Beautiful DIY Blog Design Tips

If you’re like me and love a well designed blog but simply don’t want to spend your hard earned cash paying someone to do it, this post is for you. 

The design for this blog was done 100% by me, and I know absolutely NOTHING about coding. With a little resourcefulness and utilizing information online, you can create the look you want to achieve for your blog for little to no money. 

Here are 5 tips I have for DIYing a beautiful blog:

1. Use Google and YouTube to your full advantage.

I don’t know what I would do if it weren’t for Google. You can type in anything and in one second have a dozen articles at your fingertips. Even if you know absolutely nothing about coding (like me!), you can almost always find an article or video that will walk you through the process. Make sure to Google very specific questions, like “how to hide ‘showing all posts with label’ from blogger” and other questions of the like.

Searching the web for coding questions isn’t for the faint of heart, and sometimes you’ll have to read and try out the advice of 5 or 6 different articles before you find one that works for you. That’s ok! It’s better than shelling out big bucks to have someone do it for you, in my opinion. Plus it’s rewarding to know that you designed this yourself! 

2. Get lots of freebies. 

This is something I can’t encourage you to do enough. There are so many great free resources online! One in particular I love is called Angie Makes (www.angiemakes.com). She has a “freebies” link (as many design sites do) where you can view and download all sorts of images and even free wordpress templates. To find even more great sites like hers, you can- you got it- Google it!

Another great way to get awesome freebies for your blog is by subscribing to newsletters. Online business and marketing is so hot right now, and everyone knows that the BEST way to get your content in front of your target market is to have a newsletter. And if you’re business savvy, you know that the best way to get people to subscribe to your newsletter is to give away free stuff! Beautiful stock photography, ebooks, informational guides, gorgeous graphics and many, many more great blog design goodies can be delivered straight to your inbox simply by signing up for newsletters. Take advantage!

3. Familiarize yourself with a design program, preferably Photoshop.

Okay, so I am bias toward Photoshop and will say if you already have it, use it! I absolutely love it and think you will take your design skills to a whole ‘notha level. But since this is advice on how to design without spending money, if you don’t already have Photoshop there are some great free resources available. 

PicMonkey is a great site for designing graphics and editing photos. They do give you the option to upgrade for a very small fee ($5-$10 per month) to have access to all of their features, but the free ones alone are more than enough to create beautiful visual content. 

Another great site to use is Canva. They are a great design website where you can make graphics for your blog, social media, or even postcards and invitations. They have a great stock photography collection, most of which are free and some that are $1. You can also upload your own photos into Canva which makes it even better to use! 

There are other free design programs out there, these are just a couple that I have found useful. If you want to find even more options, just ask Google! While I highly recommend Photoshop, I believe that you can achieve your design goals with these free programs and a little resourcefulness. 

4. Pay attention to fonts.

If I’m being completely honest, I’m a bit of a font junkie. I absolutely love how pairing just the right fonts can bring your blog to life! The first thing to do is decide what kind of fonts jump out at you and what look you’re trying to achieve. It is best to pair fonts together as opposed to using just one, but I wouldn’t use more than three as it can made your blog look cluttered. If you’re going for a busy-looking site then it might be ok, but the general rule is 2-3 fonts. Crisp, clean, and simple branding is the hot trend right now,  so keep that in mind as you venture on. 

Pinterest is a great resource for font pairings and helps you get a visual of the style you like. I have found that once I have a general idea, there are many different fonts that look similar to each other. This is great news because if you fall in love with one specific font but then realize it costs $50, there is a really good chance that there is a similar one that is free. DaFont is my favorite site for free fonts, but there are many others as well. Again, we’re talking free to cheap design, so while sometimes it might seem a sacrifice to get the free font over the $30 one that you are in love with, I urge you to get it up on your blog to test it out. You might just find that you love it just as much!

5. Stay inspired and check out trends. 

There are so many beautiful websites out there not to mention blog designers who love to showcase their portfolios. Those are some of the best places to get inspiration from. I also use Pinterest a lot for design inspiration, and have boards to save the pins I love so I can look them up easily when I’m designing. You can also Google “blog design” or  “blog design tips” and find some really good resources. When you come across a stunning blog or website, make sure to pay attention to the details of it. Are the fonts crisp and clean or more whimsy, or both? Is there a color scheme? How and where do they present their information? 

I never stop searching for inspiration and always try to pay attention to what other designers are doing. Even though I’m not a trained or paid designer, I have enough resourcefulness to figure out how to achieve the look I am going for- and so can you! 

I hope you found these tips useful! Enjoy!

Nesting: The Final Days of Pregnancy

I can't believe it's already here (on the 6th) - my due date! Pregnancy seems so long and it kind of is, but once the end comes it just seems to come out of nowhere. Until a few days ago, I was almost in denial that I had less than a week before my due date. Even though we are pretty much all prepared for Baby's big arrival, it seems surreal that we will be adding another sweet little member to our family. Part of me is anxious about the changes to come, because we have such a steady family dynamic with the four of us. Another part of me thinks that since we already have two, maybe it won't be as big of a change this time around. I have heard and been warned that the third can be the hardest but I am remaining optimistic. I really think it will be great!

Because I love looking back on life, I thought it would be fun to reflect on the past nine months while they are still fresh in my mind. It's amazing how much of pregnancy is forgotten years later. This is what it has been like this time around:

May was a hard month. We had just found out we were expecting and I had the beginnings of morning sickness. I suppose I can wrap June into this one as well, because it was one big huge blur of crap- just being honest! I was sick all. day. long. From sun up to sun down. I never actually threw up, which I think might have actually brought some relief from the terrible constant nausea. I was also completely exhausted, more so than either of my previous pregnancies. It was basically like I was recovering from the stomach flu for two months straight. I tried so many things to get relief and nothing really worked all that well. I even had prescription meds, which might have just kept me from throwing up which might have been more of a curse than a blessing.

It was also during this time, about March-May, that I realized I loved photography. In June I was a second shooter in a wedding with a friend and I felt AWFUL morning-sickness wise. But I did it! I made it a whole ten hours and completely collapsed in my bed at the end of the day. But it was so worth it!

In July the fog started to lift. By the time I was 14-15 weeks I was able to go off my medicine and actually eat meals again. :) It was glorious! There were a few things I was still feeling quite averted to (like coffee, wah) but overall was much better. I did quite a few park dates with my boys and just really enjoyed a leisurely summer. During this month I started to think about the possibility of starting a photography business. I was doing it just for fun at this point and enjoying it so much, and was getting a lot of positive feedback. It was during this month that I started working on my website as a way to showcase my work and give information to anyone who might be interested to work with me.

In August I second-shot for another wedding and the lady I shot for was so so encouraging and really helped me learn so much! I continued to work on my website and changed the look multiple times. I really scoured the internet for cool free graphics and learned a lot about photoshop. I also learned a lot about photo editing in lightroom. I spent many many nights up until the wee hours of the morning (I'm talking 2-3am!) working on all of it, simply because I LOVED it and it was really the only time I had to focus without the kids. Also, Dave and Julian both had birthdays at the end of August, and I had a lot of fun throwing them a little party. :) I really had two worlds going on, growing a business and loving on/ taking care of my family.

In September-October I was still feeling great- not too big or uncomfortable and no more morning sickness. I was focusing a lot on my website, a relaxed & unofficial business plan, and more shooting gigs- on top of engaging my husband, boys and managing our home. It sounds like it should have been super crazy, but really it wasn't! I worked on my stuff at night after the boys went to bed about 4-5 nights a week, and sometimes I would take an hour or two during the day. I had some stressful days when I was "stuck" on something or another, usually computer related, and would get so frustrated I would have to just walk away for awhile. But to be completely honest- the only reason I was doing it in the first place was because I was truly enjoying it, despite the frustrating moments.

In October I also started feeling the effects of my anemia and had to take it a little easier than in the previous months. I have beta-thalassemia, which is a genetic anemic blood trait that basically means I have small red blood cells. Each pregnancy I've been told to take a whole bunch of extra iron- which helps some but not completely since I technically don't have iron deficiency anemia. It's weird- most people in my family have this since we come from Mediterranean descent. Pregnancy is the only time it has ever bothered me, as it usually has no symptoms. Once the end of October came, I had to prioritize and work around my fatigue. Some days were worse than others, and grocery shopping was the bane of all my responsibilities. Oh, how I loathed it! :) Side note: In December I found out about Meijer's curbside service and have never looked back. If they ever stop it my heart will shatter into a million pieces. It really is too good to be true!

In November I really started slowing down. Each day was different than the next fatigue-wise, and I was anxious to just be DONE with my website and move on. It started to get old at this point. The problem was that I was super picky, and tried a lot of different things before deciding they didn't look quite right and would change them. It was a vicious cycle, and I refused to pay someone to do it because I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted but knew I would know once I saw. Plus, I'm not technically profitable yet and not willing the invest the money until I am. So there's that.

December was so much better. I knew I would be huge pregnant by Christmas time, so I was very motivated to prepare for that and get everything we needed done in a relaxed way. I made a ton of lists for Christmas shopping and baby preparation, FINISHED MY WEBSITE, and changed my vitamins which ended up helping immensely with my fatigue. I was very intentional to savor the time with my boys. I finished my photography grunt-startup work so I could take a break before Baby is born, and really enjoyed sharing the business news with my family, friends, and on facebook. Then I really hit Christmas shopping and baby preparation. About a week or two before Christmas my nesting kicked in and since then I've been riding an immense wave of energy, thankfully! I've gotten so much done and have been really good at keeping up with the house, with the help of my sister Alannah who has done so much for me!

I also feel the need to mention that Dave and I have gone on a weekly date night throughout this entire pregnancy with the help of my very selfless Dad who committed to watching our boys. Aside from pregnancy and photography, one thing I look back on over this past year so fondly is the quality time I've had with my husband. I really feel prepared to enter into the newborn stage again in part because we've been so intentional about investing in each other consistently. We even plan to continue our dates after Baby comes, they'll just be a little shorter. :) We also love getting into shows together, and realized that American Idol is starting up soon which will be nice to watch together in our sleep deprived blur. Hah!

Overall, so many wonderful things have grown along with my sweet baby over the past nine months, and I am feeling so blessed and so ready to meet him and start the next chapter.