Hello friends! Elizabeth here from @thejoyfulsojourn on Instagram and YouTube, sharing with you how to dress up your functional planner with kisses of October Glow! Today I’m using the October Glow Stationery Kit!

 

I’ve just recently come to terms with the fact that my planner life is dictated by my almost-3-year-old toddler. My ‘new year/new me’ begins when she goes back to part-time daycare in September, when I’ve suddenly got a decent-sized block in the day for things I need to get done. Enter my most functional planning era, but with lots of deco (because creative play is priority)! Here are a few easy steps to get back into mom-work mode, without sacrificing the panache…

 

 

Don’t go hog-wild with stickers where you might need to actually write something down (I know it’s tempting, but hold back at first). If you’re using a vertical planner like this, try looking at it hourly from morning (top of column) to evening (bottom of column). Seeing my day made sense by TIME of day has helped reduce my anxiety and overwhelm. It helps me better anticipate transitions with family members and responsibilities- a huge source of stress for me.

If you want to make this functional part decorative but not cluttered, use pens (the Zebra Mildliner in oatmeal is a great pairing with October Glow) to highlight your headers and new activities. Instead of a solid line marking off transition points, make it dashed. Dash lines are just cuter 

  

Ok, here’s where we get to play with our monthly Cocoa Daisy Kits! This week’s spread utilizes several fun elements from the October Glow Stationery Kit. Let’s start with decorative dating. I share this in just about every planning blog because I believe it’s an ESSENTIAL element that blends functional planning with decorative planning. Here, I ran washi tape along the top of the spread, and used stickers layered on top to identify days and dates. The October Glow Stationery Kit provides you with decorative days of the week, so have fun with it! This is the easiest way to add decorative elements without sacrificing the planning space you need to keep your life in check. Since we’ve already populated our calendar events, we now know where we can add stickers, stamps, etc, without them interfering with the function.

 

 

In the month of October, I hope we all make at least one spread with leaves cascading across the page! While I’d never say there is a right way and wrong way to lay a leaf (you do you boo), I will say there’s a better way to lay a leaf if you’re open to it (gentle parenting, anyone?). Rather than sprinkling your individual leaf stickers all over the layout, give them a starting point in one of the top corners of your spread, and have individual leaves fall diagonally across the spread in a loose line. Like they’re falling off a tree branch with the wind.

I use this technique with all sorts of deco stickers, so keep it in your back pocket when spring rolls around! It always looks pretty, and functionally it keeps the leaves moving, so you still have space to write in your weekend columns if you need to.

 

 

Wherever possible in your weekly planner, create space for a good ol’ brain dump. Your brain will thank you later! Don’t overthink it, and don’t add too much structure, headers, or bullets at the beginning of the week. By Wednesday, you may have an unforeseen project come up that will need its own dedicated checklist.

 

Carve out a space for the unexpected and add a little kiss of the October Glow Stationery Kit Here, I doodled out a box and layered a stack of leaves with a bird atop, along the bottom. That box will sit there until I need it, and if I don’t need it by the end of the week, I can simply write in a quote or highlight before turning the page.

 

 

 

Expanding on step 3’s braindump space, there is the encouragement to use the sticky notes in the stationery kit to make box stickers! In the example above, I cut them down to fit inside my braindump box and with a cross-over look. Layered boxes always look cool, and they perfectly call attention of the eye for the things to remember at week’s end.

I hope these planner tips with the October Glow Stationery Kit get you excited to organize your week and make it pretty too! We’ll see you next time!

 

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