current obsession:

washi tape.

masking tape made of tearable, re-stickable, adorably printed japanese washi paper.

love love love me some washi tape.

i can't remember where i first read about washi tape, but i ran right out to get some, thinking it would be really great for packaging orders to jazz up the plain kraft paper jewelry boxes i use. it was definitely a must-have when i saw a great green color combination. but then i found the aptly named happy tape website, and discovered that there is a full plethora of colors, patterns, and widths to these awesome tapes! they rip easily, you can pull them off and re-stick them, stamp on them, and write on them!

when i bought the green ones and the checkout girl asked me what else i was going to make with them, i wasn't sure. since then i've found loads of adorable projects online and am having to try really hard to resist on stocking up on ALL of the different colors and patterns! here are some of my favorites:

picture frames:
a striped chipboard album:
letters for a wall:
a SUPER cute notecard:
wedding banner and cupcake flags:
and the coolest idea for a little travel journal ever! this would be awesome with a moleskine journal, and i'm thinking of two little half-finished journals of mine (italy and prague) that need some sprucing up [or at least finishing!] this may be just the inspiration i need!
and one of the best ideas by far, thanks again to washimatta [a great resource for buying the tape on etsy if you're not planning to run out to japan anytime soon!] is for using in in your agenda or day planner.
look at the bottom right-hand little picture to see it- you know how when you have a week-long event like a vacation or fall break that you have to write in your planner, so you try to write it out across the several days and it always looks stretched and messy? now you can just stick a lovely little strip of washi tape across the little blocks of days and write as small and neatly as you like! [and your obsession with neat and tidiness in your planner can continue... ahem].

all the photos here are thanks to the individual sites... many of the links are tutorials or how-tos! this stuff is SO EASY to use and so cute! i can't wait to order some and get started on some projects- i'm definitely going to start by pink polka dotting and striping the plain white picture frames in my daughter's nursery!