BLOOMIN' BLOGGER SUNDAYS & FREEBIE

Welcome to "BLOOMIN' BLOGGER SUNDAYS" where every Sunday you can stop by and pick up a new blogging tip or two! 

I started this weekly featured post because I too, am new to blogging and wanted to be able to share the things I am learning each week with other new bloggers. Learning the tips & tricks to blogging can be very time consuming & exhausting......so now you can save some of that exhaustion by stopping by my blog every Sunday! 

It will also hold me accountable for one of my blogging New Years Resolutions, which was to make at least one post every week! 

Now on to the tip of the week.........

 Bloomin' Tip #2:
Today I will share with you how to take the graphic design we made last week (or another), resize it, and so you can use it as your "Blog Button." 

You will need:
A photo editing program- I use Gimp 2. You can download it for free {here}. 
Your graphic design

Step 1: Open the graphic design you made in PowerPoint and save it as a png file to your computer. 

Step 2: Open Gimp 2 that you downloaded above.

Step 3:  In the Gimp toolbar, click on 
>file, then
>open
>locate the graphic design that you saved as png to your computer  (this will be found wherever you saved your image)
>double-click your image. It will now be displayed in GIMP.

Step 4: In the GIMP picture toolbar, click
>image
>scale image

The "scale image" screen will open. 

Step 5: Change the height and width to a size between 125 & 175. Height and width should be the same so that your button is a perfect square, and click
>scale

Tip: According to the research I found when I made my button......the size of your button should be 125x125, however,

I found this to be too small when I inserted my button on my blog. So my blog button is 175x175. You may have to play around with this to get the appropriate size.

Step 6: Click
>File
>Save as, 
>Change the name. Do not save it as the same name of your original image you started with in case you need to revert back to the original. 
>Click save. 
A "save as png" window will appear. 
>Click save.

Step 7: Now you will need to go to a Photo Hosting Website of your preference to get an html code for your new button. I use www.photobucket.com. You will need to create an account, but it's FREE! 

Step 8: Photobucket Steps
>Click upload
>Browse files
>Locate the graphic design you resized and saved, and double click.
It will appear in your library at the bottom of the screen.
>Click your image
>To the right, under "image links," click HTML Code

Step 9: Now to insert it into your blog.
>Go to your blogger dashboard, click 
>Layout
>Add a gadget
>Scroll down & click on "html/javascript"

The html/javascript screen will be displayed

>Give a title (e.g. my button, grab my button, etc.)
>In "Content" right click and paste your the html code you got from photobucket.
>Click save
>Drag & slide your button where you want it positioned on your blog.
>Click save arrangement. 

That is it! You now have a lovely blog button, so that others can easily identify you and share your blog with others. 

I hope these steps worked and walked you through with ease! If you have any difficulty feel free to leave me a message and I will do my best to assist you! 

STAY TUNED NEXT SUNDAY FOR HOW TO ADD PINTEREST BUTTONS TO YOUR BLOG! 

If you made it through this & still have your wits......you definitely deserve a FREEBIE...............

Here I have for you "Addition Fact Homework Practice" 1-10. I have a student that cannot seem to master her math facts, so I came up with this for her nightly homework. I send the same fact sheet home everynight until the student has mastered those facts. It only took her two weeks to master the 2's. 

Click {here} to download this FREEbie! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will spread the word about my weekly "BLOOMIN' BLOGGER SUNDAYS!"