Dashboard Tutorial - Posts

Today in our  new blogger dashboard series we'll be talking about the Posts tab. Be sure to update your blogger dashboard to the new version if you haven't already. 

The Posts section has a lot of information but it really does make blogging faster and easier. Below is a screen shot of the Posts page in your dashboard.

This is the same image, but with my notes explaining what everything is and does. Click on the images to enlarge them so you can get a closer look. 

Take a quick overview of the notes I made above and you can understand this page much better. There is still a lot more to the posts section!

Just For Clicks - 11-28-11

I wanted to share a few fun things I've found around the internet lately, but first we have a winner for the Jo Totes camera bag giveaway!

Congratulations Rebecca!! I've got your email and you'll be hearing from us soon. Hope you love your new bag! Thanks to everyone who entered!

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I found this recipe for fried ice cream and I so badly want to try it. I loooove fried ice cream!

Have you ever tried to make it on your own? I'm a little nervous to make it, as I can barely make brownies from a box. If you have any tips before I give it a go, let me know! I see a very messy kitchen in my future.

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Have you heard of this website called Mother Glow? It's a site full of videos where people announce that they're pregnant. It is so stinking funny! I was laughing so hard that my husband had to come in and see what the heck I was doing. Mother Glow also makes 2 other sites that show videos of soldiers returning home and videos of marriage proposals. I haven't checked those out yet but my sister tells me they're amazing. If you have some down time you should totally go take a look. Great site.

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Speaking of babies, Walmart has a cool new feature on their site called Baby Steps. You can customize your baby's age and weight and they have short videos of some basic mommy tips and info. There is some great info for new mamas there. 

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And last but not least...a few sewing tutorials.

I can't even thread a sewing machine, so I've taken it upon myself to request these fabulous gifts from my mother this year. Aren't they genius? An earbud case and a pocket for your phone so it won't have to be in the way while it's charging. I love them. Love love love. That's 3 loves. And according to Oprah, if you love it 3 times, you need it.

      

So there you have it. Some great things I ran across this week. Hope you found something that you like...or that you can force your mother to make for you. 

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Want to see more fun things I find online? Follow me on Pinterest!

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Free Digital Scrapbook Kit

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Hope all of you in the states are having a great day with lots of loved ones and yummy food.


I'm so thankful for all the great e-friends I've been able to make this year and for all of you who stop by visit the blog. I wanted to make a special freebie this week for you. It's a Fun Fall mini digital scrapbook kit and you can get it exclusively over here. It's only available for one week though!

Have a great weekend!!

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Dashboard Tutorial - New Blogger Interface

Hopefully most of you are using the new blogger interface by now. I personally was nervous about it at first cause I do NOT like change. I stick with what I know for the most part, but I was really glad I tried this out. The new dashboard has a lot of really cool features that make blogging easier and more fun. I'm going to do a series of tutorials to show you how to navigate the new dashboard a little bit. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll try my best to answer them all for you. 

There is a new menu on the dashboard that lists all the important things you'll need to customize your blog.

I know we have brand new bloggers here and seasoned pros too, so I'll try to give basic info as well as some tips to help you all. 

First off on the menu bar is the overview. The overview gives you a quick run down of your site. Below is a screen shot of your overview page and then another screen shot with some notes from me. Click on the images to enlarge them.

This page gives you access to everything that you'll need very quickly. It also gives you a run down of comments you might need to moderate, your blog traffic stats and the latest updates from blogger. 

That's basically the Overview page. Pretty simple for this one. Just a good page to start on to give you the quick updates you might be interested in. Next week we'll go over the next step on the menu bar, Posts. This one has tons of info, so be sure to check back next week for that!


If you're not already using the new blogger interface, you should see my post on it here and make the switch!

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Swaggin Saturday - Jo Totes Camera Bag Giveaway

It's been awhile since we've had a little Swaggin in our Saturday right? We came upon something we tooootally love, so we thought we'd share it with you and throw in a giveaway as well :)

Have you heard of Jo Totes?

 

Like lots of you, I have a camera and lens that require a bigger case to fit in. I really wanted a camera case that kept everything padded and protected but didn't look like a big ol' backpack. I looked and looked for one that I liked and nothing caught my eye until I found Jo Totes.

So many stylish camera totes, so many color choices, and each one lined with padding on all for sides with super cute fabric.

I got the Betsy Tote in Mustard and FLIPPED when it showed up on my doorstep. It's amazing. Now, when I know I'm headed out somewhere that I will be taking pictures, I toss my wallet in my tote and it becomes my purse. I love this bag! I actually think I use my camera more now because I love taking it with me.

So onto the GIVEAWAY.

Ya want one? How about your choice of ANY of the Jo Totes camera bags on their site?!

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To enter this giveaway just go to Jo Totes and pick your favorite bag. Then come back and comment on this post telling us which one you want Santa to bring you.

Don't have a blog? You can still enter! Just leave your email address in the comment!

You can enter this giveaway once a day until next Saturday, November 26, 2011.

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This giveaway is open until  November 26, 2011 at 12:00 midnight. The winner will be chosen by random.org. If you leave your email address we will contact you if you win. If you don't leave your email address please check back to see if you are the winner.  You will have 48 hours to email us and claim your prize. If you do not claim your prize within the allotted time, we will take your swag and re-gift it to one of our closest friends. Or I guess we'll choose another winner through random.org. No purchase necessary. Thanks and good luck!

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Free Printables - Conversation Cards

Many of you are gearing up for a big dinner next week and hopefully you'll be surrounded with lots of friends and family...and tons of deviled eggs. YUM.

I've made a new free printable that I thought would be perfect for after Thanksgiving dinner when you're in your food induced comma. I've made 20 conversation cards that you can print off and pass around the table for fun and to get to know each other a little better. Each card has a different conversation starting question on it and they would be great for any family dinner, dates or long car trips. 

You can also snag my Thanksgiving printables here. Perfect for some quick decorations, name cards, treat boxes and more.

-Don't know how to use the printables? Click here for some tips!


-The kit used in these conversation cards is from my digital scrapbook kit Lundstrom Park


-All Leelou Printables are for personal printed use only. No commercial use or redistribution.  Please contact me if you have any other questions about their use. Thanks!

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Free Christmas Card Templates

Last Friday I made 4 free Christmas card templates for the MyMemories Facebook page. If you'd like to download them you can click here. They'll only be available until Thursday night though!

All Leelou Printables are for personal printed use only. No commercial use or redistribution.  Please contact me if you have any other questions about their use. Thanks!


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What Inspires You?

Today we're talking about inspiration. What inspires you? I was asked what inspires me to grow as a person and I didn't really know how to answer at first. So many options here.

One of the things that inspires me most are the stories I find online about REAL moms. No, not the ones that tell the tale of a mother of 5 who has 2 weeks of meals frozen in the freezer, a spotless 12,000 square foot house and children reading by age 2. Those blogs make me want to smack someone in the head :)   Haha, I kid!...maybe.

I'm talking about the blogs of moms who make popcorn for dinner, drive kids around all day long, grab chicken nuggets on the way to the park and forget to wear their bras to the store once in awhile.

I'm totally inspired by normal women who have normal lives. Does that sound crazy? Yea, I guess. But it inspires me to be normal. It helps keep me sane when I worry about how I can't even cook toast. It helps make me feel less guilty for staying in my pajamas all day, playing Lego's while avoiding all household obligations. 

I'm inspired by real moms to not get caught up with being perfect, but to relax, laugh or just breath when things get crazy. It's a great reminder to me to chill out and be grateful.

So now it's your turn. What has inspired you to grow as a person? By replying you will be entered to win one of two prizes! First Prize: $150 to a Local Spa, plus $50 Gift Certificate to the CerraBoutique. Second Prize: One of Five $100 Gift Certificate to the CerraBoutique.

*Tutorial* Where Did My Share Buttons Go?

A few weeks ago I did a tutorial showing how to add social media icons (or "share buttons") to the bottom of your blog posts. Did you add them to your blog? They help your blog followers easily share your posts on their favorite social media sites. If you haven't put them on your blog, be sure to add them! You can find out how to put them on here.

Sometimes when you upload a new free blog layout, you can't see your share buttons anymore. They look like they're not installed but Blogger shows that they are. I know several of you said you had this problem and from what I hear it's just a Blogger issue that randomly occurs. Luckily it's so easy to fix and just takes a few seconds.

*If your dashboard doesn't look like mine in the pictures below, be sure to update your dashboard to the new Blogger interface. Click here to learn how to do that. It too is super easy and well worth it!


How To Get Your Share Buttons To Show Tutorial


You'll first want to go to your Template page through your blog dashboard. Once there we want to click on the Edit HTML button.

Your HTML box will pop up and in the bottom left hand corner it says Revert Widget Templates to Default. Click that link and save.

Now you can see your social media share buttons and they will automatically show up after ever blog post you publish.

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Exclusive Freebie - Get it while you can!

Remember those birthday questionnaire printables I made? Well I made a few more in an exclusive download. They're only available until Friday and you can get them here if you'd like!

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New Free Blog Backgrounds Just For You!

I promised some more freebies with my new digital scrapbook kit and here are a few. I have 5 new free blog backgrounds up today. You can click here to check them all out and grab one for your blog. 

All of these blog backgrounds were made with my new kit that you voted on called Lundstrom Park. I hear that Saturday is National Digital Scrapbook Day so I've decided to put all of my scrap kits on sale for one week. 

If you aren't a digital scrapbooker you should be! It's seriously a blast. Plus, it's pretty cheap and doesn't make your house a huge mess when your done. My favorite part is that you can undo things a lot easier digitally then you can with paper and glue! Give it a try this weekend if you haven't already. You can try My Memories Suite to get started. The software downloads instantly so you could get it ASAP. Plus, I have this coupon that will give you a steal of a deal. Whatever program you decide to use, you will love digital scrapbooking and all the sweet stuff you can make with it. 

Enjoy the new blog backgrounds and have a fabulous National Digital Scrapbook Day!

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Apparently I'm a drug pusher

Hi. My name's Julie. And I'm a drug pusher. No, not the bad kind of drugs...just the good kind :)

I'm teaming up again with ABC News and the UN Foundation’s Million Moms Challenge to talk about epidurals...and how much I stinking love them.

Go to Million Moms Challenge to read my post about the miracle of modern day medication, and to share your own advice. 

I'd love for you to learn about the Million Moms Challenge and help them reach their goal of 1 million supporters too! If you share whether you got an epidural or not, you will be entered to win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and $50 donation in your name to Global Giving. It's always fun to talk about your babies so come share!

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November 2011 Free Computer Desktop Background

It's November 1st so you know what that means! Free computer desktop day :)

Last month a few of you were a little confused about how to download the desktops, so this month I've made it even easier. When you click on the free desktop calendar you want, it will automatically download straight to your computer. No wait time involved. Just one little click.

Click below to get this free November 2011 desktop background for your computer:

1024x768 version | 1280x800 version

(regular sized monitor)      (Wide screen monitor)

We also have a desktop background you can customize. If you need a little help adding your own pictures you can see how I recommend doing that by clicking here.

Click below to get this free Custom November 2011 desktop background for your computer:

1024x768 version | 1280x800 version

(regular sized monitor)      (Wide screen monitor)

I have a brand new tutorial that will show you how to put these free desktops right on your computer. If you've been wanting to use them but didn't know how (cough...cough...my SISTER) then click here to find out how incredibly EASY it is to put this baby up on your own computer screen!!!

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Remember a few weeks ago when I asked for color palate suggestions? 

You all voted on this picture, so I've created a digital scrapbook kit (that I used in this months desktop calendar) that was inspired by this fantastic bedroom. My new kit is called Lundstrom Park and you can get it here. 

    

 We'll have some new blog layouts and free printables coming from this kit pretty soon too!!




All Leelou Computer Desktops are for personal use only. No commercial use or redistribution.  Please contact me if you have any other questions about their use. Thanks!


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