Using Washi Tape in your bullet journal can help take your spreads to the next level with ease. If you’re anything like me, you look at stunning bujo spreads online and wish you could do the same. Some of you might be super talented, but for those like me, I needed a leg up and Washi Tape did just that!
What Is Washi Tape
For the uninitiated, Washi Tape feels similar to masking tape, but it’s also flexible and durable. The biggest distinction is that Washi Tape often comes in fun patterns used to decorate your journal. There are a ton of solid color options as well as patterns of all kinds. You can find just about any design you’d ever want, only for a buck or two.
What Is Washi Tape Used For?
At its simplest, use it as tape! Washi Tape can be used in your journal or planner pages to add some color, to quickly decorate a spread, be a border on a page or whatever else you can think of. Many people also use Washi Tape to organize themselves, creating a color-coded system to quickly label and organize their pages or tasks.
Is Washi Tape Removeable?
Washi Tape is Removable, one of its key features is that you can peel it off and not leave [much] residue. This makes it great for people like me who sometimes need to adjust things later. Depending on your tape, you’ll sometimes find that some residue is left behind, but I find this is pretty minimal. You can lightly apply the tape at first, when you are happy with its placement, go ahead and press it down in place.
How To Use Washi Tape In A Bullet Journal
What is really great about using Washi Tape in your bullet journal is you can pick up a bunch of rolls for very cheap. This gives you a lot of options on how to use it. Using Washi Tape can also help make good looking pages pretty quickly, there are some people who spend hours making a single page, I just don’t have time for that!
Here are some genius ways to use Washi Tape in your bullet journal
Using Washi Tape To Color Code Things
Washi Tape can be used to dress up your designs, but it can also be used to color code things to add a whole new level of organization! You can use different colors or patterns to tie different tasks, events, or even whole pages to a certain topic. This can be a great way to quickly find things.

Make little flags attached to paper clips, you then can move your flags around as need be.
Time Block Your Weekly Spreads
One thing I really like with digital options is the ability to have bars that extend across multiple days to track certain blocks of time. Using Washi Tape lets me quickly do this in my weekly or monthly spreads.
Cover Up Mistakes
You make an awesome page that you spent a lot of time and effort on, then all a sudden, you make a mistake. Channel your inner Bob Ross and call it a “happy accident”! Washi tape lets you quickly cover up a mistake that could have otherwise ruined a great page. Using a solid color or dense pattern will let you block out the mistake, while giving you a new surface to write on.
Color Code Pages With Washi Tape Tabs
Are there certain pages you want to highlight or you refer to a lot? Add a piece of Washi Tape along the edge to make the page stand out and reinforce the edge you’ll be flipping to a lot.


Washi Tape Stickers And Shapes
If you have a paper punch or are just talented with a pair of scissors, you can take washi tape, apply it to a piece of paper or ideally wax paper, punch out a shape and bam! You have yourself a sticker! With this technique you can make a ton of different looks to quickly dress up one of your bullet journal pages.
Create Washi Tape Flags or Clips
This is really helpful to flag your current weekly spread or an important collection such as a to-do list. Take your tape, fold it around one side of a paper clip and if you want, use some scissors to cut little flag angles into it. What’s great about this is you can then move the flags to a new page when you’ve migrated a collection or moved onto a new weekly spread.



Cut Out Elaborate Quotes Or Titles
Have a quote or piece of text you want to call out? Print off a stencil of it, then apply bands of overlapping Washi Tape, then use a X-Acto knife to cut it out. Peel it off and you have an instant text treatment for your next page.
Make Quick Work Of Common Elements
I just discovered they make Washi Tape with checkboxes ! Make a to-do list quickly with this tape. They also have Washi Tape days of the week and Washi Tape monthly Calendars.
Decorate Your Bullet Journal Pages With Washi Tape
The most common way to use the tape is to dress up a page in your BUJO. Here are some Washi Tape ideas for your bullet journal.




Make Your Journal Yours
Dress up the cover of your journal to quickly take any mass-produced journal into something that’s uniquely yours.




Washi Tape Collections
A simple way to start with Washi Tape in your BUJO is to make a simple spread that you can use to show off your favorite Washi Tapes. For a quick way, find a stamp that you can create a repeated pattern that you fill in with Washi tape patterns.
Use It As Tape
It may seem simple, but don’t forget that you can attach things easily with the tape itself.
Get Creative With Washi Tape Ideas For Your Bullet Journal!
The thing I like the best about Washi Tape when I’m bullet journaling is that I can quickly add a good-looking pattern to a page without needing a lot of artistic skill. Beyond just decorating, it lets me color code important things, cover up mistakes, and create grids for lists or calendars quickly.
Your Turn!
- How do you use Washi Tape in your journal?
Leave a Reply