If your stickers have been slowly multiplying across your craft space — loose sheets here, sticker books there, a folder that stopped getting updated years ago — this video is about sitting down and actually sorting all of it out. I go through every category I own: sticker sheets, transparent stickers, sticker books (including the ones you can make yourself from glossy dividers), individual loose stickers, and all the odd bits in between. The goal isn't a perfect Pinterest craft room. It's a system where you can reach behind you, flip to the right section, and have the butterfly you need in about five seconds.
What we cover
This is a real-time organization session — messy desk, honest detours, mid-project decisions included. I work through how to mount stickers onto paper and build a categorized binder, how to use a glossy-page sticker book for transparent and vinyl-type stickers, how to store small individual transparent stickers in compact folders, and what to do with those beautiful-but-annoying cut-it-yourself sticker books. There's also a flip-through of the finished binder at the end, and a peek at where everything lives behind my desk.
What you'll learn
How to build a categorized sticker binder using paper pages and a ring binder, including:
- Mounting sticker sheets onto copy paper or slightly heavier stock with double-sided tape, glue dots, or a tape roller
- Using ring reinforcements if you're working with standard copy paper (they hold — I've had one folder going for years)
- Organizing pages into sections — butterflies, gold, silver, labels, miscellaneous, words — so you can flip straight to what you need
- Making category tabs from file folder dividers rather than bought tab sets
- Using an image instead of a word for labels when the word is too long to fit cleanly (I stuck down a little butterfly sticker instead of writing "butterflies")
How to condense multiple sticker sheets to reduce bulk, including:
- Transferring remaining stickers from near-empty sheets onto a single page
- Gluing one sheet down on one side only so a second sheet underneath stays accessible
- Cutting 12×12 sticker sheets into A4-sized sections so they fit into a standard folder
How to use a glossy-page sticker book for vinyl and transparent stickers — because the glossy paper mimics the backing stickers come on, they peel cleanly every time without losing their stickiness. I show how to make your own version from glossy file folder dividers, and I'll link the tutorial below.
How to store small individual transparent stickers in compact pocket folders — rather than a large binder where you're fishing around for tiny stickers, small folders with pockets by category keep them findable and accessible. I separate mine into large stickers and small stickers, each in their own folder.
What to do with cut-it-yourself sticker books — if you have one of those gorgeous books where every sticker has to be cut out individually (or lifted with an X-Acto knife over acetate so you don't cut through to the next sheet), I show an honest workaround: peel the full sheet off and adhere it to a book page, music paper, or acetate to create collage material or journal pockets instead. Less frustrating than trying to cut out every single bird.
How to make DIY stickers from watercolor and stamps — I show a batch I made by watercoloring plain white label paper and stamping over it. The watercolor didn't lift the adhesive, which I was worried about, and the result is a sheet of stickers that feels completely personal.
How to think about decluttering while you organize — not as a separate project but as part of the session. As I go through sheets I haven't touched in fifteen years, I'm asking: have I ever reached for this? If not, why is it still here? I don't get rid of much — but the act of handling everything reminds me what I actually own, which is half the battle.
Tips & gotchas
Use both sides of the page. I didn't do this when I built my previous system — I was using scrap paper with writing on the back and didn't want that showing — but it makes a real difference to how thick the folder gets. Going forward, when new stickers come in, I'm adding them to the back of existing pages before starting a new sheet.
Organize new stickers the moment they arrive. The reason my old system had fallen apart is exactly this: I'd get new stickers and just shove them in rather than properly mounting and filing them. Five minutes when the stickers arrive saves a full reorganization session later.
Double-sided tape yellows and loses stickiness over time. I found sheets from fifteen years ago where the tape had gone yellow, bled through the paper, and stopped holding. If you're mounting stickers for long-term storage, glue is more reliable — or at minimum, check older sheets occasionally.
If stickers lose their tack from being peeled and re-peeled too many times, don't worry too much about it — when you're using them in a journal, you'll likely apply glue anyway. I do this as a matter of habit.
For 12×12 sticker sheets that don't fit A4 pages, just cut them into sections. The categories can span multiple pages — what matters is that each page fits in the folder cleanly.
Keep the folder within reach, not in a box on a shelf. Mine sits in an open shelf directly behind my desk chair. When I need a butterfly, I turn around and I'm there. If it were tucked away somewhere, I'd never use it.
And one thing that kept surprising me during this session: going through everything reminded me of projects I'd forgotten I wanted to make. A stack of sticker sheets I'd been hoarding for fifteen years suddenly looked like material again. Sometimes the most useful thing about organizing isn't the system you end up with — it's the inventory you do along the way.
