Tips for Choosing A Custom Blog Design

Are you thinking about a custom blog design?? 

Then it's your lucky day!

Deciding on a new design and shopping around for the best deals and designers can be very time consuming and requires a lot of patience! 

First, you'll want to start keeping notes of the blog designs you love? 

Jot down the blog name and scroll down to the bottom of their blog to see who designed their blog. You can find this usually at the bottom of the sidebar or the bottom of their page.

Start jotting down and brainstorming what you like! 

What colors, fonts, graphics, styles, patterns, etc. do you especially like or want on your blog design? Do you prefer the simple modern blog or do you want graphics and layered papers? What extras will you want like social buttons, pin it or back to top buttons?? 

Decide how much you can spend on a custom design?

Decide when you want your new design or how long you are willing to wait if there is a waiting list. 

Once you begin shopping for designers, some things you'll want to look at besides their prices are:

What is the wait time?

Is there a deposit required?

Is the ordering process simple?

Do they charge for revisions?

If you want graphics or a scrapkit, is there an additional charge for this?

Their Terms of Use. {Read this}

After jotting down the blogs that I most admire, I came up with a list of 5 blog designers that I had to choose from!!! I spent several hours doing my homework and outweighing the pros and cons of each! It was a very difficult decision!!!

 "A Bird in Hand Designs" offers some reasonable prices....I mean 10 add-ons in the Luxe package??! Most deluxe packages only offer up to 6 and you pay $5 to $15 for any after that!

While she has reasonable prices, a small deposit, and does small revisions after installation.....all pluses....I did not want to wait until December! Which is probably the only reason I did not go with this designer. 

"The Cutest Blog On The Block" really does design some of the truly most cutest blogs on the block, but you're going to pay over $200 for a really nice blog design!! It's really about what you can afford. If you can't afford this option, you may want to check out some of the other options I've posted. 

"Designs by Kassie" is another great designer that you're seeing on blogs everywhere! Her designs are absolutely to die for, but her luxe package is $10 more than "A Bird in a Hand Designs" and only includes 6 add-ons. She offers one of the easiest order forms, but does have quite a few people on her wait list!

"Blog Queen" has some super great prices, as well as a low deposit, easy ordering system, short wait time, and offers unlimited revisions to make sure you get just what you want!!! Her add-ons are also the cheapest by far at only $5 each!

Last, but not least is who I've chosen to custom design my blog! "Design by Christi."
Her wait time is very short, less than a month and her prices seem the most reasonable. The Couture package I'm getting is only $100 and includes 8 add-ons!! Now that's a steal! While I know I'm still going to need a few more add-ons, I should still be able to keep it under $150 bucks! The one thing that did scare me a little though is that she only allows two revisions! Then, $35/hr. Yikes! I pray we get it right the first two times! 

It really depends on what you're looking for and what is most important to you! Decide what matters the most......price, wait time, ordering process, appearance.....maybe reputation!  

Good luck with your new design!

I hope this information has been helpful for you! 

I know it will save you a great deal of time!

Floating FB Widget How To & Blog Troubles

Well I finally did it!! I took the first step to get a custom blog design. I have been having so many blog issues you guys! 

First off, the owner of my blog template went out of business and is no longer hosting my images, so my blog design was wiped out!!! I am now using this yucky generic template from blogger and I HATE IT! 

Today two people emailed me and told me that they were not able to leave a comment on my blog! WTH? 

Yesterday I couldn't reply to my comments!

And for some time now....I haven't been able to paste html code into a post or into a blog comment on other blogs! I'm using this code: <a href="http://thebendersbunch.blogspot.com”>The Bender Bunch</a>
It's worked for the last year and a half! Did something change that I don't know about? 

What is going on?????? So frustrating....I'm pulling my hair out!

It almost seems that I began having problems when I linked my blog with Google+. Has anyone else experienced any of these issue or know what's up? 

So after spending the day blog shopping, I finally contacted, and decided to go with "Design by Christy." I'll post more about my blog shopping and why I chose Christy tomorrow!

While blog stalking and blog shopping today, I began noticing the floating Facebook side tab on everyone's blogs! Hmmmm, this is new! I had not noticed these until today and it seems everyone's getting them! So now I wanted one! See it over on the right side there?? Well to save you some time that it took me to figure it out....here's how ya do it!

Add the html/java script gadget anywhere in your body section of your template. I did it at the very bottom of my blog. (This is assuming you know how to add a gadget. If you do not I can walk you through it.) In the box that opens copy and paste this code, but change the red text to your FB username. Not the address, just username. For instance, mine is thebenderbunch. 

<!--Floating Facebook Widget by www.TheBlogWidgets.com START-->
<script type="text/javascript"> /*<![CDATA[*/ jQuery(document).ready(function() {jQuery(".theblogwidgets").hover(function() {jQuery(this).stop().animate({right: "0"}, "medium");}, function() {jQuery(this).stop().animate({right: "-250"}, "medium");}, 500);}); /*]]>*/ </script> <style type="text/css"> .theblogwidgets{background: url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqnTjQlCSH-LzNgnUVeiqAlU_HKEzid6EE09qCl2OZNihVVCVBiZCKme29_LfmyanlbBd5BmT3N8Jb3x8JNbKnNLAvqAUR_UEniitThAJ7lNw8wJlPoV6PPmRJ2tIJjXlbBcnjk05bBO8/") no-repeat scroll left center transparent !important; float: right;height: 270px;padding: 0 5px 0 46px;width: 245px;z-index:  99999;position:fixed;right:-250px;top:20%;} .theblogwidgets div{ padding: 0; margin-right:-8px; border:4px solid  #3b5998; background:#fafafa;} .theblogwidgets span{bottom: 4px;font: 8px "lucida grande",tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif;position: absolute;right: 6px;text-align: right;z-index: 99999;} .theblogwidgets span a{color: gray;text-decoration:none;} .theblogwidgets span a:hover{text-decoration:underline;} } </style><!--Brought to you by www.TheBlogWidgets.com--><div class="theblogwidgets" style="">
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<a rel="nofollow" style="color:#a8a8a8;font-size:8px;" href="http://jasperroberts.com">Jasper Roberts Consulting</a> - <a style="color:#a8a8a8;font-size:8px;" href="http://www.theblogwidgets.com/2013/11/floating-facebook-like-box-widget-for.html">Widget</a></center>
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<!--Floating Facebook Widget by www.TheBlogWidgets.com AND www.JasperRoberts.com END-->

Hit save and that's it!!! It should be on your blog now! That easy! Hopefully this helps you and gets you some more FB followers! 

And if you contemplating a new blog design, stop back tomorrow and as I have done the homework for you on that too!! :)

ABA, DTT, & Some Other GOOD Stuff!!!

HAPPY EASTER!! 

I don't know how many of you will be looking for blogging tips on Easter Sunday.....but I'm a person of my word.....so here I am with your "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays" tip. 

And it's a special post, because I'm presenting it to you in a screencast for the first time! I was a little hesitant about posting this because I've always hated the way my voice sounds, but it's definitely a more user-friendly way to do a tutorial......for you and me both!  So I hope you like it!





Don't go anywhere.....I have more goodies for you! 

Recently, I attended an incredible 6-day Autism Training in my district on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and DTT (Discrete Trial Teaching) and I have had a couple of requests to share more on these topics. I put together 2 PowerPoints to share with my aides, so if you're interested in learning more about this phenomenal teaching method  and see how I teach in my classroom, you can view my PowerPoints below. **note: Even though the training was an Autism workshop and ABA is known as a strategy used for teaching Autism children, ABA works for all students. I teach a diverse group and use it with all of them; Downs, LD, EH, OHI, and Autism. It works!!

PPT #1
PPT #2

Students were actually brought in during 4 days of the training and we got to work directly with these students while being shadowed and receiving feedback by expert trainers. I just had to have some of the materials that were used for my own classroom, so I purchased these and just got them last week! I highly suggest all of these for your primary Autism classrooms or even for regular ed Pre-K or KG!

 These are all from either Lakeshore or Lauri Toys. You can click on the pictures to take you to the direct link. 

Here's a couple photos of my little Down's boy using the fine motor jars and the shape discovery boxes. 

I also highly recommend this book for all Autism classrooms! I use it daily! It is truly the best resource in my room!

Crafting Connections is another fabulous book by Dr. Ron Leaf. I got lucky and won this at the training, but it was already on my book wish list! It focuses on teaching social skills.

Dr. Ron Leaf is a fabulous and iconic presenter (and researcher) on Autism and his resources are all worthy! He even works alongside Lovaas and if you know Autism, you know Lovaas. If he is ever in your area, you have to make time to see him. You can find more info on his research and where he will be next at www.autismpartnership.com. 

Here's a great leisure read for both teachers and parents of Autism children, suggested by Dr. Leaf. A must read, but have plenty of tissues handy!

Now...for more goodies! 

I fulfilled my spring break goal and over the last couple of days have added these creations to my TN shop! 22 items now.....yippee! 

I made this with my Autism students in mind, but will use it with other students too. This is a great activity for Autism classrooms!

All are only 2 bucks or less and I feel confident you and your students will really enjoy them! The link for my store is {here}. 

But one lucky person can get 2 of them for free.....or if you don't like these, any 2 items from my TN shop!! Thought I'd try out punch tab this time! Enter to win below! 

You can also have a chance to win 3 more items from my store if you enter Mo's giveaway! 5 raffles from numerous bloggers and MY FAVE....the $40 TpT gift certificate!!!! 

Click her button to enter.

Have a great Easter & last day off for those of us returning to work from spring break tomorrow!!

SPRING BINS, TIE-DYE EGGS, & "BACK to TOP"

Hi guys! I'm a little late on my "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays" post because we've been in Vegas for two days. The Eagles concert was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!!!! We had such a great time! I keep thinking I'm back to work tomorrow, but wait.....I'm on spring break all next week! Yay! 

I got a little head start on my spring cleaning last week in my classroom. I don't know what it is about spring, but when it arrives, I really do seem to get that spring cleaning fever!!! Last week I decided to finally tackle cleaning out my file cabinets and organizing my materials by monthly themes. I have four file cabinets in my room and over half of these cabinets contained junk materials from before I even took over the classroom! Every day last week I loaded up my teachers rolling tote and brought home this:

Every night I ended up with a trash pile that looked like this:

And now......I have monthly themed bins that look like this:

Since I don't have a whole lot of stuff yet in just my 5 years of teaching, I organized mine using one bin for every 3 months and skipped June, July, and August. We get out of school the first week of June and start the last couple days of August, so I don't have a need for organizing a bin for those months. And they fit in the bottom of my cabinet perfectly. 

I forgot to take a photo of the inside....but inside I have folders for reading, writing, and math that are color-coded for that month. So in other words, each bin has three colors of folders in it. I love these bins because they fit and hang file folders perfectly (they're old Saxon math containers), so I put hanging folders inside where I placed the centers, books, stickers, etc. themed for each month.

I used sticker paper that I bought at Office Max to print my labels. 

You can get the labels for free at my "Teacher's Notebook" shop. 

Now I have one less file cabinet and three CLEAN file cabinets with space to fill with better and newer creations. 

And now for those of you in school next week and looking for an easy and fun Easter craft.....this is it! My class made these Friday and they turned out fabulous!

Tie-dyed Easter Eggs

1) I used my own egg pattern that I already had and printed on white construction paper. If you don't have a pattern, you could search google images for one or make a solid white one. It doesn't have to have any designs on it. 

2) Let the students choose 2-3 colors of food coloring & have them squeeze 5-6 drops of each color. 

3) Using a spray bottle of water, spray it. The colors will blend and give you the tie-dye look.

4) Hold up and let the excess water run off and lay on wax paper to dry. 

5) The picture doesn't show this, but I also punched a hole in the top of each one and looped a ribbon through it for hanging. 

You can also have your students draw designs or write on the egg first using a white crayon, which is what my student did on the egg on the right.

You can check out my EASTER Pinterest board, to see where I originally got this idea and for more Easter ideas!!

Okay, now for the reason I began this post in the first place.......oh, yea....."Bloomin' Blogger Sunday."  

Put the "Back to Top" arrow on your blog. 

You can try mine out now to see if you'd like to have it on your blog. Just click on the pink up arrow in the bottom right corner. I find it very useful on blogs I visit because rather than having to scroll all the way back up to the top of their blog to find something, I can simply click the arrow and I'm there!

Since this is already such a long post, I'm going to cheat a little and send you directly to where I learned how to do this on my blog. Plus, no need to always reinvent the wheel, right?? 

Click on the button and you will go directly to this tutorial. You will need to scroll down about 3/4's down to the Aug. 20th post. On your scroll down, you're most likely to find some other great tutorials of interest.   

As always, if you need any assistance or have suggestions for future tutorials or tips, please let me know! Happy Sunday!

Bloomin' Blogger & Last Day to Enter!

It's time for "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays" again!

Today's tip is going to be short and simple, because it's been a 
l-o-n-g and busy day, but so unproductive.......figure that? and I have lesson plans still and an IEP revision to do. 

Since I'm going sweet and simple, I'll give you TWO tips. 

Tip 1: www.blogamation.com  
Have you been wondering where everyone gets the falling  shamrocks, hearts, and snow on their blogs?? I sure did and I found it thanks to Donna at "First Grade Enigmas." Blogamation is where to find it. The site is hosted by "The Cutest Blog on the Block." When you first arrive, you will feel like you are at the wrong place......just click on "categories" and you will find what you need.  

Tip 2: Add your email link to your blog. 
I just discovered how to do this myself, thanks to Cathe over at "Just Something I Made." You can go {here} to access the direct page of how to add your email link as well as obtain email buttons. She isn't a teacher, but she has some great things to offer on her blog. If you like the email button I have, you can get it free from "Designs by RS" {here}.  

*I can't find the actual post at this moment, but Charity over at "The Organized Classroom" and "Classroom Freebies" discusses how important it is to have an email link on your blog. One reason she mentions is that when companies scope blogs to offer them product promotions or the opportunity to do product reviews on their items.....they will pass your blog on if they cannot easily locate an email link. If you go {here} you might be able to locate the post. If not, you're sure to find something useful. Charity is most definitely a blog guru and the "go to" for blogging info. 


Don't forget my 100 follower Lucky 7 Giveaway ends tonight at midnight (Pacific time). Lots of great TpT items and clipart will be given away to 7 different winners!!!!! Easy entry {here}!!!

And for a post that was supposed to be sweet and simple, it's getting rather lengthy, isn't it? But I'm dying to share one more thing before I go and can't believe I was able to hold it in til the end of this post................

I opened my first shop up today at "Teacher's Notebook." I'm so excited! I only have 8 items posted right now......3 are freebies, but it's a start! Check out my awesome "TN" shop widget on my sidebar! I just love it everytime I see it! This was actually a long term goal for me, because some of you know I am new to design, but my husband talked me into it and encouraged me. So on a WHIM.......I did it! I still have a few more things to upload so keep checking! Plus I'm hoping to set a goal to make at least one item each week!!!

Happy Sunday All!!!

GIVEAWAY & AWESOME BLOG DESIGNERS

Isn't this a beautiful picture??? So excited and yet speechless to have made it to 100 followers! 

Have you entered my "Lucky 7 Giveaway" yet?? What are you waiting for? 7 prizes will be given away to 7 winners from 7 different blogs on March 17th!!! Prizes include free TpT items, Math & Literacy units, Math centers, and Clipart gift certificates! 

Click {here} to enter!!

Now for my weekly "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays" post!

Have you been wanting to get rid of that cookie cutter blog design and get a custom blog design that defines you, but aren't sure where to go?? I know I have! So I've been shopping around and thought I'd share my findings with you! Here are some fabulous blog designers that I'm sure would be happy to add you to their waiting lists! Unless noted below their button.....their waiting lists are open!

My favorite!!! This is the designer I'm leaning towards choosing for my custom design! I love their work!

Recently gave away a free blog design! She also offers awesome free blinkies for your blog! Blog author of "Grade ONEderful!"

Blog author of : "I Teach, What's Your Super Power"

Just hosted a free blog giveaway!!!

Waiting list currently closed!

New Designer!

Blog author of "Tales from Outside the Classroom." 

Blog author of "Ms. Fultz's Corner."  Love her new look!!

Waiting list currently closed!

Another designer I really like alot! Trying to decide between this one and "Dreamlike Magic."

Lots of cute pre-made designs to choose from!!!!

Alot of these designers occasionally host giveaways and give away free blog designs......so be sure to follow their sites so you don't miss out on the chance to possibly win a FREE blog design from one of them!!!

I'd love to hear your suggestions for future "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays." Is there something you'd like to learn to do on your blog or something you've been trying to figure out? Go to My Suggestion Form and send me your ideas!!

Hope everyone remembered to change their clocks and if you didn't already......don't forget to enter my Giveaway!!!