How I Created My First Blog Button with Blogger (the Easy Way)

Though I have been posting online for two plus years now, many aspects of blogging I have yet to learn. My main purposes remain the same as when I started blogging: to share ideas that are compatible with simplicity, personal growth, and contentment.  Meanwhile, I remain intrigued with how the blogosphere operates--partly because it is akin to learning a new language and culture.

Though I'm reluctant to make a button for this blog, I did want to learn how create buttons to share about events here. My graphic design skills are minimal at this point. But perhaps some of you are in the same boat.   In the points below, I walk through how I made my first blog button as a novice blogger.

1.  Information Gathering
First, I did a search for how to make a blog button.  And I discovered that I would need a graphic for the button.  Since I have no idea how to design a logo from scratch, I needed a photo.

2.  Photo Selection
I went to my Blogger account and opened my Picasa album.  I could have uploaded a new photo to my collection, but I wanted to keep things simple on my first attempt.  I found a photo in my Picasa web album that I had uploaded for a blog post back in 2009.  Here's the photo I picked:

3.  Editing
Next, I needed to edit the photo to make it smaller.  So I clicked on the "edit" button and a program called "picnik" opened up.  I cropped and resized my photo until it was about 150 x200 pixels.

4.  Adding Text
Then I clicked on the "create" tab to add text.  Here's what resulted:

 4.  Finding the Photo Link
I clicked on the edited picture to find the link to the photo and copied that link.  I would need the link to insert into my button code in the next step.
 
5.  Inserting my Information & Adding my Button to the Blog
Finally, I used the code in a helpful how-to post at A Heart for Home to finish my button.  I inserted the appropriate photo link and titles where indicated, and Voila!  I had a button, which I added as a gadget in my sidebar.

Should you want to join our challenge and grab my first button, it is not too late.  I am still working on the book challenge with my kids.  Once we finish, I shall have to devise our next event--and make another button!  

Do you have any tips about making blog buttons and/or graphics?

Versatility is a Good Thing

Perhaps because of the seasons of life or because we have lived in multiple places, my roles and identities keep changing.   So I have chosen not to include an "about me" feature on my sidebar because labeling myself feels too confining. Often I consider who I am to be random or fragmented.  But versatile is a term I can accept with a smile.  Thanks, Jhona, for encouraging me with this:

Part of the award involves sharing 7 things.  So here is a list that sprang to mind:

1.  Gazing up at starlit skies refreshes me; hence I enjoy going out in the yard after dark to take down the laundry I left on the clothesline.
2.  I once dreamed of being a freshwater ecologist; I still love to explore shorelines.
3.  I have a difficult time accomplishing things without a hard deadline.  I attribute that to the phlegmatic part of my personality.
4.  I gave birth to my children in three different countries.
5.  I never owned a car until I was 23 years old.
6.  My BSF study of the book of Isaiah this fall has been very convicting.
7.  My grandparents have been so influential in my life that I thought of them when naming this blog.

And now it's my turn to pass on the award to 7 intriguing women whose blogs I regularly enjoy:

Erin at Home With the Boys
Amy at New Nostalgia
Alicia's Homemaking
Megan at Sorta Crunchy
Val at Collecting the Moments...One by One
Tiffany at Simply Modern Mom
Quirky Momma

These blogs feature authors who post on a range of topics.  I appreciate the fact that they don't conform to the standard blog dogma of limiting themselves to a narrow niche.  Life is so much broader, and it's fun to revel in the variety and mix things up now and again.  At least I think so!