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You can literally use anything you desire to create a great bullet journal. Over the course of the last year I have been introduced to many different types of supplies recommended to use in a bullet journal. To celebrate the end of my first year, I’ve devised my list of 7 amazing bullet journal tools to create an epic bullet journal!

The Notebook

Everybody needs a notebook for a bullet journal. It’s one of the required tools, as no notebook means no bullet journal. And the notebook I recommend is the Leuchtturm1917 A5 Dot Grid Notebook!

7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!I mean, seriously, how lovely is that pink Leuchtturm1917?

Why is the Leuchtturm1917 so amazingly epic?

  • Numbered pages. No having to go through each page painstakingly adding the page number.
  • It features a built in index. Have to use those numbered pages for something, right?
  • Excellent paper quality. The paper is perfect for writing, drawing, and even watercolors!
  • There are many choices! There are over a dozen notebook colors. Don’t like the size? Get a bigger one, or a smaller one! Don’t like dot grid? You can try plain, grid, or lined.  You don’t like hardcover? There is a softcover version as well. There is literally something for everybody.

And if you still don’t feel entirely convinced about how amazing the Leuchtturm1917 is, I wrote a full detailed review!

The Pens

Pens (or even markers) are the next necessity for a bullet journal. I mean, you can’t have a bullet journal with a blank notebook.

This was actually probably the hardest aspect of the bullet journal tools to nail down. There are so many fantastic pens and markers out there. But I decided to nail it down to these two types here.

Fineliners

7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!

Fineliner pens are plastic-tipped pens that are fantastic for handwriting, drawing, and sketching. I personally enjoy fineliner pens more than the generic ballpoint pen because of the crisper lines and ease of drawing. On top of this, they are also lovely for coloring books!

The first set of fineliner pens that I used in my first bullet journal are the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners. I still use these today, and they’ve proven invaluable for my bullet journal.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Staedtler Fineliners:

  • Many colors, and many different sizes of sets to fit your needs.
  • They don’t bleed and ghosting is minimal.
  • Reasonable cost and good quality.

I purchased this 36 pen set on Amazon to start! Trust me, you can’t go wrong purchasing these!

Brush Pens
7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!

Brush pens have introduced me to some additional creativity for my bullet journal. They add style, and trust me, a little calligraphy always brightens up a page.

Again, I struck gold, as my first set of brush pens have proven invaluable in my collection. The first brush pens I ever tried were Tombow Dual-Brush Pens.

Why are the Tombow Dual-Brush pens my favorite?

  • Tombow brush pens handle beautifully for all types of gorgeous lettering
  • They are water based. With some water, plastic, and a lot of creativity, you can create some lovely watercolor-type effects with the brush pens.
  • Each pen has two sides! The first side with the colored tip has the brush pen. But the other side has a fine-tipped marker of the same shade!
  • Most sets also include a blending pen. They are fantastic for blending colors together, and it’s very easy to use.

Plus, there are so many shades! There are 96 colors to choose from! If you have specific color preferences, Tombow has been kind enough to feature different shades and tones in smaller sets.

Primary Colors
Secondary Colors
Pastel
Galaxy
Grayscale
And so much more!!!!

My first set was the bright color set, and it’s a terrific choice for starting out.

Secondary Bullet Journal Tools
7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!

Secondary bullet journal tools are those that don’t necessarily create the bullet journal (unlike the notebook and pens!). However, these types of tools are the ones that make creating your bullet journal a LOT easier than if you didn’t have them.

Over the course of the last year, I’ve trialed multiple secondary tools. These are the ones that I determined to have the most value and helped create some amazing bullet journals.

Ruler

If you’re anything like me, I can’t draw a straight line without help. So, to combat that particular issue, I use a ruler!

I’ve tried plastic and stainless steel rulers; while I like the see through capability of the plastic ones, I prefer the durability of the stainless steel.

This Westcott Stainless Steel ruler here was one I got for my travel kit and it’s been amazing! It’s only 6 inches long, too, so it fits just about anywhere! And it’s not terribly wide either!

White Out

I make a lot of mistakes in my bullet journal. I’m pretty sure we all do. We are human, after all!

The BiC Wite Out mini has been a lifesaver for any mistake. It fixes smudges, smears, and wrong information. This is actually a tool I’ve utilized well before bullet journals, however, it’s just as fantastic with my bullet journal!

Another thing to mention is that this isn’t like your typical liquid white out. Nobody wants to deal with that! It’s pretty easy to operate, too, and no mess! You just press down, slide, and poof!

Like the ruler, it’s very compact, and great anywhere.

Double Sided Tape

This probably isn’t a tool most consider when using their bullet journals, but you’re missing out if you don’t use it.

I really love this Tombow Adhesive applicator with my bullet journals. Whether it’s for sticking photos or other non-sticker items to bullet journals, or for sticking pages together when there’s ink bleeding on a page, you can’t go wrong having this in your arsenal.

Another thing I use this for is for washi tape that doesn’t stick well. What’s more frustrating that washi that peels off the paper on its own? A little bit of double sided tape is an easy, quick fix!

Inspirational Bullet Journal Tools

7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!I love the ideas I get from Pinterest!!!

Personally, I find inspiration to be a huge motivating factor in the ability to keep a bullet journal.

This is precisely why I find Pinterest necessary for success as one of my coveted bullet journal tools!

Put ‘Bullet Journal’ in the search terms and you’ll be transported to a world of bullet journal pictures and articles galore.

I’ve learned so many valuable tips and tricks for my bullet journal I can’t even count. What’s better is if I see something I really love, I can re-pin those same articles and images to my own boards! Even if I don’t use what I find immediately in my bullet journal, I can go back through my pins later and find them much more easily.

A little new to Pinterest but you’re intrigued? Would you like a little guidance?

I have you covered!

As a planner-related blog, I’ve taken the time to pin and sort through thousands of images and articles. Please check out my Pinterest account HERE and take a look for yourself!

Putting it All Together

7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!

So here is a comprehensive list of the 7 bullet journal tools for a beautiful bujo!

What bullet journal tools do you use for your bujo? Please tell me in the comments! I’m always interested in trying and reviewing the products (or inspiration!) people love to use for their bullet journals.

Until then,
Rachel

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7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!

7 Fantastic Bullet Journal Tools that will help make your bullet journal extra beautiful! These tools have helped my bullet journal thrive, have helped me maintain organization in my bullet journal over the last year. Great reference guide for people who want to know how to start a bullet journal. Recommends supplies such as notebooks and pens. Also includes some inspirational sources to make your bujo successful!