10 Cozy Autumn Journaling Ideas to Try This Season 🍁

As summer’s golden warmth fades, there’s a quiet shift in the air. The evenings arrive a little earlier, the low sun brings a softer light, and a cool breeze rustles through the trees carrying the scent of change. It's soon time for those extra layers.

And though saying goodbye to long, sunlit days can feel a little wistful, Autumn arrives with its own kind of beauty. The fiery leaves, golden sunsets, and feeling of slowing down all invite us to pause, reflect, and enjoy the season.

In Japan, this moment of transition is celebrated through kōyō (紅葉) - the appreciation of autumn foliage. Just as cherry blossoms mark the fleeting beauty of Spring, the brilliant reds and golds of momiji (maple leaves) symbolise transformation and impermanence. 

This makes autumn the perfect time to open your journal, light a candle, and capture the feeling of this beautiful transition. Whether you’re new to journaling or have filled countless notebooks, these ten cozy ideas will help you reconnect with yourself, and celebrate everything you love about fall.

🍁 1. Reflect on the Change of Seasons

Start your autumn pages by writing about the seasonal shift from Summer to Fall.
Ask yourself: How do I feel about this change? What am I letting go of and what am I looking forward to?

You could decorate this spread with Appree Sticky Leaf Notes in maple or ginkgo shapes. Their warm, realistic tones bring a touch of nature straight onto your pages. Alternatively the golden oak leaf is one of our seasonal favourites too!

☕ 2. List Your Favourite Things About Fall

From the sound of crunching leaves to the comfort of a hot drink, take a moment to list all the small things that make autumn special to you.
Use warm-toned Autumnal washi tapes - think leafy designs with reds, golds, and deep browns - to frame your writing or create borders. Find some of our favourite tapes for decorating Autumn right here!

Try this prompt:

“What are my favourite things about the fall season, and why do they make me feel grounded?”

 

🍂 3. Capture Autumn Colours

Use your journal to collect inspiration from the world around you. Sketch the view from your window, glue in a fallen leaf, or use Appree Pressed Flower stickers to mirror the colours you see outdoors. They're designed from digital imagery of real fallen leaves and petals so bring a realistic natural feel to your pages

It’s a beautiful, mindful way to slow down and notice the small details of the season.

 

📖 4. Create a Seasonal Mood Board

Combine textures, photos, ticket stubs, and autumn stickers into a mini collage.
Then decorate the empty spaces freely with seasonal themed stickers - we think the Mind Wave Tabi series sticker packs are perfect for this — think forest walks, woodland animals, and beautiful Autumn hues, accented with delicate gold foil stamping for a refined touch

Your mood board can set the tone for your whole season, like a visual journal entry that grows richer each year.

✨ 5. Write a Fall Bucket List

Autumn always feels too short, so list out all the little things you’d love to do before winter arrives such as:

🎃 Carve out a pumpkin and make a hearty soup
🍂 Bake something with cinnamon
☕ Spend an afternoon journaling in a café

Use your favourite washi tapes and stickers to make it playful. Each time you complete something, tick it off with a golden leaf sticker or note.

🌧️ 6. Journal on Rainy Days

There’s something comforting about writing while rain taps softly on the window.
Reflect on the calm that comes with staying cozy indoors. You could write about what rest means to you, or what you find beautiful in stillness.

Pair your pages with weather themed tapes or stickers to echo the rainy-day atmosphere. We absolute love this sticker set from NB!

 

🌞 7. Create a Positivity Page

Autumn can sometimes feel a little melancholic as the days grow shorter, so why not use your journal as a space to collect light and warmth.
Each day, write down one positive moment, thought, or conversation that made you smile. Over time, you’ll have a beautiful curation of joyful moments filling your pages!

Decorate your pages with autumnal stickers and warm toned washi tapes - like scattered momiji leaves, each note of positivity becomes part of your own autumn landscape.

 

📚 8. Autumn Reading List

If reading is your thing, dedicate a page to the books you'd like to read this season - be they classics, cozy mysteries, poetry or something altogether different. Reading a book in a warm cozy space with a nice hot drink can be so relaxing!

Our Oak Leaf Bookmark Pen will bring the Autumnal feel into your read, and be there ready for when you want to jot down reflections as you read.

 

🌲 9. Capture Nature During Walks

Take your journal outside. Write under a tree or bring it on a walk. Note down what you see, smell, and hear — the sound of crunching leaves, the golden light through branches, the crisp air. This is a great way of practicing mindfulness and creating a grounded feeling and connection to nature.

You could paste in a few dried leaves or use Appree Pressed Flower Stickers to “recreate” them on the page.

 

🍃 10. Create a Cozy Routine

Finally, dedicate a spread to your autumn rituals: journaling with tea, lighting a candle, wrapping up in a blanket.
Decorate the page with small, soothing details, a strip of washi here, a fox sticker there  and let your journal become a reflection of the slower, softer pace this season brings.

 

🍁 Bringing Your Autumn Journal to Life

Each page you create becomes a snapshot of this fleeting, beautiful season, a way to hold onto warmth even as the days grow cooler. If you’re ready to make your autumn spreads extra special, explore our Autumn Stationery Essentials Collection, filled with washi tapes, leaf sticky notes, cozy stickers, and more to help your pages bloom in every shade of fall.

What are your favourite autumnal things to do? Share with us your seasonal journaling spreads and cosy moments. We’d love to see how you’re capturing the beauty of fall! 🍁