Simple Planner Monthly Set Up | Including 10+ Useful Bullet Journal Ideas For The Blank Spreads
Hi Friends! Its Rose here from @littlemissrose on Instagram and YouTube . I’m so excited to share with you how I set up my Archer & Olive Planner for the month! This planner monthly set up will include a monthly cover page, monthly calendar/monthly log, and a simple weekly spread and a bullet journal habit tracker! I also include lots of bullet journal spread ideas for the blank pages in each month.
Here’s what you’ll need to set up your planner for the month:
- Archer & Olive Planner
- Washi Tape (I used the Brisk Journey’s set)
- Stickers (Fall Nature, Fall Planner)
- B5 Neapolitan Notepad
- Calliograph pen
- White Acrylograph
- Acrylic Stamps (Familiars, Florals)
- Ink pads for stamping
- Fineliners
Make sure to use my affiliate code ROSE10 to get a discount on your purchase of any Archer & Olive products!
If you want to watch how I set up my Archer & Olive planner for the month, you can watch it here:
Monthly Planner Cover Page:
I always like to introduce a new month in my planner with a monthly cover page. I use the first empty dot grid page before the monthly calendar.
For this month, I chose to use the new Calliograph pens to hand letter the month of November onto a piece of kraft paper from the neapolitan notepad. I cut this out and stuck it to my cover page. If you haven't mastered brush lettering yet you can check out this helpful post here. But you don’t have to hand letter - you can use stamps or stickers as well.
I finished off decorating the page using washi tape and stamps, focusing on a simple colour scheme of blue and green.
Monthly Habit Tracker:
On the next empty dot grid page in the Archer & Olive Planner, I like to create a monthly habit tracker. My favourite habit tracker layout is to select 6-8 habits and then create wee mini calendars for each habit. Each day as I complete a habit I will colour in the corresponding square.
Again I have done a simple heading with the calliograph, adding a drop shadow detail with a fineliner, and decorated the page using acrylic stamps.
If you want to track more habits than this, you should try this large full page tracker created by Bonnie.
Planner Monthly Log Set-up
Since the monthly log/calendar in the Archer & Olive planner is already set up for us, all we have to do is decorate it! I’m from NZ, and we like to start our calendars on a Monday. So to get around the Sunday start in the planner, I simply white out the days of the week and then cover with washi tape. Pro-tip: Using white out first prevents the text from being seen through the washi tape. I can then use stickers to label the days of the week on my calendar, I’ve also used stickers to number the days as well.
Since there is a whole row of extra squares at the bottom of the calendar, I’ve torn some kraft pages from the neapolitan notepad to cover them and decorated with more stickers. Any empty squares can be coloured in, filled with doodles or quotes - let your creativity shine!
Planner Weekly Set-up
The weekly pages in the Archer & Olive planner are the simplest to set up. You can simply use as is, or you can decorate with washi tape and stickers as I have. A really effective way of decorating the pages is to layer stickers in the middle of the double page spread. Add some week day stickers (these are from the Fall Planner set) and you’re done! I’ve also decided to change the “Notes” box to a “Highlight of the Week” which I’ll fill out at the end of the week. For more ideas on how to decorate a weekly spread, check out this post here.
Ideas on what to include on your blank pages
Since there are only a couple of blank dot grid pages per month in the Archer & Olive Planner, you may want to assess what is most important to you in your monthly planner set up before you begin. This way you can narrow it down to 1 or 2 things you want to include in this limited space.
Here are some ideas for your blank pages:
Quote Page
Maybe to set your intentions for the month you'll want to letter your favourite quote:
Gratitude Log
Another great idea is a gratitude log:
Reading Log or Book Tracker
See this blog to see how to create your own!
Self-Care Tracker
We should all be putting a priority on self care! So why not create a tracker to tick off when you do something for you. You can even use these doodles as inspirarion:
Doodles Page
Why not have a page for all your random doodles!? See more here:
Brain Dump
A page to gather all those random thoughts you might have. See the blog here:
Spending Log
I place to track all your expenses for the month!
Meal Log
Somewhere to record and track all your meals!
Mood Tracker
Another great thing to track - your mood! Learn how to create a cute page to track your mood here:
Fitness Tracker
If you would like to track what, when and how much you exercise, see this blog:
Want to remember all these ideas? Grab your free blank page ideas here:
I hope this post has been useful in helping you set up your Archer & Olive planner! Tag me @littlemissrose and @archerandolive to share your inspiration with us!