Showing posts with label Tutorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tutorial. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Customized Template


It's my 200th post and Tidy Tuesday so why not clean up and update the blog?  I'm still not sure it's exactly what I want yet, but if I fool around with it anymore today nothing else will get done.  Have fun looking around and let me know what you like/don't like.

Here's a quick tutorial for a more customizable Blogger template:
  • Log into your Blogger account.
  • Without logging out, go to http://www.draft.blogger.com/ .  You can check the "Make Blogger in Draft my default dashboard" option to come here directly in the future.



  • Go to the Layout page for your blog.  Click on Template Designer.





    • From here you can customize your blog in just about every way you can think of.  Be sure to click  the orange "APPLY TO BLOG" button in the upper right corner to save your new template.  You'll also notice that Blogger in Draft offers more widgets than regular Blogger does.  I chose the Watermark template by Josh Peterson with the birds option.
    To remove the birds watermark overlay and add your own:Choose an image, making sure the backgroud is transparent and save it as a .png file. 

    • Upload to http://www.photobucket.com/ or a similar photo hosting site.  Copy the Direct Link code for your image.

    • In Blogger or Blogger in Draft go to Layout > Edit HTML.

    • Using the F3 key find http://www.blogblog.com/1kt/watermark/body_overlay_birds.png .  It will be between ( and ).  There are two places this link occus right near each other.

    • Replace the above links with your image's Direct Link code, making sure to keep the ( and ) in place.

    • Preview your blog before saving to make sure all the codes are still correct and it looks the way you want (you may need to adjust your original image's size to get it just right.)

    • Make sure you save your changes.

    Let me know if you do this so I can see your beautiful new template!

    Saturday, November 29, 2008

    Pop-Up Book Tutorial; The Brother of Jared

    Last Sunday I used this art project to teach the lesson of the Brother of Jared to my Valiant 10 class. If you would like to use it, please just be sure to give credit somewhere (just a "by Kristal C. Coles" will do) as this is copyrighted. I would also suggest pre-cutting and assembling everything to the point where the children can just decorate the pages and add the stickers.


    The Brother of Jared
    by Kristal C. Coles
    Mahonri Moriancumer was the Brother of Jared
    He lived near the Tower of Babel.
    New languages were to be heard
    And to avoid it, no one was able.

    He asked the Lord to save his language
    And to keep his family together,
    The Lord replied, “Prepare for a voyage,
    And be faithful, obedient forever.”

    He was told to build barges that would be sealed up tight
    And across the vast ocean they’d travel.
    “But how will we see, how will we have light?”
    Jared’s brother to the Lord did marvel.

    He saw the Lord’s finger sixteen stones touch alight
    Jared’s brother then nearly fainted.
    Christ revealed his body to Moriancumer’s sight
    And said, “In my image you were created.”

    The Brother of Jared showed great faith in the Lord
    And was blessed to see more than His hand.
    He was faithful and true to every last word
    And was led to the promised land.

    The Brother of Jared to the Lord did heed
    And the Lord did show him the way –
    We are also guided in every deed
    As we listen to Him and obey.

    Materials Needed:

    1/2 sheet of any color construction paper (seen here as yellow)
    1/2 sheet of blue construction paper
    1/2 sheet of green construction paper
    1/2 sheet of black construction paper
    scrap construction paper
    1 full sheet of sticker paper
    scissors
    stapler
    hole punch
    tape
    glue stick


    Print the Brother of Jared Art Page onto the sticker sheet. It should take up the whole sheet. Follow the directions on the page for preparing the clip art. (updated 6/17/2010: a printable version of the clip art page is now available on my Printables page.)


    Brother of Jared Art Page:



    Stack the construction paper as shown and fold in half to make the book.

    Remove the yellow piece. Make two cuts along the fold of the three remaining pieces about 1 inch long. Open each piece that was cut and fold the middle in as shown. When the paper is folded closed it will look as though there is a notch missing. When opened it will look like a step.

    Cut the "step fold" of the green and blue papers down the middle. Fold the resulting flaps on the green paper to the OUTSIDE and the blue flaps to the INSIDE.

    Carefully layer the blue and green papers so the flaps lay open and against each other. Keeping the flaps flat and open, stack all four pieces in their original order: yellow, green, blue, and black. Staple twice along the fold, creating a book.
    Glue the yellow and blue together, the green and black together, the black and green together, and the blue and yellow together so that your eight page book becomes a four page book.

    Tape the blue/green flaps together so they again create a step fold.

    Color the tower and glue it to the bottom half of the first page's step fold.

    Draw and color any extras you want on your first page and place the cloud and text stickers.

    Repeat with the hand, stones, and text stickers for page 2.

    Repeat with the text and barge stickers for page 3.

    Write the title (and author, please!) on the cover and you're done!
    If you need me to email you the Brother of Jared Art Page, please email me a request at mailto:KristalsBlog@yahoo.com. And please leave a comment or email me if you use this. I would love to see your pictures, too!  (updated 6/17/2010: a printable version of the clip art page is now available on my Printables page.)
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