How I made the Blogger templates work for me (without learning to code)

Up until this point, I never felt my blog wasn't personalized enough for me.  I was using many of the different blogger templates but there never seemed to be enough options to customize my blog so that it was unique to me.  Everywhere I looked I saw beautifully designed blogs and I wanted to stand out just like them.  However, I always thought that you needed to be able to code and artistic to make major changes to your blog.  That all changed today.

I finally decided to take the time to learn how to make my pre-made blogger template work for me. I was able to create a personalized banner and some social media icons without ever needing to code.  On top of this everything I have done here I did for free!  Today I thought I would share what I have learned and some of the websites I used to help others struggling with their blog design.

Header

• Over at Dana's blog, Wonder Forest, there are some great tips for creating a stylish header without being an artist. 
• I used pixlr to create my banner.  I don't have any graphic design experience and this program was pretty easy to use.  Plus it's free!  
• When creating your banner make sure it is the right size for your blog.  Mine is 650 x 250 pixels and it fits well into the simple template in blogger.
• If you use the templates on blogger they will be right justified.  I wanted mine to be centered and Elaine's explanation on centering your header was the most helpful. 
• If you want to center the navigation bar as well, this site was helpful.
• As always, if you do use images it is important that you have the rights to those images.  You can find many free images online.  Also their are tons of paintbrush shapes to choose from and you can download more all over the web.  I used the ones found on pixlr. 

Social Media Icons

• Here is the tutorial I used to create the icons above.
• Many of the tutorials I came across used PicMonkey to make their icons but in some cases you may need to subscribe to get full access to all the tools. 
• I used pixlr again to create my icons.  Again it was free!
• http://www.image-maps.com is where I made the icons work.  The mapping tool has been updated since the tutorial was written but everything is still pretty strait forward. 
• Again, I found vectors the most helpful when creating the personal graphics but you can use whatever shapes you would like.  

After this point, I just used the normal customization tools to tweak the other fonts and colors on my blog and viola!  I now have a customized blog that I can call my own.  

I know these are just tips and sometimes learning to use a graphic design program can be tricky but I hope I have helped you create a blog you love.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.  I'm not an expert but I will try to help. 

ox Caitlin

If I Stay Review

Goodreads | Amazon

My interest in If I Stay, by Gayle Forman, wasn't sparked until I saw that the movie was out.  I'm the kind of person that won't read the book after seeing the on screen version.  This is the reason I have yet to read Game of Thrones.  I just can't seem to get myself to read something that I've already seen. I guess the plot has been spoiled.

The novel focuses on Mia, a senior in high school and a musician aspiring to go to Julliard.  Her plans are suddenly changed when a seemingly normal ride with the family on a snowy day turns into a fight for her life when the car smashes into a truck.  Now Mia is trapped in a state between life and death where she can see what is happening around the hospital and can relive peaces of her life before the crash.  Along the way she sees the people she loves, including her boyfriend Adam, try and give her the strength to live.  Mia must decide if she has enough to live for now that her parents and younger brother are gone.

Now at first I thought, why is the world so obsessed with dying teenagers recently.  I mean I love a good tear jerker every once and a while but I thought the world would have been satisfied for a while with A Fault in Our Stars.  (Not to say that I didn't love that book. If you want to know what I thought I wrote about it here).  Then I proceeded to read the book in one day. I was able to read this book quickly probably due to three things.

1.  I haven't read something in about two weeks so I was hungry to get my hands on something else to read.

2. The book was addicting. It is the perfect concoction of drama and cute romance to keep you going.  I loved the point of view because while the book is told in first person narrative it has many elements of third person narration because Mia can see everything while she is in the limbo between life and death.  This take on narrative allows the reader to see the events but also gives us an opinion on those events.  I felt pulled in by both the plot and Mia's commentary.

Then there is the tear jerkiness of the whole plot that makes it addicting.  I cried multiple times and no matter how much it hurts we all know sometimes you need a good cry.  Plus, crying is always better when its for books and movies.

3. The book was an easy read.  If you read a book in six hours you undoubtably skim a little and if the book is easy to read you are able to skim that much faster.  I know it's not good, but I skim and skip over sections of books.  In the case with If I Stay there were bits of narrative I was simply not interested in knowing about.  This was especially true in the later half of the book.  Whether this makes the book good or bad I'm not sure, but I do know that these sections were not long enough to warrant putting the book down for more than five minutes.  That must say something about the books merit.

I think this book was a good quick read.  I would say it's an easy beach read but I ended up crying.  Unless you are alright with the public seeing your tears you might want to stick to reading this on a rainy weekend day.  Also here is a peak at the movie trailer if you want more incentive to read this book.

ox Caitlin

Bits of Happiness

A bog orchid from my time doing research this summer. 

I'm a worrier and as a worrier I spend a lot of time being anxious about things that I can't control. This anxiety often overshadows my current happiness and sometimes I find it hard to appreciate the good things that are happening around me, so I thought I would share some things that made me happy this week in order to put everything into perspective.  Life really is better than it may seem!

1.  I started getting into my blog again.  I began planning everything out more and trying to make my blog a bigger better place for me to spend my time.  Blogging has always been fun for me and for a time that fun got muddled in the jumble of life.

2. I finished Cinder by Melissa Meyer this week after setting it aside for far too long.  Seriously, I only had about a chapter left.  I don't know why I put it down.  It's a great book.  I posted all my feelings about it here if you are interested.

3.  My sister and I played tennis this week.  We both played in High School but it's been over a year since I've picked up a racket.  It felt great to be back on the tennis court even though I lost by quite a bit.

4. I got to spend a whole afternoon in an antique and used book shop on Thursday with my mom.  Recently I've found out that I love combing through antique shops for treasures.  There are some weird and beautiful things hiding under the dust.  Also I'm always up for some used books!  It's scary to think that those old books might be gone some day.

Books for miles!

Can't you just smell that old book smell?

I wish I could have gone home with all the books.  Some of them had such beautiful bindings.  Others needed some love.  Sadly I could only grab a few bargains, including one book with some very funny notations from a  previous owner.

5. Today I spent the morning at the farmers market.  Ever since spending Saturday mornings with my host parents at the farmers market in Australia, I have gravitated toward these markets.  I tried to go every week while I was at school in the beginning of the summer and enjoyed going today.  The farmers market is filled with a great sense of community and it's a great way to support the local economy.  Plus, they aren't all just veggies.  Many of the markets I've been to have a variety of crafts, baked goods, and prepared food.  Today I got some yummy indian chutney with my veggies and my mom got some hand made wooden spoons.

Yum Chutney!

These are some highlights from my week.  It's so important to remember these little glimmers of hope  for those times when you are feeling down.  I find that it has really helped me to write down what has made me happy.

What made you happy this week? Don't worry if it was something small.  All the bits add up!

xo Caitlin

Cinder Review

Goodreads

Cinder by Melissa Meyer has been on my radar for a while now.  If you frequent any book blogs focusing on young adult fiction you will have undoubtably encountered this book. You've probably also read it by now, but I thought I'd share my opinion just in case you haven't gotten your hands on this gem quite yet.

Cinder is a cyborg living in the futuristic New Beijing where cyborgs and robots are treated as second-class citizens.  She lives with her stepmother, who basically owns her, and her two stepsisters (sound familiar yet?).  As a skilled mechanic, she dreams of earning enough money to some day escape.  This all changes when the details of her mysterious past begin to surface, and she suddenly finds that her life is threatened by a horrible secret. As you probably guessed there is also a handsome prince and a fair amount of drama associated with him.

Now before you start rolling your eyes behind your computer screen let me ask you one question. How much do you really hate Cinderella stories?

I feel like we go around saying Cinderella stories are so cliched, but then we keep writing and reading  them. No matter how much we are tired of the cliche we also love its familiarity.  We love to hear stories about the underdog who manages to make her dreams come true.  We also love pretty dresses and princes on white horses.  Put these two things together and you have a Cinderella story!

But really, the pretty dress is important!

If you like a dash of sci-fi with your (not so) pretty dress and handsome prince, Cinder is the book for you.  Not only is Cinder a cool, bad-ass version of our favorite blonde Disney princess, but her story deals with issues much more important then going to the ball.  Cinder looks at a world in which a whole class of humans are given fewer rights than others simply because they are different (in this case half robotic).  If you haven't noticed, society continues to have issues with inequality.  Reading books from the point of view of the disenfranchized allows those who are privileged understand how inequality effects everyone.  Because of this, books like Cinder allow us to escape our current world while still allowing us to apply what we've read to our own lives.

So, in some ways Cinder is just another Cinderella stories, but it is also highlights important issues that will follow human society.  Plus let's be honest, cyborgs are so cool.

The Five People You Find in a College Dorm Kitchen

You would think the first thing your mother would teach you before leaving the house was how to properly nourish yourself.  Feeding and clothing oneself should be the more important thing our parents teach you, with basic hygiene and manners coming in at a close second.  However, you only need to spend a day in a college dorm kitchen over the summer to realize that the eating habits of 18-21 is strange and probably quite a bit unhealthy.  

Now maybe I just have unreasonably high standards.  My mom has always provided my sister and I with good meals.  Even during the breakfast skipping days of high school she made sure we shoved something into our still sleeping stomachs before heading out the door.  So it was strange for me to come into a house where the kitchen that was rarely visited by people.  

Over this summer I have deduced that there are many types of people you will meet in your college dorm kitchen.  Each of them, including yourself, will have questionable eating habit but you will undeniably judge each other no matter what.  Here are the five most common people I encountered.

Number 1: The humus eaters.  These people can somehow manage to survive solely on humus and carrots.  They will show up around meal times, haul out their family sized tub of humus from the fridge, and proceed to eat a few carrots before putting it all back and heading out the door.  How they manage to survive on mashed chickpeas and carrots without going insane is beyond me. 

Number 2: The microwaver.  He's the kid that goes home every weekend and magically comes back with a weeks worth of mom's best food.  You will envy his endless supply of home cooked meals. It will make you question why you decided to go to school so far away from home.  No matter how much you hate leftovers, you probably hate cooking for yourself more. 

Number 3: The take-out grabber.  Between the microwaver and the take-out grabber, you will never be able to use the microwave to defrost your frozen veggies.  Rather than being annoyed, though, you will be in constant wonder.  Where does this kid get the money to buy all this food?  All those five dollar foot longs and pizza deliveries must add up.  

Number 4: The popper.  You swear she only eats popcorn.  If you wondered how the humus eater survived you will undoubtably question how the popper hasn't waisted away to nothing at this point.  You will probably never understand her, but you will hate her because while she is taking in minimum calories the seductive smell of her eating habits has tempted you every night this week.  Damn you Orville and your buttery goodness!

Number 5:  The real cooker.  These people are slaving away in the kitchen from 5 to 8 every night with the hope of reaping the rewards of a home cooked meal.  Of course this is their first time cooking so failure is imminent.  They will likely set off the fire alarm at least once a week, forcing you out of the house when all your wanted was to take a nice nap.  This will surely ruin your plans to go out and party with your friends.  (Although let's face it, you were probably going to watch Netflix anyway). 

 

One Liners

Right now I'm reading John Green's, An Abundance of Katherine, and it's going pretty well.  It's been a little slow simple because I'm working on biology research this summer and after working my mind all day I just want to fall asleep.  I'm nearly finished so I will probably review it once it's done but what I really wanted to talk about was the pleasure I get from finding the single poetic lines or phrases in novels.

I read mostly YA fiction and to be completely realistic the genre is not always filled with the same literary beauty that can be found in the classics.  I have no problem with this fact.  If I did I would be reading more adult literature or plunging my way through the classics. (Something that I want to do but can't manage this summer).  Every now and then though we are surprised by little bits of literary magic in the pages of these YA books.

I love finding these lines.  They make me exceedingly happy and catch my attention because they add a touch of texture to the language.  John Green's books are fun because they are filled with these little bits.  You only have to open any page of A Fault in Our Stars to find these gems and a few of these lines have crept up on me in An Abundance of Katherines.

These little pieces of poetry are one of the ways that YA literature redeems itself in front of all those that claim it's lacking in depth or sophistication.  These lines are important in expanding the reader's ability to understand her world.  These lines of poetic prose increases the vocabulary of a reader who is living in a world where vocabulary is become less important.

I'm probably being an overexcited English major but language is so important to me and finding pieces of language that I love makes my day.

A Fault in Our Stars Review

Goodreads

Okay it's been a few weeks of crazy but I am finally going to review A Fault in Our Stars, by John Green.  If you didn't know, I was extremely excited to read this book.  My friends recommended the book to me and after reading the first chapter on Amazon I had to order it. (As a side note I love when you can read the first few chapters of books online.  There really is no other way to know if you like the writing style).  Because I have clearly not entered the decade of reading from a Kindle, I had to wait a few days to get my hands on it but once I started I couldn't put it down.

Before I get into all the reasons I think you should read this book here is the blurb from Goodreads to tempt you.

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.  

I know what you're thinking.  Is this really just another YA book about sick kids battling cancer?  What a cry fest, and you are partly right.  I broke down at the end of this book.  In fact, I had to stop a few times and tell myself what was happening wasn't real and everything in life was going to be okay. To describe this book as just a cry fest, though, is not doing it justice.  

First of all, in his character, Hazel, John Green has crafted an amazing voice.  She is cynical, yes I'm sure any kid dying of cancer cannot help but be a little cynical at one point or another, but she is also interesting to read.  She's funny, insightful, and wise in a way that very few 16 year olds are.  However, Hazel was also just a likable character, in my opinion.  

Then there is Augustus Waters.  What can I say about him other than that he is the perfect human being.  He is funny, charismatic, and a delight to read about.  The best part about his character is that he has flaws, like anyone else, but you learn about them slowly and he fleshes out by the end of the book.  I felt like I knew him so well.  

So despite despite this book focusing on a dying girl it was a fun read.  Even during the saddest parts of the book John Green inserts little bits of humor so you are laughing and crying at the same time.  I went through so many emotions while reading and at one point I was so close to throwing this book across the room (if you've read it you probably know which part I mean).  Overall, this book was a great way to break of the piles of work that are slowly taking over my life.