Blog Design DIY - Make-Over.

This blog has had a make-over.


I liked the 'old' style but it was only ever temporary until I had a spare moment to myself to update to something easier on the eye. I like white, I like to keep things simple and I like my blog as it is. It's not perfect, it's not for everyone and I enjoy my little space on the Internet.


For a while I've been agonizing over the fact that I have 54 followers but then I decided: it's okay. If I was playing to a large audience I am pretty sure there would be massive pressure on me. And having this amount of followers allows me the freedom to actually get to know my readers, to read their blogs, sometimes leave comments and be a part of my readership in a way that a lot of the bigger blogs out there can't physically do.


The purpose of my writing was never intended to be taken to a large audience and I have fulfilled my own wishes. I also believe that if it were meant to be that I was going to have a massive influence or change in people's lives that the opportunity would have already come or is waiting to happen. 


Either way, I'm blessed. No pressure or deadlines are heaped on me and my whole livelihood doesn't rest on my readership, opinions I express or blog posts I share. I can just enjoy my experience. And if I touch a few lives along the way, all the better :).


Anyway, with all that said, I thought I would share my 'how to' on this blog's design. It's fine if you want to pay someone for their design services (and I would encourage you to do so) however if you feel you have the confidence enough to design your own blog I would also encourage this, too. And it needn't cost a penny - just your time.

1. I used Facebook for my picture. I simply uploaded a selection of photos onto Facebook, went to my Timeline (previously known as a 'wall') and pressed the 'print screen' button. On my keyboard that is just above my 'delete' button.

Once I'd pressed print screen I opened up my Windows 7 version of Paint. Once here I selected the 'paste' option which essentially pastes the print screen capture onto the blank canvas in Paint.

Once I'd done this I needed to crop out the section I wanted to use. In this case, it's the above group of photos you see here. 

2. I opened up a blank space beside the image. You can fill this with colour if you please but I preferred to keep mine white simply because I knew the colour of my blog was going to be white :).

Also, it's worth noting that the above image text needs to be re-sized. I'm just impatient. You can adjust the font, size and style to suit whatever design you'd like.

Once you've done this, your header image is complete!

3. Upload to Blogger by clicking on the 'Design' and then 'Layout' menu. Click edit on your 'Header.' Make it 'shrink to fit' and be sure to click on the 'Instead of title and description' option so that your header won't be interrupted by text.

4. Press 'save layout' then view your blog. Voila! A new header, made in your computer, all by yourself :)!

C-c-c-changes.

Our much loved (and much used) Graco buggy died a death on Christmas Eve.

It cost Bryan's parents a "fair whack" so I expected it would last a while - at least one year. So far it has provided service for over ten months and then the wheel snapped off in the snow - which, let's be fair, was Bryan's fault.

A nice clear un-iced pavement over a huge snow pile on the other side of the pavement, plus his Action Man manoeuvres to be more exact. So he decides it would be smarter to travel across the snow piles. Smart move. I mean that teenager on the iPod who was more or less bopping down the pavement really needed that clear path. Whereas us, with the buggy, (and me who moves at a snails pace) lets take the A&E route. The Buggy Breaker Route. Smaaaaart.

Crunch. Crack. Lots of swearing. The teenager with the iPod actually turned around to look at me like I was crazy. And maybe I am. But maybe, in eight years time, when she has a buggy with a child inside it, maybe then she'll be the one doing the screaming fish wife thing on the street on Christmas Eve. Which, in case you forgot, was also my birthday.

I've consoled myself since with the fact that Graco is a "cheap brand anyway/I don't need smelly Graco." Although is several hundred pounds worth of buggy really a cheap brand? Plus that buggy also doubled as a crib for many months, so really we probably got about two years out of it.

And the wheels were ready to give. They were getting balder than a bald eagle.

So, without consciously waiting for the sales, we got a buggy in the sales. With foot muff. I'd been worried about our old Graco (or aka That Piece of Junk in Roman's room) for some time. For a start it had made promises of being able to remove the material and wash it. Well, that didn't happen. You had to have a PhD in physics to work out how to remove the cover as it required moving and unscrewing parts of the buggy I never knew existed. So when it was rebuilt, it was out of shape and wouldn't go back to the position it had been in before.

And it was still smelly. 

It was great to push around, but it was also built like a tank, which isn't really practical when you don't drive or own a car and your buggy is the sole means of transporting your child around in a country obsessed with small aisles in shops and rude mannered people who even when you say in your most sugary, polite voice; "Excuse me, please" stand there like penguins at the North Pole.

So ding dong the Graco's dead and I'm actually quite pleased. 

Although, I'm not sure Roman is too pleased about being so low down in his new ride.

I'm also working on a new Header (which will replace the three sets of shoes; shoes which we've all strangely enough outgrown or thrown out - which isn't too strange, as that's what happens with shoes, but you get what I mean) and I am finding this a little trickier than making the previous header. 

So I need a vote in helping me make the choice and I will put the most voted/liked header up.

I have narrowed it down to two choices (although I know which one Bryan will like already):

Choice One:

And Choice Two:

Thanks for stopping by...tell me what you think of this entry at the bottom of the page!

And spare a comment so I can put happy faces onto these sad faces.

Is it just me, or....

I go through phases of loving different types of baby clothes/designers of baby clothes (ha! Who would have thought I'd be fixated on such a thing?).

http://www.peterandjanestore.com/tops-25-c.asp

And right now it's Scandinavian designs (namely Nordic prints/Danish designers) that I am in love with. Smafolk, Plastisock, Molo and Ida T to name but a few. Now, I know these type of designers have the hefty price tag attached, but do you know what? So do the "green" British/American made clothes!

And those don't come with cute prints...well they're okay but I just feel like there's nothing special (apart from complying to organic/greenie standards, which is lovely) about these clothes. That they are sometimes very plain and seem to hammer home the stereotypes of how green kids are dressed.

In fact, when you compare prices, you actually save money buying from a Scandinavian designer and if you take into consideration the costs of shipping from the States, you save a heap more money.

Anyway, enough of the boring stuff. The ways in which I have found myself saving money and reducing my carbon footprint is to buy new/used clothes from eBay. It's been great because I've saved myself the hassle of trailing round the shops and being bombarded with choice and wasting my energy walking round shops looking for the best buys - yes I actually do this...plus I am indecisive so the time it takes me to buy something is bordering on ridiculous. It also allows something the charity shops don't really: the luxury to type in the designers I want and to end up with those brands.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've bought new stuff for Roman. I love doing it. But I have bought bundles of clothes for myself from eBay (plus a laptop, computer, monitor, games, shoes...lots of shoes and much more) so why would I discriminate when it comes to him? Especially if it's more affordable and I get a lot more done in one bid than I would in two weeks worth of shopping for his clothes and deciding what he needs.

When I bid on a bundle on eBay I get to see what clothes a previous parent has laid out - I am paying for someone else's experience. I can type in "babies winter bundle of clothes" and up pops a snow suit, 2 hats, 2 pairs of mittens and various other items. Items I'm not really sure I need but am thankful for once they arrive because yes we could get by on a few outfits and rotate them (but not really) but once I see them and unpack that brown packing material it's then that I realise my white charger has come to save me - this is exactly what I needed for Roman.

Thank you previous parent, thank you eBay, thank you bank balance for holding out. 

So...fully loaded with all this knowledge and my new found love for all things Scandinavian I have been on an eBay frenzy and although they don't have a lot, it's enough to satisfy my desires for now. I just need to remember to outbid Geordie_Mam one minute before the auction ends.

Is it just me or do other people look up de singers on eBay in hopes of finding them cheaper?


Also, I really hope I win this*:

*And I did! :)

Roman's Room.

Noun

hoose (plural hooses)

1. (Geordie and Scottish) house

If you walk into our flat (I call it "the house", "my house", "our place" ect but it's really a ground floor flat. I despised the idea of being on the ground floor because people told me horrible things about occupying the ground floor. It's made me never want to live on the first, second, third or heaven forbid FOURTH floor) and turn left and open the first door you'd come face to face with this view of Roman's room. These pictures make everything look smaller than it is - or perhaps my perception is messed up, I don't know. His room is pretty big. It houses his drawers, old crib (that he never slept in, we were given two and this is the one I still haven't returned balanced against the wall), new cot (that he has spent about 3 and a half nights in), single bed and a radiator that's never turned on because the room heats up in about 4 minutes straight.

A few days ago I decided to air Roman's mattress out. He doesn't sleep on it so I wanted to keep it fresh. I turned it on it's side and faced it towards the window. I air his room out everyday because dead skin cells just love to congregate and accumulate in there. Bogging, I know. 

Halloween is a-coming. And man am I excited! Halloween didn't really mean anything to me in the past but it was probably the only festivity I got excited about because the build-up of it was always better than the outcome (unlike Christmas or New Years Eve where everyone gets drunk and starts fighting). This year we'll have a little spider to dress up! My Aunt bought him this cute little outfit and I am so pleased with it - it's adorable.

 My Mum bought this bunting from Blooming Marvellous (I love that site ever since I got pregnant) and it is blooming lovely. I always feel disappointed with the photos I take of it because I never feel it captures what it really looks like. The photo is one I took of Roman months ago and the "photo frame" is actually a mouse mat we got sent from Organix (the baby food company, we love their food!).

I love being organised and prepared for the next day. I always line out his clothes for the next day on the radiator. I'm a tad anal at times. 

One of my obvious favourites. I got the photo frame in Relief Society and I tracked down where it was bought because I had an idea I wanted to do and wanted more frames. However, Snapfish photo paper is officially crap and sticks to the glass.

More stuff my Mum bought us :). Again, another Blooming Marvellous item. Yay! I love these book-ends. If I was a boy and I had a room I'd totally want these to hold my books together. I know that Roman is too young to even notice their presence in his room but I am not too young to adore them a little too much. On the left book-end is a paper weight that says "Baby Boy." I love it. It's the shape of a moses basket and is adorable. To your right is the car Roman had his beady eye on when my brother and his Uncle Fraser bought him when they took a stroll through Tesco. My brother asked him what car he wanted and it was reported Roman kept looking at the red one. This is a true story!

As you can see we also have a "name train" for Roman. As I mentioned before, I had wanted one for ages. I am so grateful that between me, my Mum and my Aunty Jeannette we seem to have mastered the art of ESP. And we seem to understand each others needs - be it concerned with baby issues, family issues, health issues. You name it we have it down to a T between us - or at least that's my take on it. My Mum got this name train for him and I nearly died out of excitement when I saw it.

Bryan's driving instructor bought us this aforementioned "Baby Boy" paperweight. It was wrapped in home made paper (I love crafty home made things!) and came in a lovely box that I may have shamelessly kept. I am a hoarder. I also kept the home made paper. I'm a sentimental chocolate teapot - I melt at anything to do with events in life and can't let go of every keepsake lest I lose a memory. I don't know why I'm designed this way. I don't even cry at weddings or funerals. Seriously. I fake-cried at my brothers wedding because everyone else was doing it. I feel so bad admitting that, but it's true. I didn't want to seem like the Tin (wo)Man, with no heart.

Just some clothes! I love his little star sleep suit! Bryan loves the red one the most. Haha. We're so geeky.

Poor old Rufus has been rejected for a while now. I'm too scared to get a picture of him with Roman because I am afraid he might be too dusty and I haven't got round to washing or airing him out. I'm a slob when it comes to such tasks. Bryan bought me this on our first Christmas as boyfriend & girlfriend together. We didn't last long in that state of our relationship. About three days. Then we were engaged! It felt right. And it feels even better now.

 

I got this rug for £1! (Maybe it looks £1 worth, but to me I was severely chuffed with it). I love it. It seems to match the blue in his book-ends perfectly. I bought it before the book-ends were even a thought. It's funny how things work out.

I wasn't going to post this picture (mainly because I want to keep up a facade that I'm an organisational Nazi and mainly because Bryan will not like it) but I want to portray that even organisational Nazi's have their piles. You know what I'm talking about. It starts off with just a few clothes innocently put down and then more is added. Before you know it...you have this monster creation. I am a 24 year old Mummy of one. Married. Living in a two bedroomed flat. With no real storage for clothes. No drawers, no wardrobes. Our landlord graced us with lovely crappy furniture from Argos that fell to pieces as soon as we sneezed used it. We have plans to move so we haven't bought anything ourselves. Just heaped our clothes on top of the spare bed :). I have no idea where this balancing act will go when people come over - but I'll have fun trying.

 Also, I am seriously hoping you all don't think I'm a major mink for this photo! Not that I would care if you truly did think that; I'd tell you to go to hell anyway ;). Haha.

He snuck in after bath. Look at his yummy chubs. This towel is a newborn size but we used it tonight because the bigger towel was being washed. Don't worry, we have more than two towels for him. It just so happened they were either dirty or being laundered. 

So there we go - my son's wonderful room. We're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. We're just doing our best with what we've got (which is a lot by my estimation). I think people who spend fortunes on little people are off their heads - there is a lot of junk they just don't need. Although in saying that I'm torn between spoiling him rotten and being sensible. I think our approach to things right now is the best way - a meeting in the middle of the two. There is also a time and a place for spoiling them and every day is a bit much.

And I hope that my 365 Project will be one of the crowing glories in my gift-giving to the little man.

If Elton John's gift is his song then my biggest gift I give to Roman will be this 365 Project. I hope he is a sentimental chocolate teapot like me and relishes this photo Project.