How to make a blog header

Right now, our living conditions are still rather messy. We also had to mourn the loss of our camera on the flight over to Germany, which means I'll have to get a new camera soon to start taking pictures.

At a loss of what else to write about, I started playing around with my blog design and layout and ended up with this new header:

Together with some color scheme experimenting, I think I am pretty satisfied with the new appearance.

Altogether, I spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to create a consistent design. If anyone is still in need of a new blog header, here is how I got to the above picture (which can be adjusted to your own preferences as necessary).

Word

1) Open a blank document in Microsoft Word. Go on Insert - Picture - Auto Shapes and you should get the auto shapes toolbar. Select a shape you like (I used one called Opaque) and then insert it into your word document. Then increase the size to sort of an elongated shape.

2) Now, when you move the mouse right on top of one of the shapes lines, you will see a little hand. Right click the mouse and a small window should pop up. Choose the option that states Format Auto Shape. 

3) In Colors and Lines, change the Style of the Line to 6 Pt and change the Color of the Line to anything you like.

4) If you left the Format Auto Shape to take a look at what you have so far, go back now and click on the Down Arrow of Fill Color. Click on Fill Effects and then Pattern. There are quite a few to choose from, but I went with a diamond pattern. In the same window the program should give you the option to select which colors you want to use for the fill effect. I would suggest going with a very subtle contrast, so that your background pattern won't overpower the entire header.

Here is what my demonstration header looked like after making these changes:

5) Now save your header, and after that go on File - Print. You will want to open this beginning of a header in Picasa, so you'll have to transform this into a JPG file. I am sure there are easier ways (although I haven't found them yet), but here is how I get to this point.

6) Once you click on Print, there will be a new window which has an option of PDF. Now save your work as a PDF file.

7) Next, use a free online converter for PDF files to JPG files, such as this one. Save the converted document.

Picasa

1) Open Picasa, and import the freshly converted JPG file. Double click on the image to get to the Edit function on Picasa.

2) Crop your image as close to the lines as possible (use the manual setting for this).

3) Select Text, then any type of script you like (I used Lucida Calligraphy in Size 96) and type the name of your blog. Just start writing, as you can then move the writing to any place you like on the header. Play around with bold and underlined script, change the color of the text until you feel happy with the results.

4) Once you apply the text to your header, click on Edit in Picnik (you might have to download the program, but many of its functions are free).

Picnik

1) Once your header has loaded into Picnik, you can click on the Stickers tab and decorate your creation. Many of the sticker categories are for free, such as Floralia. Select a flower type, and drag several of the same design onto your header.

2) Now, you can select each flower, change its size, rotate it a bit, and adjust the color. Here is mine in the middle of adjusting colors and layout of the stickers.

3) Once you're happy with the results, click the Save to Picasa Tab in the top right of the Picnik screen. Now, the only thing that's left to do is to click on File - Export Image to Folder - Resize Image to 1000 Pixels (for blogger).

Blogger

1) In Blogger, you can make changes to your header in the Design tab. Click on Edit Header and then Remove the previous image and Browse your new header. Once you click apply to blog and view blog, you should see your nice new header at the beginning of your blog.

Please let me know if I need to edit something in my instructions, or if you have questions. I did my best to make this explanation as clear as possible and I hope this could benefit your blog too.

Linked up here:

Metamorphosis Monday 
Tuasday´s Treasures
Show and Share Day