10+ Easy Ways to Fix Mistakes in Your Bullet Journal
Hey friends, it’s Sarah from @essjay_florals and today I’m going to talk about covering up mistakes in your bullet journal with some tips on how to fix them! Let me paint a picture for you, you’ve pencilled in your design and ready to ink it up, you are pumped, ready to go, you can do this! And of course, you accidentally end up drawing that line a bit too long or whoops you’ve left a letter out from your heading, or that drawing just isn’t working now! No worries guys, bullet journal mistakes are easy to make, and I’ve got your back! I’m here to share a few tips on how to save that spread! And at the end of this blog don’t forget to download the printable with a fun floral that you can print and use in you journal (the perfect cover up). Let’s dive in now and see how we can salvage those pages!
Acrylographs – Small through to large mistakes
Regardless of the size of the mistake, acrylographs are a great solution! And the best part is there is a solution for whichever paper type you are using! They are perfect for minor mistakes right through to larger mistakes, as you can use them as a patch that matches the paper or simply draw with them right over your mistake. They are fabulous for drawing over things as they are nice and opaque so you can turn your mistake into something completely different. The best part is because you can layer them up so easily you can colour a whole section in, draw a picture, you name it! Note: I used 0.7mm pens in my video, this makes colouring larger sections take longer, so I would recommend using 3mm pens for best results.
Acrylograph cover up cheat sheet:
- White notebook – white pen from any of the sets or can be purchased individually
- Blackout notebook – black pen from the primary set or can be purchased individually
- Kraft notebook – light brown pen from the awakening set
Stickers – small to medium mistakes
Stickers are one of my favourite ways to fix a mistake quickly. And are often my go to if I’ve drawn a box line too long. You can add a bunch of pretty floral stickers (or something else if you aren’t as floral obsessed as me, lol) and bam no more extra long line, just pretty flowers!
Washi – small mistakes
Washi is another great way to fix small mistakes, make a spelling mistake or put the wrong day of the week? No problem, chuck some washi on it then use your acrylograph pen to write over the top or stick a bit of paper on top and write the correct word, too easy!
Layer some paper – small to large mistakes
Now this is a fun one, that you can use to fix literally any mistake, whether it be large or small, just rip or cut some cute papers and layer them up to make a pretty collage and add whatever you want on top! This solution is also one of the best ways to fix a mistake and literally no one needs to know there was ever a mistake!
Stick the pages together – large mistakes
However, if you feel your spread is totally too far gone and not fixable at all, just stick the pages together and turn the page! I find if you don’t want the pages to warp at all the easiest way to do this is glue tape or double sided tape, using a glue stick you may get slight warping but you can usually flatten by closing your book and putting it under heavy books overnight.
Notepads are your friends – small to large
If you absolutely think you can’t do a spot cover with an acrylograph and don’t want to stick the pages together, no worries. Either use a page from your notepad or cut a page from the back of your journal. This is another great fix as you can cover small mistakes right through to large mistakes, just cutting to whatever size you need.
Just leave it – small through to large
This is the easiest solution (but I know many of us can’t live with it, haha). But at the end of the day, it is your journal, if you don’t care that you made a spelling mistake, or extended your lines too far, or don’t like that drawing, then just leave it. Sometimes it’s good to keep these mistakes to look back on or to remind ourselves we are all just human and make mistakes. It isn’t the end of the world.
Turn it into a joke – small through to large
But if you can’t stand to just leave it as is and rather than changing it or covering it, why not make a joke of it and make light of the fact that you made a mistake.
Make it part of the design – small
If it is a slight slip of the ruler or extending a line a little too far you can usually incorporate it into your design. Maybe make the lines a little wonky and overlapping (this is a favourite of mine!), or extend all the lines and add a pattern, or add some floral doodles (ok guys, I know there are things other than florals, the doodles can be anything).
Paint over it – small through to large
Bust out your gouache or acrylics and paint right over it. This is a fun one as you can get super creative with them! You can even use a combo of paint and acrylographs beautifully together!
Cover Mistakes With Me
Check out this video showing exactly how I covered up all these mistakes!
Print out the printable – Large
Print out the free printable and stick it right over the top! Add some layers, leave it, whatever you’d like!
I hope you have enjoyed learning how to fix mistakes in you bullet journal! Maybe you have other solutions you’d like to share? Don’t forget to tag myself at @essjay_florals & @archerandolive if you’d like to share.