#BulletJournal

[ibycaceres]

Out of the blue and into the black 🦇

[glowettee]

HIIII MINDYYY!!! how are you doing?

i love your guides and advice so much, i wanted to ask you if you could make your own guide to writing in a diary? like diary writing tips, making it pretty, girly diaries, etc etc etc.

thanks so much for ur time and ily!!

hey glam!! omg i'm so excited to answer this because diary keeping is one of my absolute favorite things to talk about (and do!!)... i've been keeping diaries since i was 9 years old and i have boxes of them under my bed that i sometimes read through when i'm feeling nostalgic or need to remember who i used to be. so yesss, of course glam, i'd love to give you a little guide, i hope this post answers your question well <3

✧ mindy's guide to keeping the most magical diary ever ✧

first of all, let's talk about WHY keeping a diary is literally life-changing:

• it's like having therapy but it's free and available at 3am when you're spiraling

• you can say things you'd never say out loud (and sometimes just writing them is enough to feel better)

• it creates this beautiful archive of your life that future you will treasure

• it helps you notice patterns in your thoughts and behaviors that you might miss otherwise

• it's the perfect place to dream without anyone's judgment (including your own)

✧ finding your perfect diary format:

the biggest mistake people make is thinking there's only one "right" way to keep a diary. there isn't!! here are some formats i've tried and loved and hopefully you like it:

• the classic narrative diary: just writing about your day, your thoughts, whatever comes to mind

• the bullet diary: quick points about what happened, how you felt, what you're thinking

• the themed diary: keeping separate journals for different parts of your life (one for dreams, one for creative ideas, one for processing emotions)

• the question diary: answering the same set of questions every day to track how you're evolving

• the art diary: more visuals than words, perfect if you process feelings through colors and images

• the structured diary: using prompts and templates to guide your writing (i'm actually going to be selling prompts + journaling templates on my gumroad soon)

personally, i switch between formats depending on my mood and energy levels. some days i write pages and pages, and other days i just jot down three bullet points before falling asleep. both are valid!!

✧ making your diary absolutely beautiful:

• invest in a diary that makes you excited to write in it!! (this is so important... if you don't love looking at it, you won't reach for it)

• create a "diary aesthetic" with special pens, stickers, washi tape, pressed flowers, etc.

• designate a special spot in your room as your "diary corner" with good lighting and cozy vibes

• develop little rituals around writing (i light a specific candle and make rose tea before i write. i also love putting on the soundtrack from legally blonde on or sometimes even harry potter music, weird right?)

• don't be afraid to make it messy!! perfect diaries are usually abandoned diaries

• use different colored pens for different moods or topics

• leave space for future reflections (i leave margins so i can add notes when i reread)

• include little artifacts from your life (movie tickets, dried flowers, polaroids)

✧ what to actually write about (for when you're staring at the blank page):

• write a letter to your future self or past self

• document the tiny beautiful moments that would otherwise be forgotten

• write about what you're learning right now (about yourself, about others, about the world)

• create lists (things i'm grateful for, things that made me laugh today, things i want to try)

• write about your dreams (both the sleeping kind and the aspiration kind)

• describe someone you love in detail

• write about what's worrying you and then write advice to yourself as if you were your own best friend

• document your current favorites (songs, foods, people, places, outfits)

• write about the version of yourself you're becoming

✧ how to keep it up long-term:

• lower the bar for what "counts" as a diary entry (sometimes mine are literally two sentences)

• connect it to an existing habit (i write right after i brush my teeth at night)

• don't try to catch up if you miss days (just start fresh where you are)

• give yourself permission to be boring, repetitive, and contradictory

• read old entries when you need motivation (it's so magical to see how far you've come)

• remember that you're writing for YOU, not for some imaginary reader

• create seasonal "check-in" dates where you review and reflect (i do this every equinox and solstice)

• experiment with different times of day to find when your thoughts flow most easily

• use voice memos when you don't feel like writing (you can transcribe them later)

✧ making your diary extra girly & coquette ✧

i know this was your main question, so here is a long list of a bunch of things i personally do to make my diaries cute and girly <3

• use pastel gel pens for different moods (pink for happy days, lavender for dreamy thoughts, baby blue for sad reflections)

• decorate your diary cover with pressed flowers, lace trim, or tiny pearl stickers

• create "pretty borders" around special entries with delicate doodles of flowers, hearts, or ribbons

• use strawberry or rose scented stickers as entry markers (scratch-n-sniff diaries are elite!!)

• add little bows or ribbons to mark important pages (i tie tiny satin ribbons to the corners)

• press flower petals between pages (roses and lavender dry beautifully and make your diary smell divine)

• use a soft pink book light for nighttime writing to keep the aesthetic consistent

• write in your prettiest handwriting for entries about things that made you happy

• add little watercolor washes as backgrounds for special memories

• use heart-dotted i's and swirly flourishes when you're feeling extra

• create "memory pockets" by gluing tiny envelopes to pages where you can tuck away small mementos

• draw tiny butterflies or hearts in the margins when something good happens

• use coquette-core stickers (bows, ballet slippers, swans, cherries) to categorize different types of entries

• spritz your favorite perfume very lightly on special pages (just a tiny bit so it doesn't damage the paper!)

• decorate with vintage-looking lace tape along the edges of important entries

• use a pink silk ribbon as a bookmark (i attached a tiny crystal charm to mine)

• draw little crowns above dates that were particularly magical

• create a "glossary of feelings" in the back with different symbols for different emotions

• use glitter gel pens for birthdays, achievements, and other celebrations

• write quotes from your favorite romantic movies or books in fancy lettering

• create little "note to self" sections with pink highlighter boxes around them

• use strawberry-scented erasable pens so your diary always smells sweet

• add tiny pearl or rhinestone stickers to mark especially precious memories

remember that "girly" means whatever feels feminine and special to YOU. there's no right or wrong way to express your femininity in your diary!! the most important thing is that it feels like a beautiful, safe space that you're excited to return to every day.

✧ the deeper magic of diary-keeping:

the most beautiful thing about keeping a diary is that it helps you become friends with yourself. you start to notice your own patterns, celebrate your tiny victories, and hold space for your struggles. you create this ongoing conversation with yourself that grows deeper and richer over time.

your diary becomes this sacred space where you can be fully, messily, contradictorily yourself. in a world that's constantly asking us to curate and filter our experiences, there's something revolutionary about documenting your life exactly as it is. beautiful, boring, confusing, and real.

xoxo, mindy 🤍

p.s. if you're worried about someone finding and reading your diary, i have a whole system for that too!! let me know if you want me to share it in another post!! 💭 thank you so much for this ask glam! <3

[chiimi-png]

years in planners

Found my old Hobonichi Techo and decided to scan my favourite pages from the last 3 years in planners. From my third year of uni till the last one, 2021-2023. Starting with my 2021 bullet journal and ending on this year’s planner/filofax

[lifebuoyjournals]

September 2024:

It was the eye of the storm, and I did not realise.

[art-gelayn]

June spreads, so far

[threecheersforsuccess]

20250130

♡ Working as a TA aside from my usual job surprisingly is not too tiring. These photos are from when I started my job in July of 2023! I got hojicha ice-cream that tasted pretty good. Thank god they have this kind of ice-cream... I cannot have soft serve anymore because of acid reflux...

[nelsmessynails]

FEBRUARY 2025

[sakurajournals]

June spread, this time I streamed the process of making this live on Twitch! VOD to be uploaded to my YouTube channel.

[fairyquests]

insta

pinterest

[ohlooksinesta]

I initially did a candy theme for February but it was a huge failure😬 so I opted for a self-love theme instead, which I feel is far more fitting!😌

February 2025 Cover Page

Bujo IG • Twitter • Main IG

[ibycaceres]

Finially started a new journal 🤍🤍🤍

[jwinsorart]

I really haven't been doing much long form journaling lately. I'm keeping up with my daily pages in my Hobonichi and that seems to really capture the most important stuff from each day. But I wanted to do a more free form brain dump today so here we are. Two pages separated by a considerable amount of time. 🤪 I can't be the only one, right?!

Left: 🖋 @wordsworthandblack Black Gold Erudite Velvet Medium Nib

@jetpens #Diamine Ink "Aurora Borealis"

Right: 🖋️ @kaweco.germany Sport fountain pen

@ferriswheelpress The Sherry Sonata ink

📜 Tomoe River 68 gsm paper

Stickers by @ilove2print

[miss-tilney-tarot]

I have been going through journals really fast, and I am starting my May/June journal this week! May is regency theme and June is jungle theme, so the first page is regency and jungle which I didn't think would work but it did!

[alittlemelted]

Finished my May layout suuuuppper early, but I suppose that's a good thing. One of the pages doesn't fit, but part of my thing with all this is accepting not being "perfect". I think these are some of my favorite pages I've done.

[art-gelayn]

I can't believe it's almost November, and I still don't have a job.

[threecheersforsuccess]

20241201

♡ "I put way too many stickers, and now, it's a "I can't even write much ahh" page. My birthday is in two days, and this is one of those times where I am aware it is in two days because I'm not actively studying atm. It feels so weird to actually have that relative feeling of "yeah, it is coming up." It's been so long. I'm trying to setup a lil' party for my friends and I too.