Actual, factual stuff...

I've had a lot (there I go again--exaggerating my importance) okay--a couple of questions about my background so I thought I would take a minute and fill you in.

First, I went to onecuteblog (actually I went to quite a few places, I just liked this one best) and on the right side bar--a little ways down there is a section labeled--Labels & Categories--(very handy) and then I clicked on LDS and it takes you to that section which has 2 backgrounds (handy dandy) That's where it is but to install it you need to click on the blue button in the upper right corner of her blog that says installation and it will take you to a page that says this:

How to add these templates to your blog:

The first thing you MUST do if you haven't already, is change your template to "Minima". From your dashboard, click on "layout", or from your blog, click on "customize". Then click on "pick new template". The minima template is the first template offered. Any one of those will work.

Next, go into your "Page elements". Again, this can be found by clicking on "layout" from the dashboard or "customize" from your blog. It will say "add and arrange page elements" at the top.

Click on "add a gadget" anywhere on the page.

This will bring up a screen of various gadgets you can add to your blog. About 2/3 of the way down you will find one that says "html/java script". Click on the picture next to it, or the plus sign. This will bring up another screen.

Enter this code:

(I cut this out so it wouldn't cause problems)--you really do need to go click on this page!)

Where it says DIRECTLINK, in the above code, leave the parenthesis and quotations in place, and copy/paste the direct link/URL included with each template to that place. The direct link is located UNDER each template picture and will say "direct link". Click on that link and it will pull up another full size version of the template you are selecting. This is the photobucket site I have set up to host the templates. You need to copy and paste that link/URL which will begin with http://i250.photobucket.com/albums etc. into the spot that says "direct link" in the above code.

IF YOUR TEMPLATE CHOICE HAS A TEXT BOX UNDER IT, JUST COPY AND PASTE THE TEXT AS AN HTML GADGET!!!

Then save this and view your blog. I make my templates at the highest quality... 300 dpi rather than the standard 72 dpi, which does mean that they may take a bit longer to load onto your screen so be patient. You will want to also make sure to go in and change your fonts and colors to match your blog, which can also be found from the "elements" page. If you cannot see your blog posts or certain widgets (items on your sidebar), be sure to check your colors first! By adding these templates, you should not lose any of your widgets (pictures and links on your sidebar), though this is not a 100% guarantee... only 99%.

Good luck. If you need any other assistance in figuring this out, let me know at onecuteblog at gmail dot com.

To add the blinkies to your sidebar... go into your "add and arrange page elements" and click on "add a gadget". Find the gadget that says "html/java script" and copy/paste the html img code from the text box under the blinkie. Save it. You can rearrange the gadgets on the sidebar in the elements page so your blinkies and other information will be in whatever order you select.

Soooo--I followed the instructions and wha--la (I just realized that is probably not a real word ...hmmm...) there was my beautiful background. And it was free!! I just had to put her button on my sidebar. I really love it--good luck and go check her out!