We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
This is probably the best time of year.
Sweaters and hot drinks and everything to do with HALLOWEEN (!!!!)
It’s just sneaking up on us. And this means it’s time for a November Plan with Me for all you bullet journal lovers.
As mentioned in the October Plan with Me, this month is Harry Potter appreciation month. Like so many people, the world of Harry Potter delighted and enthralled me for a good chunk of my youth, I grew up with the Harry, Ron and Hermione. My grandma pre-ordered each book for me as they came out and I stayed up to pick it up at midnight on the day of its release. I’m a die hard fan. But enough about that…..
Let me know if you’re a Harry Potter fan in the comments! If so, what’s your favourite part of the series?
Planning it out
So, of course, I have been pinning HP images for the last few weeks to get some ideas as to what I wanted to do with this layout. You can check out my board on Pinterest if you like here (Don’t forget to follow me while you’re there!). Harry Potter is a massively popular bullet journal theme so there is certainly no lack of inspiration to draw from.
I wanted to deviate from a norm a little bit though. Most spreads that I had seen focused on the Hogwarts house, the Hogwarts express and the major characters of the series. Or turn into fun doodle explosions of significant items like Luna’s glasses, quills and broomsticks.
For my monthly set up layouts, I did do that too. Well, the Hogwarts house part anyway. But as you’ll see at the end of the month, I’ve decided to use some of the notable animals of the series as the stars of my weekly spreads. Think Fluffy, Norbert, Arogog, Crookshanks, Hedwig, etc.
Stay tuned to see how it turns out!
Calendar
As I’ve been doing for the past little bit, this month has a mini calendar with colour coded event dots that correspond with a ryder calendar on the left page. It makes it super easy for me to see if one week is particularly busy or if I have room to plan some fun.
This month I changed my habit tracker just a tiny bit by adding 2 new habits and changing from writing out the title to using icons. I don’t usually fuss too much over the habit tracker. I just have a few habits that are important to me so adding new ones was a step. The reason I added them was that over the last 6 weeks or so I found myself asking if I had done them. Since I was asking this to myself I figured IÂ might as well keep formal track if I was so interested.
Using icons allowed me to start my ryder calendar right at the top of the page opening up some more room for me to draw in the Hogwarts house animals in silhouette. Not sure if it’s too clear in the picture but each animal is outlined in the house colour.
Gratitude and Chores
As part of my monthly set up, I like to include a gratitude log and my chores spread. I kept these pages pretty simple using only black and a touch of silver with my Crayola metallic markers (honestly these are awesome, you need them in your collection). On the gratitude page, I added in my version of this great drawing I saw of a Patronus in a dementor. I thought this was nice and symbolic. Even in the darkness, we can always conjure up a good memory that is so powerful it brightens everything.
Pottermore Page
Now my Harry Potter spread would not be complete unless I had a page dedicated to my Pottermore “stats” so for those of you who are interested…
- I am in Ravenclaw
- Have a 10 3/4 inch wand made of cedar wood with a unicorn hair core
- My Patronus is the fear-inducing hedgehog (lol)
- and if I was at Ilvermorny I would be in Pukwudgie
First week
Since the first week of November is only Thursday through Sunday, I put those four days on the page opposite my Pottermore page. I just outlined each daily box with one of the house colours and might add banners around the titles but that’s it. Nice and simple.
After Thoughts
Originally I had meant to make my Pottermore page a double spread and draw out my wand and Patronus. I also thought about writing out some favourite quotes, memories or my favourite part of the series. I still might add some of that into the theme depending on how much space I have or if I have an extra page at the end of the spread.
Reading the Harry Potter books for the first time for me was amazing. Never had I been so gripped by characters. I had never before sincerely wished to be part of a world that I was reading about and I had always been an avid reader, so there were many.
Even now, I will pick up one of those books and read it when I want something comforting and effortless to be absorbed into. I have read the whole series at least 8 times through and it never gets old.
So at the end of this November plan with me, I want to throw a quick thanks out there to JK Rowling for her perseverance and inspiration to write a story that has impacted so many. To my Mom for bringing home that first book for my sister (which I stole). And to my late Grandma, who bought me every one of those books and understood my love of them and my need to have them immediately.
Ok with that, thanks for stopping in and reading all of this! If you did, please comment below and tell me your house, patronus, favourite line, memory or whatever you like! And also seriously Crayola Metallic Markers are a serious must.
