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When I started my bullet journal I knew that I was going to love it. And I’m happy to say that every month my love has grown more and more. October’s spread was the perfect pairing of fun to draw and minimalist. And you’ll get to see it in this October flip through.
As a quick overview, I chose to do The Nightmare Before Christmas for my monthly theme and it was a hit! There wasn’t a single page I wasn’t happy to have my journal open to for the world to see. It really suited by drawing ability and gave me some room to have fun while keeping it simple.
- Related: November Plan with MeÂ
- Related: Bullet Journal SuppliesÂ
Planning
As always, I found some great inspiration on Pinterest and you can check out my board here. Remember to follow me while you’re there!
Putting together my plan for drawing out my weekly spreads the hardest part. There are so many memorable characters in this classic that figuring out which I wanted to showcase was so difficult. As you’ll see I decided on Jack, Sally, the Mayor and Oogie Boogie. I also wanted to have Zero and Lock, Shock and Barrel in the mix so they adorn my goal pages.
As far as a colour scheme goes, I tried to stay pretty muted just like the movie. Most of the spreads are black, grey and white with some red tones to liven it up just a little. I wanted to keep this theme a bit dark and minimal. Just perfect for Halloween.
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Monthly Set Up
As you saw in my October Plan with Me, I actually ended up doing a cover page for October. It was sort of unintentional but I really wanted to try out this drawing and after I had it done, I didn’t have space for the rest of my set up. My usual calendar and lists got moved to the next page. I really did like the way it turned out though, with the jack-o-lanterns and the font.
My Ryder calendar moved to my next spread complete with my usual mini habit tracker on the left-hand side of it. Since it was the beginning of the month I went with putting in the Halloween Town sign on this spread to warm up for the rest of the cast. I forgot to add in tasks and goals on a monthly level here so it ended up on the bottom of the gratitude page which I’m not keen on. I didn’t have all the space I wanted for that tracker so I definitely want to make sure I have a full page for November.
I really liked my chores tracker after I filled it out since I ended up doing some fun squiggles and swirls in each box which I think added to the vibe nicely. This was the first time I added in a blog planning page and IÂ used it a lot! I was super happy about having a space to plan out my posting, keep track of ideas and make notes for next month.
Weeklies
The first week of this October flip through stars the Pumpkin King himself. All of my weekly spreads have the same layout this month. 8 boxes, 4 per page with one of them acting as a frame for the character I drew. Jack definitely got the most ornamental frame of the lot but he was also the most devoid of colour. I put the dates in grey curly writing and called it a day.
My first goal page features Zero in the bottom corner and this month I added a new blog section on this bi-weekly goals page so I could easily stay on track for goal hitting.
Up next was the Mayor of Halloween Town. He turned out pretty good for a lesser known character and I liked how his pop of orange complements the theme.
Now, this week I was so happy with my Sally. And my youngest was so thrilled with it too that she ended up being Sally for Halloween. I was probably the most nervous about drawing her since she’s the most complex but it was great. I was so pleased.
Although I really liked my Sally this second bi-weekly goals page might be my favourite of the month. The trick or treaters Lock, Shock and Barrel were so much fun to draw and I think they fit perfectly in this spread. Right in the middle of things but out of the way. Bright, but muted, happy and mischievous. Loved it.
They also serve as an intro to Oogie Boogie just like in the movie.
Who, of course, is up next. Not even willing to be contained by his frame Oogie Boogie is just waiting to roll the dice.
And lastly, Jack and Sally just needed to be together. I fiddled with if I wanted to include their quote but ended up doing just some of it.
Conclusions
There are so many great songs in the movie but I found it really hard to pick lyrics that made sense out of the context of the film. I also found that if they did make sense, often they were too long to include in my journal. This is why you didn’t see any quotes this month. After the fact, I think it fits the theme and feels better that way.
What I liked
This month, the theme is hands down the best part. I’m so glad my kids convinced me to do it. They were so excited to see my new pages every week and we had a great time coming up with ideas together. If you have trouble picking themes you’re excited about, take a look at my post about how to choose a theme.
I really liked the minimal layout with a designated space for my character of the week. This kept things simple and systematic. I loved having the character change spots week to week too. Kind of made me think about how they would all look in a photo collage on the stairway of some creepy house lol.
What I would change
My gratitude page was not great this month. I didn’t have enough space and I didn’t get to have anywhere for my tasks and goals. I am a goal setter by nature and even though my blog planning page made up for it a bit, I needed a designated area. To set up my plans.
I didn’t need a full box for each Saturday and Sunday so if I do this box layout again I’ll be splitting a box for the weekend and adding a space for notes or a meal plan instead. I’m a fan of the effient use of space and this didn’t cut it for me.
How did your October set up go? What theme did you pick?
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