Hello October! Take a deeper look into how I created my monthly bullet journal layout using a pumpkin theme.

For this month’s bullet journal layout I decided to go with a pumpkin theme because my engagement and wedding anniversary are coming up. For those of you who don’t know, my husband proposed to me at a pumpkin patch and pumpkins were included in our wedding because of that, so now every time October rolls around I think of pumpkins. This is another 20 page layout that includes a cover page, quote page, two-page calendar, monthly overview, gratitude log, habit tracker, mood tracker, four two-page weekly spreads, a monthly recap, and another quote page to end the month. Instead of doodling a bunch of pumpkins, I decided to make some stickers on Canva and print them out on my Cricut. 

If you'd like to see the full youtube video on my bullet journal setup for October click here

Different Theme Ideas for Your October Bullet Journal

• Scary theme
• Halloween theme
• Ghost theme
• Pumpkin theme
• Black and White Theme
• Spider there
• Leaves theme

Quote Page 

I’ve been starting and ending my monthly layouts with quote pages. I love quote pages because they add inspiration and art to your bullet journal. For my first quote I went with “Hello Pumpkin” in black and orange with one of my favorite cursive and print lettering. I always search Pinterest and find quotes that go with my theme. I recommend choosing quotes that resonate with you and your theme for the month. My quote pages this month are simple yet effective.

Cover Page 

Cover pages are a great way to start your month because they show that you're entering a new chapter and introduce your theme for the month. I always create a cover page for my monthly layout. This month I went with a super simple cover with a black boarder and October written across in cursive. I love the way it turned out and I would definitely recreate it in another month. Your cover and quote pages are visual spreads and add to your overall theme.

Calendar Page 

I tried something different with this month’s calendar page. A friend of mine gave me the idea to have my title going down the side and I wanted it to be on Pumpkins. Calendar pages are always a must for me. I love using them because they help me map out my month. I keep track of bills, meetings, holidays, birthdays, and events during the month.

Monthly Overview

I use a monthly overview ( this month I didn’t have space to write ‘overview’ so I just wrote ‘review’) to glance at my goals, affirmations, reminders, master to-do, and books I want to read that month. It's a good reminder of my intentions for the month and keeps me on track to fulfill them. This page doesn’t have to be super detailed or fancy. It’s more for functionality rather than design.

Gratitude Log 

My gratitude log spread is always really simple. I have my title at the top and a number to represent every day of the month going down to write a sentence about what I’m grateful for each day. Sometimes I’ll also add a doodle or a sticker like this month. Gratitude logs have become essential to my bullet journal layouts. It is so important to show gratitude and be grateful for the things and people you have in your life. It is sometimes also called “one line a day,” and they both essentially mean writing one line or sentence about what you are grateful for each day. Regularly practicing gratitude can help improve your mental health, self-love, and confidence.

Habit Tracker

Habit trackers are a helpful tool to hold you accountable for the tasks you want to become habitual. You can make them in hundreds of ways to fit your theme and preferences. What you track is up to you. This month I picked six habits I wanted to keep track of, and I love using a habit tracker because it keeps me motivated. Filling it in every day is a satisfying accomplishment, and on the days I don’t make a habit, I am more motivated to get it done the next day and get back on track. My favorite part of my tracker this month is the title. It’s simple but super cute. At this point you can catch on that I favor simplicity when it comes to my layouts and spreads.

Mood Tracker 

My mood tracker this month is tea cups on shelves. I did a very similar mood tracker last November but with all different types of cups and mugs. Mood trackers are great for tracking your emotions throughout the month. It helps me to be more in tune with my feelings and pinpoint what made me happy or upset on certain days. You can also get creative with mood trackers, which is why I love them so much. I used not to pay attention to my moods daily, but a mood tracker makes it easier to see how I’m feeling throughout the month. I wanted my mood colors to be different shades of pumpkin related drinks.

Weekly Spreads

Majority of the time my weekly spreads are 2 pages. A weekly spread is a one or two-page time spread in your bullet journal that uses day boxes, tracker boxes, and single boxes to track your tasks and to-do list over seven days. You make your spread at the beginning of the month or week and fill it in with what you have going on that day. There are many ways to create a weekly spread, and I tend to keep my configurations on the simpler side and only use spreads that work for me. My weekly spreads are the pages I write the most in so I use the layouts I like best functionality wise and just change up the color and designs/doodles added. This month I added a lot of stickers to my weekly spreads because I didn’t have time to doodle as much as I wanted. These e spreads are super easy to create and change up depending on your theme.

Brain Dump

I occasionally like to add braindumps to my bullet journal. More times than not I don’t add them because I use a regular lined journal to write down all my thoughts and ideas. You can shop all my lined journals and notebooks here. Braindumps are great for freewrites, notes, brainstorming, and leaving reminders for yourself. For this brain dumps I have the title in the center of the page and a colored boarder similar to my cover page.

Recap 

Recap pages help reflect on your month; the good, bad, and the ugly. I like to write about everything that happened during the month, what I learned, and what I can do better next month. For me, it serves as a more specific brain dump, so I keep it simple with a title at the top and leave the rest of the page to write. 

Stickers

I love making stickers. I sell a few on my website but I mainly make them for my bullet journal and small business. Adding stickers to your journal is great if you aren’t the most artistic or if you’re like me and don’t feel like drawing your own doodles. I made these stickers using Canva and printed them out on my Cricut. If you’d like to see how I actually make and print my stickers, let me know in the comments. Canva is a great resource for all types of digital products and media, and if you haven’t already tried it, you definitely should. The stickers I made for my bullet journal this month were pumpkin themed and I just printed them out on one sticker sheet. Stickers also make journaling and using a journal more fun. I encourage you to buy and use stationery products that you love and will make journaling enjoyable for you. Having my favorite notebook, pens, markers, stickers, and wash tape are essential to me when it comes to journaling.

Bullet journaling can be an effective planner tool that can help you to create a personalized planner. I hope my pumpkin theme for the layout, spreads, and designs help and inspire you to create your future bullet journal spreads.

Which spread was your favorite? Let me know in the comments.