Nothing derails a planning routine faster than rummaging for an insert—only to find bent corners, curled pages, or tab dividers that got crushed in a drawer. These simple cardstock storage pockets solve both problems: they protect your planner pages and keep your extras sorted and easy to grab. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to measure, score, cut, and glue two pocket styles so you can build a planning that fits your life.
Prefer to watch? This post pairs with the video tutorial so you can follow along step-by-step.
Supplies
- 12″ x 12″ cardstock (80 lb / 216 gsm cover weight is recommended)
- scissors
- craft glue
- pencil
- ruler
- For scoring, either:
- Option 1:
- scoring board
- bone folder
- Option 2:
- a piece of scrap cardboard (like a cereal box)
- a dinner knife
- Option 1:
Let’s Make Storage Pockets
You can make these storage pockets for any size planner pages or accessories. In the video I make 2 specific sizes for planner pages or inserts that I personally use. And I describe the steps below. I want to go through these and point out some key structural concepts before I attempt to explain how to determine the size of the paper you will need. Pocket #1 is made horizontally, it is wider than it is tall. And Pocket #2 is made vertically; taller than it is wide.
Pocket #1: A Horizontal Pocket
What I’m storing: Extra monthly + weekly sections for the year, including the tabbed dividers, for a Classic Happy Planner size disc-bound planner. I want the tabs on the dividers to be visible, so this pocket needs to be a horizontal storage pocket.
| Dimensions of items to be stored (turned horizontally) | Pages: 9 1/4″ x 7″ Tabbed Dividers: 9 1/4″ x 7 5/16″ |
Pocket Width
It is important to allow some ease in the width of the pocket so that the pages can be easily inserted or removed. The pocket height and depth (the sides of the pocket) can impact how much ease you may need. Horizontal pockets can usually be made with less ease than vertical pockets. I always allow at least 1/4″ of ease in the width.
Having a pocket that is too wide can allow the stored items to shift side to side. I find it best to have “just enough” ease, rather than “lots of” ease. These pockets perform best when storing like sized items. The items stored and the storage pocket work together – the storage pocket protects the form of the items and the items maintain the storage pocket’s form.
Pocket Height
The height of the pocket is a balance of form and function. I generally prefer to have the back of the storage pocket be the same height as the items I’m planning to store. The sides and at least 1/2″ (more on bigger pockets) of the front and back adjacent to the sides should be at the full height. This helps the top of the storage pocket to maintain it’s shape.
Having a cutout or dip at the front edge of the pocket allows you to see the contents of the pocket. It also makes it easier access the items. But you can create a pocket that is the same height all around.
Pocket Depth
The pocket depth is determined by how many items you need to store. The pocket depth is limited by the material used to make the storage pockets. More than 1/2″ stack of 7″ x 9 1/4″ Classic Happy Planner pages weighs more than a storage pocket made out of 80 lb cover cardstock can manage.
Smaller pockets can possibly go to 3/4″ width. But I usually go with 1/2″ or 3/8″ pocket depths.
Pocket #1 Dimensions
I added 1/4″ to the pocket width for ease and decided on 7 1/4″ for the pocket height. The height is just shy of the 7 5/16″ height of the tabbed dividers, but that will be fine. I plan to store three months of pages per storage pocket. I believe 1/2″ pocket depth will be sufficient even after the pages have been used and additional pages (i.e. weekly/monthly tracking pages, etc) added.
So these are the initial measurements:
| Target pocket width | 9 1/2″ (1/4″ added for ease) |
| Target pocket height | 7 1/4″ |
| Pocket depth | 1/2″ |
I always make a little pencil sketch of my piece of paper, but I created a graphic to share here. I always center on the piece of paper and align the edge with the top back edge of the pocket. Here’s a sketch of this pocket layout, which I’ll refer to in the Step-By-Step below:
Step-by-step
- Sketch out a plan for the pocket as shown above. This diagram tells us:
- Score lines that define the size of the pocket – those at 1 1/4″ from each side of the sheet and the one that is 7 1/4″ from the top.
- Score lines that define/create the sides and bottom- at 3/4″ from each side and 7 3/4″ from the top.
- There’s 3/4″ that will fold to the front. This is greater than 1/2″ and is adequate for having sides that will maintain shape.
- The front that will fold back up is only 4 1/4″ in height. (More on this in step 5.)
- Score the sheet using the diagram measurements. (In the video I used the No Scoring Board method.)
- Scoring Board – Using a bone folder or the scoring tool that came with your board, score each of the lines as indicated on the diagram. I usually score each line twice with this weight cardstock.
- No Scoring Board – This is a 2 step process.
- Using your ruler, carefully measure and mark near the top and bottom edges for the score lines 3/4″ and 1 1/4″ from each side. Measure from the top of the sheet and mark near both side edges for the score lines at 7 1/4″ and 7 3/4″.
- Place the piece of cardboard under your sheet of paper. Line the ruler up with each pair of marks that define the score lines. Hold the ruler firmly in place and use the back edge of the dinner knife to create a score line along the ruler. You need to press very firmly and make 2 passes (without moving the ruler) to ensure a good score line.
- Fold and crease. Carefully fold the paper on each score line. Make a crisp crease using a bone folder, the handle of the knife, or an old gift card.
- Cut the tabs. Make the side cuts along the bottom fold area, leaving a small tab (like a box tab) so the bottom closes neatly. These are “highlighted” in pale purple on the diagram.
- Test fold. Test-fit the pocket so you can see how it’s coming together and decide if you want more/less opening at the top.
- If you need to open it up and remove some cardstock, see Example 2 below.
- If you need to close it up a bit because feels a little too open (see photo below), you can a strip of cardstock. I make it the same width as the original piece (12″ in this example). I always make a 1/2″ to 1″ overlap – the wider the width, the wider I want the overlap for strength. You can measure (as I did in the video) or calculate the width you need. From the diagram above, that front piece is 4 1/4″. Our pocket is 7 1/4″ tall. So the difference is 3″. I need to add 1″ because 9 1/2″ is a wide pocket – so that’s 4″. But I also do want the tabbed dividers visible so I’d like to have a 1/2″ drop for the front. So I cut a strip of paper that is 12″ wide and 3 1/2″ tall. And then I measured, scored, folded and creased at 3/4″ and 1 1/4″ from both sides of the strip so that it will wrap around just like the front piece.
- Assemble and glue the pocket together. Glue the pocket together using a good craft glue that will hold quickly. Make certain that you align the piece so that the sides are perpendicular to the front and back – keep it squared up. Use your to reach inside the pocket to press the pieces together from both sides and to help square the sides. Here is the recommended order.
- Glue the tabs to the sides that are part of the back section.
- Next fold in the sides attached to the back section and apply glue to the pieces that will attach the the front lower panel.
- Glue and wrap the side/back tab pieces on the lower front panel.
- Carefully glue the addition front piece to the front of the pocket. Glue the entire overlap area and then the front tabs from the back piece. Make sure to keep the sides nice and square – don’t let the front edges of the sides lean in.
- Glue and wrap the side/back tab areas of the additional strip.
And the pocket is complete. I chose this pocket because it did require extra paper beyond a 12″ x 12″ sheet. And that would be true whether it was made vertical or horizontal. More about determining how much paper is needed soon. But first let’s make another pocket.
Pocket #2: Vertical Pocket
What I’m storing: Half-width inserts for things like Running Tasks lists and Weekly Meal Planning. My inserts are 4 1/4″ wide by 9 1/4″ tall.
| Dimensions of items to be stored (vertically) | Pages: 4 1/4″ x 9 1/4″ |
Pocket #2 Dimensions
I’ll not repeat all the pocket width/height/depth information (see above).
I added 1/2″ to the pocket width for ease because this will be a deep vertical pocket and I want to be sure I can easily get the inserts in and out. I decided to keep the height of the pocket at 9 1/4″. I don’t need as much depth as for the horizontal pocket, so I chose 3/8″.
So these are the initial measurements:
| Target pocket width | 4 3/4″ |
| Target pocket height | 9 1/4″ |
| Pocket depth | 3/8″ |
Step-by-step
Steps that are the same as Example 1, I’ll not repeat in detail. I will identify any differences.
- Sketch out a plan for the pocket as shown above. This diagram tells us:
- Score lines that define the size of the pocket – those at 3 5/8″ from each side of the sheet and the one that is 9 1/4″ from the top.
- Score lines that define/create the sides and bottom- at 3 1/4″ from each side and 9 5/8″ from the top.
- There’s 3 1/4″ that will fold to the front. This is not only greater than 1/2″ these will overlap, add strength and make the front full height. (More on this in step 5.)
- Score the sheet using the diagram measurements. (In the video I used a scoring board.)
- Scoring Board – Same.
- No Scoring Board – This is a 2 step process.
- Using your ruler, carefully measure and mark near the top and bottom edges for the score lines 3 1/4″ and 3 5/8″ from each side. Measure from the top of the sheet and mark near both side edges for the score lines at 9 1/4″ and 9 5/8″.
- Place the piece of cardboard under your sheet of paper. Line the ruler up with each pair of marks that define the score lines. Hold the ruler firmly in place and use the back edge of the dinner knife to create a score line along the ruler. You need to press very firmly and make 2 passes (without moving the ruler) to ensure a good score line.
- Fold and crease. Same.
- Cut the tabs. Same.
- Test fold. Test-fit the pocket so you can see how it’s coming together and decide if you want more/less opening at the top.
- If you need to open it up a bit because you can’t see what’s stored inside or access it easily (see photo below), you can create a dip or along the front edge to create a thumb notch. Determine how much of a dip or notch you want to have and how wide you want it to be. Always leave 1/2 at the sides of the front at the full height, in line with the sides. This helps keep the pocket square. In the video I chose a 1″ depth, I think I achieved about a 3/4″ dip because I chose to draw a curve. You could simply use a diagonal line from 1/2″ from the side to where you want the dip to be. Or curve down and flatten out across the front. Do avoid cutting straight down and then straight across. The inside corner where those 2 cuts meet will create a weak point in the paper where it will easily rip. TIP: If you sketch your planned cut on one side and then carefully cut it away as one piece, you can flip it over and use it for a pattern to make a mirror cut on the other overlapping piece.
- If you need to close it up and add cardstock, see Example 1 above.
- Assemble and glue the pocket together. Same except the order:
- Glue the tabs to the sides that are part of the back section.
- Next fold in the overlapping pieces and glue the area that overlaps. You can fold the bottom front panel (without glue) and use it to help get the bottom of the sides squared up and use the ruler to keep them aligned to the top.
- Glue the bottom front panel to the overlapped front.
- When you start this next step, you will see that the pieces that wrap to the back also overlap. You can trim them or just let them overlap.
- Glue and wrap the side/back tab pieces on the lower front panel.
How to Customize the Pocket Size (And How Much Paper Do I Need?)
The first step is deciding what you’re storing—planner pages, half sheets, dashboards, sticker sheets, tabbed dividers, etc. Measure the width and height of your what you want to store (include tabs if you want them protected inside the pocket). Measure how much you want to store and determine the depth. Add little extra to the measurements for ease of putting your items in and taking them out or if you want more (or less) protection at the top of the pocket.
The strength of these pockets is that overlaps are at least 1/2″ And overlaps can’t be on a side. This means I can’t say I want this to be 5″ wide, 5″ tall, and 1/2″ deep and use a piece of paper that is 6″ wide and 10 1/2″ long. That would mean gluing a side to a side and it just won’t hold up as well.
With 12″ x 12″ paper you can make:
| Width | Height | Depth | Extra paper ? |
| 10″ | 6″ – 10″ | 1/2″ | yes |
| 10″ | 2″ – 6″ | 1/2″ | no |
| 2″ – 5″ | 2″ – 10″ | 1/2″ | no |
| 6″ – 10″ | 2″ – 6″ | 1/2″ | no |
| 6″ – 10″ | 6″ – 10″ | 1/2″ | yes |
With 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper you can make:
| Width | Height | Depth | Extra paper ? |
| 9″ | 5″ – 7″ | 1/2″ | yes |
| 9″ | 2″ – 4″ | 1/2″ | no |
| 2″ – 7″ | 2″ – 5″ | 1/2″ | no |
| 8″ – 9″ | 2″ – 4″ | 1/2″ | no |
| 8″ – 9″ | 5″ – 8″ | 1/2″ | yes |
This is not an exhaustive list and I’m doing the numbers in my head. If you have a specific size, pop it into the comments and I can help you out.
What Else Can You Store in These?
Once you start making these, you’ll be making them for everything.
- Orphaned sticker sheets
- Dashboards and dividers
- Adhesive tabs (like Avery tabs)
- Post-it flags and small sticky notes
This picture shows a green storage pocket holding sticker sheets that measure 4″ x 5″, The pocket measures 4 1/2″ W x 5 1/4″ H x 1/4″ D. The sheet of paper I used was 5 1/2″ x 9″. The little light green storage pocket for the adhesive divider tabs measures 2″ x 2″ x 3/4″. The paper I used was 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″.
You may notice a couple of lines running across the front of the sticker storage pocket. I accidentally scored the wrong measurements – used the side measurements instead of the bottom measurements. I happy little accidental decoration for that pocket.
Troubleshooting & Tips
- Cracking on folds: Score a little deeper (or twice) and fold more slowly. Scoring stretches the fibers so the cardstock doesn’t split.
- Pocket isn’t strong enough: Make certain that you are using 80lb cover (or crest) cardstock. Much of the cardstock these days is 65 lb or 80lb index weight. Paper is confusing sometimes. The gsm number of 216 is more consistent and I always look for that when I am buying paper. That being said, this is cardstock, not poster board or chipboard. (If you want to pretty box out of chipboard with dividers for your planner inserts, let me know.)
- Pocket feels too tight: Add a touch more “ease” to the width/height, or increase depth from 3/8″ to 1/2″.
- Pocket won’t sit square: The pockets are generally too narrow at 1/4″ – 3/4″ depth to stand on their own. Very small boxes, like the one for the adhesive tabs will stand on it’s own because it has a low center of gravity. If you pockets sit crooked, that likely means that they slipped out of alignment before the glue set.
- Corners getting bent: Round the exposed corners, like the ones on Example 1 at the top. Use a corner rounding paper punch or trace a coin and trim along the line. Or just eye-ball it and trim it rounded with your scissors. Making sure that the glue gets to the edges, especially exposed corners will help keep them flat.
- Gluing Tips
- Use a small amount of glue – a little dab with usually do.
- Get close to the edges so they stay flat.
- Use a glue that grabs quickly and dries clear.
- Use precision tip, if available.
- Use a ruler inside the pocket to press seams from the inside without crushing the pocket. You can also use items similar in size to help in applying pressure and keeping the sides squared up. Like a pad of stickers, or something easy to insert and remove. (A stack of planner
Wrap-Up
These pockets are one of my favorite “low effort, high impact” planner tools—because when your extras are protected and easy to find, your whole routine runs smoother. If you try this, let me know how you customized yours!
If you found this post helpful, follow me on social media for more ideas that support planning that fits your life. And tell me in the comments: what size planner are you using—and what planner organization questions or problems would you like me to tackle next?
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