Hello! I’m super excited to present you with this Holiday Planning Guide! Not only is this article chock full of ideas to help you plan for the holidays, there’s also a lot that was inspired by lovely Bullet Journalists that I’m excited to share with you!

Whether you’re enjoying a small gathering, planning a party, want to get straight to the food (everyone’s favorite part of the holidays!), shopping the sales, or traveling this holiday season, I aim to help you get prepared for the holidays with this guide!

First thing you’ll want to do is brainstorm ideas about your holiday needs. Are you having guests over? Getting gifts or planning a party? Most importantly, do you know what you’re doing about all of the delicious food?! Here’s an example of brainstorming on the left.

This will help you gain a better understanding into your own holiday planning objectives. Make connections and circle the main topics you want to tackle. Start with any of the circled words to get started brainstorming some ideas for the holidays.

On the right, break down the brainstorming page into an outline. The outline will act as a master list and index for the collections to follow. This will help you keep track of the collections you’ve made and where they are in your Bullet Journal. Check them off as you create them.

Please note that you don’t have to follow all of these suggestions, just pick the ones that call out to you and work with those. This is meant to be a comprehensive guide covering the main parts of holiday planning.

As a special note, you don’t have to add any lettering or doodles! Just thought these were fun to share for the holidays. Inspiration for these fonts gathered from here, here, here, here and here.

Inspiration for these doodles from here.

As inspired by professional organizers. Add the dates when these occur into your Monthly Log to make sure you stay on track! Add the page numbers to make it easy to flip back to the spread above and knock out some prep steps! 

Countdown with some fun!

Here’s an idea to countdown to the big day by coloring in the ornaments each day. By the time the big day arrives, your tree will be completely lit! For some added fun, create a holiday bucket list with a few things you want to get done in the last few months of the year. Enjoy a movie every time you knock something off your list!

 

 

Popcorn movie tracking inspired by Stefania.

 

Guests & Details

 

Now that we’ve set up a few fun collections, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty of planning.Create a guest list of friends and family you’re inviting over - if you’re hosting, that is. Write down if they’re bringing anything to make sure you have enough room on the table. Leave the place cards for the seating arrangement empty until a week before the event when you confirm who’s attending. (Don’t worry, this is included in the “Preparing” collection above).

 

 

Budget & Gifts

 

Budget is just a word that means you’re being proactive about where your money is going. I modeled this budget tracker after YNAB’s budget view. This way you can plan out how much money you’ll spend in each category. Afterwards, you can update what you’ve spent and how much you have available. There’s also room to add a list of supplies - stock up on things such as wrapping paper to envelop all those presents you budgeted for!Speaking of gifts, write out a list of gift ideas to surprise all of your favorite people this holiday!

 

If you prefer a more visual way to see gift ideas, try out this cheery illustrated Collection.

 

If you’re into stockings, you might want some room to brainstorm stocking stuffer ideas and who you’re giving a stocking to! 

 

Food

Now that we’ve taken care of gift planning and done some budgeting, it’s time to sink your teeth into everyone’s favorite topic: food!

Informative source about how to calculate how much to serve.

   

For tricker techniques, such as pie lattice, drawing out atutorial may be helpful.

Table Setting Guide Where does the fork go? What about the napkin? On such a busy day, it’ll be delightful to have a handytable setting guide. 

Party Planning

There’s quite a bit that goes into planning a party. From picking a theme and figuring out decorations, to creating a music playlist and working on some fun projects - planning for a party can be a doozy to keep track of! Luckily, the Bullet Journal gives you just the right amount of room (however much you need!) to help you think through ideas however best works for you, whether you function better with a list or some illustrations - or both! 

Travel

Traveling for the holidays? Here’s a simple 1 spread idea to keep all of your travel info in one place. Inspired byNatalie, this travel collection includes your itinerary, hotel & flight info, schedule for the days you’ll be travelling, a simple budget, packing list and finally a sunshine of places to visit! The sunshine is somethingJess adapted as her gratitude log and I’ve always loved the idea and thought this was a fun adaptation of her adaptation of the gratitude log. Two sets of task bullets for the packing list, check it once to indicate you’ve packed before you go on your trip, and check it the second time to make sure you’ve packed it all back up! 

After the Holidays

Sales

Memories collection inspired byKacheri. Phew! That was quite a bit, but hopefully you’ve picked up some ideas to help you in your holiday planning adventures!Again, you don’t need to add any doodles or lettering if you don’t want to, I thought it would be a fun touch for the holidays. I sincerely hope you find the ideas helpful! Do you have any special ways to plan for the holidays that I didn’t cover? Share in the comments below to spill your secrets! Happy Holidays and stay safe! 

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