Organize Stickers

Once you have chosen your sticker storage, then you have to decide the best method for organizing stickers in your collection. If you have a variety of stickers like planner stickers, scrapbook stickers, alphabet stickers, and loose stickers, you may need to choose a few different sticker storage ideas.

How to organize planner stickers

Planner stickers usually fit really nicely into photo boxes or the different types of storage totes at your local craft store. Baskets. Bins. Even in drawers. They stack nicely and you can write the theme on the top so they are easy to sort through and grab what you need quickly. Sticker book storage doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. There are a few different sticker storage ideas such as the rolling craft carts, the clear photo storage tubs, and the organizing bins that are sold for stamps and dies that work just as well for your planner stickers.

How to organize scrapbook stickers

Sticker storage for scrapbook stickers is a little more difficult. There are so many various sizes that just one container isn’t usually going to hold all your stickers without taking up a ton of room. The best way to store stickers that are on 12 x 12 sheets is to use plastic storage envelopes for scrapbook projects. These are my all-time favorite scrapbook sticker organizers and I use them for specific themes, alphabets, large and small stickers, and paper collections that come with coordinating stickers.

How to organize alphabet stickers

The best way to organize alphabet stickers is to sort them by font. Then color. You can create tab dividers for script fonts and print fonts. Then break that down again into color categories.

Store them in a container that allows you to use dividers and scan through them quickly. This way, you don’t spend forever searching for the perfect script font when it is buried under all the thickers and chunky print fonts.

How to organize loose stickers

Use sticker categories to sort your loose stickers. Find a container for your sticker organizer that fits the majority of your loose sticker pages or pieces. Create tab dividers with themes. If you have really small stickers that will just slide away into oblivion at the bottom, put them in envelopes and label the outside of each one.

Category Lists for Stickers

There are a number of ways you can organize your stickers when it comes to themes. Mix and match based on some of the following. Add in categories that you seem to look for frequently (or that you have a bunch of).

• labels, frames, and borders: these are generic stickers that could be used for multiple seasons/themes
• Colors
• Mother’s Day, Father’s Day
• Boy/Girl
• Valentine’s
• Spring
• Summer
• Disney
• Animals (Cats, Dogs, Birds, etc.)
• Outdoors
• School
• Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving
• Christmas
• Quotes and phrases
• Alphabets
• Birthday
• Sports
• Anniversary
• Friendship
• Travel
• Vacation
• Floral
• Hobbies
• Characters (princess, Mickey, etc.)
• Work
• Household
• Budget/Bills
• Weather
• Mood
• TV/Movies
• Shopping
• Books
• Planning
• Food/Meal Planning

How do I organize my happy planner stickers?

Happy Planner stickers are bound in their own sticker book format. This works great, until the pages start to fall out. Or you are down to just a few pages and they take up more space and energy than they are worth.

You will notice the tops tied through the hole on the top of HP sticker books. This can be used for categorizing (like all the red are Christmas) but it is also really handy for keeping those loose sticker pages inside the book.

NOTE: You can also cut off the elastic binder that holds the book closed and use this to tie through the hole at the top of your sticker book.

The Happy Planner company has created storage boxes to hold all your sticker books. Depending on how large your collections are…you might need a few.

I have mine stored in a rigid canvas tote that I grabbed at Lowe’s a few years ago. I’m sure this will change as my collection grows.

One sticker organization method a lot of Happy Planners use is to tear books apart and then put them back together on planner discs, in themes that make sense for them. Every day planning, colors, holidays, etc.

How do you store sticker collections?

Sticker collections storage is as unique as the stickers that you choose to use. They can also change. Especially as your collection grows and changes. Little stickers. Huge sticker pages. Alphabet stickers (why are these so hard to sort and organize?!).

Depending on the size of your sticker sheet, you may need to adjust the page to work in your organizing system. The other option is to mix and match. Have a variety of storage solutions.

Browse through these stickers organization ideas and see which one speaks to you. Pick a few that work in the space you have for keeping your planner supplies and accessories.

How long do unused stickers last?

The type of material a sticker was printed on and the ink used will determine the life of a sticker. The average “lifespan” of an unused sticker is about 5 years.

The older a sticker is, the more likely it will have started to lose its adhesive quality.

From experience, I know that Avery labels really don’t stick that well after 7 or so years. And that Xyron sticker maker refills should NOT be purchased in bulk and used after 10 years.

The moral of sticker life and storage: don’t hoard them. Use those babies up and get yourself some new fresh ones as needed.