My October 2021 bullet journal design has to be one of my favorites thus far. Since this is the first time I have had the opportunity to create a theme for the month of October, I couldn’t resist making a Halloween themed set up. Of course, I found a plethora of inspiration via Pinterest and YouTube.
As soon as I latched onto this theme, I immediately set up a Halloween Art Pinterest board. I decided that I would use all of the traditional elements of Halloween to create this design. Therefore, I searched for examples of witches, skulls, pumpkins, cauldrons, spiders, and haunted houses. Even though I struggled a bit creating this design, I don’t regret it all.
Check out my design process below in order to view the final results.
The Design Process
The Cover Pages
When I saw She’z Art’s cover pages for her journal from two years ago, I immediately knew that I wanted to do something similar in my journal. I felt that the haunted house, bats, and pumpkins drawn in black would make an instant statement. There would be no doubt that this theme was all about Halloween.
As usual, I started by sketching everything in pencil. I used a different haunted house design in order to make it a little different from the original drawing. Plus, it seemed easier to draw. After everything was sketched out, I outlined and colored the drawing.
Once it was done, I felt like it was missing something. I was so frustrated because it wasn’t making a statement. After taking a break, I decided that it needed some background color. I chose to add some yellow and orange to the background and it immediately made a huge difference. I think this is one of my favorite pages in this spread.
The Calendar Page
For the calendar page, I had already decided that I would use pumpkins in the design. I sketched out various pumpkin shapes and faces along the top and right side of the page. Spiders and webs were added to the page in order to fill out the rest of the design. Finally, I outlined and colored the sketch using purple, orange, and black.
The Mood and Habit Trackers
The inspiration for the mood tracker came directly from Pinterest. When I saw the picture of this tracker I knew it would be perfect for my October theme. Not to mention, it would be pretty simple to draw. I think the ghosts are adorable and nice deviation from the type of trackers I usually have in my journal. Instead of coloring each day, I will draw a face on the ghost in order to represent my mood for the day. I can’t wait until the end of the month to see how they all look.
I decided to go with a cemetery scene for the habit tracker. In my mind, the cemetery drawing would fit nicely underneath the chart. I chose to add a few haunted houses and bats to the sketch to round out the scene. Once I was done drawing and coloring the page, I felt that it needed something extra. So, I added purple and magenta to the background which made everything pop. I’m very pleased with how this page turned out.
The Weekly Spreads
For my final spread, I chose to incorporate a witch, cauldron, and a black cat into my design. I found examples of every part of my design on Pinterest. The witch was hard to sketch at first, but I was able to get her done. I really like how she turned out. She is really the star of the show. The additional elements on the page round out the design. I feel this page is a nice ending to my Halloween theme for October.
Final Thoughts
I’m glad that I was able to create this theme for my October bullet journal design. I think it’s playful and fun. It represents the Halloween season very well. It will be a joy to use each day of the month.
What do you think of my October theme? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.
