How to Refresh Old Blog Posts Without Losing Your Voice
Update useful older posts while preserving the stories and personality that made them worth reading.
Read article →The complete collection
Journal
Tutorials, experiments, lists, and personal notes from years spent learning how to make a blog feel like your own.
From the archive
Published articles
5 articles
A Readable Blog Style Guide You Can Make in an Afternoon
Create a small visual system for headings, color, images, links, and recurring post elements.
Read article →A Calm Editorial Calendar for Solo Bloggers
A practical, low-pressure system for turning ideas into a sustainable publishing rhythm.
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Why Facebook Groups Won’t Help You Grow Your Blog (And What They’re Actually Good For)
If it weren’t for Facebook groups, I really don’t think I’d be using Facebook anymore, at least on a daily basis. They’re kind of that glue that’s keeping me...
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How To Start A WordPress Blog
Whether you’re transitioning from another blogging platform or creating a blog for the first time, starting a blog on WordPress can be a bit confusing....
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How To Earn Money Using ShopStyle Affiliate Links
Let me tell y’all a minor success story real quick. A few months ago, I was making less than $5 a month from all of my affiliate links combined. This month,...
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How To Customize The MailChimp Signup Form On Your Blog
Everyone that has an email list wants one thing—more subscribers! 🎉 You can promote it on social media, email your long-time followers, or write a rockin’...
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Why I Love Using The Genesis Framework
When I first switched from Blogger to WordPress, I was in awe at how different the two platforms were. There were so many words I didn’t understand, design...
Read article →Blog Plans + Resolutions: 2016
These past few weeks have been so crazy, I’ve hardly had the time to think back on 2015 or even accept the fact that the new year is already here. I spent my...
Read article →How To Get Readers To Look At Your Old Posts
There’s an exciting feeling that every blogger shares when publishing a post. You’ve got something new to share with your readers, and you can’t wait to see...
Read article →4 Productive Ways To Spend Your Winter Break
Winter break usually means three things to me: sleeping in, no schedules, and lots of hot chocolate. After a long semester, who would want to do anything...
Read article →Blogging Resolutions For 2016
The new year is less than a month away, and I’m already thinking about how I want to make 2016 the best year yet! I’ve got all sorts of plans for myself,...
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4 Reasons Why I Switched To WordPress
One thing that will always be present in the blogging world is a debate about which platform is the best. It seems like the three most popular platforms out...
Read article →Blog + Life Goals For October 2015
Can I just start by saying that September was probably the busiest/most stressful month I’ve ever had? Because geez, I’m 100% over that month and ready to...
Read article →How To Prepare For A Career Fair
We’re about a month into the school year, and for most college students that means job searching time! Whether you’re looking for an internship, a full-time...
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My Daily College Routine
Coming back to college after a summer of complete relaxation was a huge slap in the face, and after two weeks I’m still not used to its demands. I will say,...
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Blog + Life Goals For September 2015
It’s the second week of my sophomore year and I already know this month is going to be a hectic one! Remember how I posted last week about how I organize my...
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How To Keep Your College And Blog Life Organized
College is tough. Add in a blog, and college is REALLY tough. There’s always something you should be doing, you’re constantly adding to your to-do list, and...
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My Dorm Tour
After a long night and early morning, I’m finally moved into my new dorm! I’m already loving this one ten times more than last year’s dorm (just the fact...
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5 Tips For Starting A Healthy College Year
Going to college means making a lot of decisions for yourself, including how you treat your body. Getting so much freedom at once can be pretty exhilarating,...
Read article →Summer Vibes With The Lenovo™ 500 Bluetooth® Speaker + Giveaway!
Summer afternoons in Texas are practically made for BBQ’s, which is why they’re my go-to party for the end of summer. The weather is perfect, the waters are...
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How To Start A Blog
Starting a blog was absolutely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s provided me with countless opportunities, from working with big brands to...
Read article →12 College Dorm Room Must Haves
Last year around this time I wrote a huge college shopping list , and it remains my most popular post today! Because the list is so big though, some of the...
Read article →New Orleans & Florida
For the past two weeks I’ve been vacationing in the Southeast, visiting the beautiful cities of New Orleans and Destin, Florida. I loved being able to relax...
Read article →My Beach Bag Essentials + Favorite Products
I’m beyond excited for my Florida trip coming up this week, so I’ve been packing and shopping all day to get everything together. I haven’t been to the beach...
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4 Ways To Make Extra Money From Your Blog
It’s the question everyone has after they’ve settled into blogging: how do I make money from this thing? A lot of bloggers don’t start with the intention of...
Read article →How To Shop For College On A Budget
I’ve grown up with the mindset that with a little research and effort, I can almost always find what I’m looking for at a discounted price. Once I got a job...
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10 Tips For Getting Back Into Blogging
We’ve all hit that time when blogging just doesn’t seem like a priority anymore, and before you know it, your last post was timestamped three months ago. Or...
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How To Use Tumblr To Expand Your Blog
A few weeks ago I decided to clean up a lot of my social media accounts and create new ones specifically for my blog . As an update on that, I’m enjoying all...
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Anthropologie Wishlist
Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right Most of my time this summer has been spent relaxing at home, and while I’ve tried to save my money as much...
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Should You Separate Your Blog And Personal Social Media Accounts?
Having a great social media presence can do wonders for your blog, so figuring out the best way to maintain that is one of my top blogging priorities. It’s...
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My Most Popular Post And Why I Think It Did So Well
Back when I first started this blog, I was posting about every subject you could think of. Over time, I decided to narrow down to blogging/design tips, but...
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The Craft Cart Every Small Space Needs
I usually don’t have time for crafting during the school year, so summer is my devoted DIY spree. I’ve already painted a few canvases, decorated some mason...
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5 Ways To Show Your Curly Hair Some Love
Having naturally curly hair has been a huge part of my identity for as long as I can remember, and yet it’s something I hardly ever talk about with other...
Read article →Blog Traffic Report And Goals – May 2015
After reading through several blog reports from my favorite bloggers, it hit me that I’ve never made one myself! At least, with the intent of it being a blog...
Read article →5 Things To Consider When Editing Your Blog Design
As someone who blogs about blogging and all that goes with it, I try to give the best advice and information I can to help my readers become the best...
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Establishing A Consistent Social Media Presence
Maintaining consistency within your blog is one of the best ways to gain loyal followers and establish a visual identity for readers to remember you by. Post...
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WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org Comparison
If you’re a blogger, it’s almost guaranteed you’ve heard of WordPress. You may be a user, a designer, or a friend of a WP blogger, but I think we can all...
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How To Make A Drop Down Navigation Menu On Blogger
Maintaining a clean, easy to use navigation menu is a huge part of creating an effective design. Too many links can confuse a reader, while too few can leave...
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The Blogging Brew Brand Board
This was a long overdue project. Like, longgg overdue. After months of feeling like my goals for this blog didn’t match the effort I’d put into its branding,...
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2 Alternatives To Photoshop I Can’t Live Without
Living on a college budget means my access to software like Photoshop and Illustrator is limited to finding an open computer in the library, or getting...
Read article →How To Use Group Pinterest Boards To Gain Blog Exposure
Pinterest has done great things for my blog since its start back in March 2014. It’s consistently held the top referral spot for my blog (over 75% of my...
Read article →How To Find Your Blogging Niche
So you’ve decided on a blogging platform and found a beautiful design to showcase your content. All the behind-the-scenes work is done, but one of the...
Read article →How To Remove The Wrench, Pencil, & More On Blogger
As someone who loves designing Blogger blogs and playing with new ideas, I’ve discovered a lot of default settings in Blogger templates that just don’t serve...
Read article →How To Set Up Rich Pins For Blogger And WordPress
Rich Pins are popping up everywhere on Pinterest, and it’s slowly becoming the norm for bloggers to have them. They’re pins that include extra...
Read article →Getting A Beautiful Blog Design
Hey there lovelies! It’s time for part two of my series, How To Start A Blog, so if you missed part one, you can check it out here . Today I’m talking about...
Read article →Attempts At Becoming An iPhonetographer
A few weeks ago I talked about finding my Instagram style , and I was pretty stuck on which one was the most “me”. Am I bright and colorful? Am I warm and...
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Choosing A Blogging Platform
Starting a blog encompasses a lot of decisions, from deciding what you want to blog about to figuring out exactly what fonts you’ll be using. As a blogger...
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Jessica’s Birthday Giveaway (Calling All Coffee Lovers!)
In honor of my 19th birthday this Thursday, I decided this would be a good time to host my very first giveaway! I partnered up with some fantastic ladies to...
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How To Design An Effective Blog Footer
I wrote about six ways to dress up your sidebar a few months ago, and I received a lot of comments from bloggers who were either thinking about or in the...
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Why You Should Start A Blog In College
I started thinking about making a blog about four years ago, when I was a freshman in high school. I could’ve easily started one then, but I came up with...
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Beautiful Blog Designs No. 1
For those of you who don’t know, I’m kind of a blog design enthusiast. I love seeing how designers make such beautiful creations out of pixels, it’s like an...
Read article →How To Live A More Eco-Friendly Lifestyle
Maybe it’s because I live in the most granola city in Texas, but living eco-friendly is a huge part of my life. I strive to reduce my impact on the...
Read article →How Switching To WordPress More Than Tripled My Blog Views
I made the switch from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress on February 22, 2015, and to be honest, I had no clue what to expect from WordPress in terms of...
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Finding Your Instagram Style
My name is Jessica Slaughter, and I am a blogger who sucks at Instagram. There, I said it. Contrary to most of my posts, this one isn’t a “how-to” based on...
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Changing The Color Of Your Bloglovin’ Button
Bloglovin’ is my all time favorite feed for reading blogs on, so having a button for my readers to follow me from was essential. Anyone with an account can...
Read article →Fridays Don’t Suc(culent)
If you follow me on Pinterest , you might have noticed that my DIY board has been pretty active recently. I don’t pin to it very often because I usually...
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How To Use The Genesis Framework To Your Advantage
So you decided to take the leap and purchase the Genesis Framework. Every other blogger you know has been raving about it, meaning it has to be fantastic,...
Read article →New Bedroom & Blank Space
This spring break didn’t go quite as planned, but I did manage to accomplish one goal – redoing my bedroom! I’ve been wanting to start this project for a...
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Investments Worth Making For Your Blog
Investing in your blog sounds like a major commitment. It’s like the big jump between hobby blogging, and professional blogging. You might have already...
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Blogging Is Our Jam – Group Pinterest Board!
I’ve been planning on making a post of my newly designed room, but that’s taking a heck of a lot longer than I thought, so instead I’ve gone 5 days postless....
Read article →Spring Break, Round Two?
I wouldn’t consider myself to be the most spontaneous of people, but sometimes things just happen, okay? Like last week when I decided to pack my bags, skip...
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6 Ways To Dress Up Your Sidebar
I’ll admit, when I was redesigning this blog, I was extremely tempted to opt out of having a sidebar and go for the full width look. After considering the...
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Websites That Offer Free Stock Photos For Your Blog
While I would love to say that I’m a professional photographer who takes every photo I use on my blog, that is definitely not the case. So rather than use my...
Read article →How To Run A Successful Reader Survey
Last week I recapped my reader survey and talked about all the information I gained from it, which was a ton! It went so much better than I’d anticipated,...
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Office Spaces I’m Loving
Midterm week was already pretty low on my list of favorite weeks in the year, but add in the mess that is Texas when the temperature drops below 32 degrees,...
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Launch Day!
I was going to wait until tomorrow to do this, but I couldn’t contain the excitement anymore. I’ve been hyping up this “big change” for a while now, and...
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Reader Survey!
Last week I announced that I’ll be making some big changes to this blog over the next few months, and I was so happy to see all the supportive comments from...
Read article →7 Resources For Tracking Your Social Media Presence
When I think about social media, I like to imagine little messengers going out and telling everyone about my new post. Every time someone finds out about it,...
Read article →6 Tips For Growing Your Blog With Twitter
I’d say Twitter was the last social network I really got into, and I still don’t use it very often. I kept seeing posts from other bloggers about their...
Read article →February Freebies!
The month of roses, reds, and chocolates (aka some of my favorite things) is here! I almost forgot that Valentine’s Day is coming up, until I stepped into...
Read article →7 Must Have Apps For Bloggers
For those of you who don’t know, I’m sort of a major tech-lover. My life pretty much revolves around technology in one way or another, whether I’m blogging,...
Read article →How To Create A Hover Effect For Your Blog Images
Note: This tutorial is currently for Blogger blogs only, but I plan on adding a WordPress version soon! Every blogger has a common goal in mind when creating...
Read article →Building A Kick Butt Sponsorship Program
After you’ve blogged for a while and gotten the gist of things, you might feel the need to take the next step in developing your blog. You may have already...
Read article →Free Hand Drawn Phone Backgrounds
Winter break is basically the one time of year when I don’t have to do anything, which is surprisingly hard for me to deal with! It has been nice having all...
Read article →Why I Use thredUP
I’ve been meaning to make this post for a long time, and after months of putting it aside, I just couldn’t stand not telling y’all about this treasure of a...
Read article →Blogging Checklist For 2015
The new year has almost arrived and I am pumped ! I’m not sure what it is, but something about the number 2015 just sounds energized and fresh. I’ve heard...
Read article →Adding A Hovering Pinterest Button To Your Blog Images
Note: This is currently a Blogger only tutorial, but I plan on adding a WordPress version soon! As you probably know by now, Pinterest is one of my favorite...
Read article →Blogging Essentials: A Series
Note: Rather than posting new blogging tip posts here, I’ve moved them all to The Collection , a page full of every blog related post I’ve made! That means...
Read article →Using Pinterest Boards To Organize Your Life
I think one thing that most bloggers have in common is our obsessive love for Pinterest. What better place to share your posts, look for new ones, and find...
Read article →How To Engage Your Blog Readers
Back when I started this blog, I decided I wanted it to be a place where I can share my thoughts without devoting much of my attention to who will actually...
Read article →The Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging
Whether you’re a newbie blogger or a pro, following some extent of “blogging etiquette” is a must if you want your blog to be seen in good light. It’s pretty...
Read article →5 Ways To Get Organized Before College
With just a few days left until the semester starts up, I’ve been spending a lot of time getting my things together and preparing for the big day! A huge...
Read article →Steps To Having A Good Morning
You know those days when you’re super productive, everything goes smoothly, and you just feel great? They’re pretty nice, aren’t they? I was never sure what...
Read article →How To Make A Back To Top Button For Your Blog
Note: This is currently a Blogger only tutorial, but I plan on making a WordPress version soon! After getting a ton of great feedback for my last Blogger...
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College Shopping List
With college being a new thing for me this year, I was pretty clueless when I stepped into Target to do my dorm shopping. A mattress cover? Drawer liners?...
Read article →How To Take A Break From Blogging
For the past few days, I’ve been pretty detached from the blogging world aside from putting up a giveaway, which didn’t require much effort on my part. Not...
Read article →How To Make A Sticky Navigation Bar On Blogger
It’s been a week now since I finished my blog’s redesign, and I’ve had some amazing feedback! This blogging community that I’ve found myself in is seriously...
Read article →Destination College-A Blog Hop!
Link Up Your College Life Blog Posts! Welcome to Destination: College – A Blog Hop! Join Caro from The Caro Diaries , Jessica from Seeking Individuality and...
Read article →Choosing A Font For Your Blog
Over the past few days, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on my new blog design, down to every tiny detail. One of my hardest decisions so far has...
Read article →How To Save Money In College
Between buying textbooks, paying for food, and putting money towards tuition, it’s easy to see the importance of saving money in college. Getting a job isn’t...
Read article →Bulletin Board Makeover
After years of looking at the same cluttered bulletin board above my desk, I decided it was time for some change. I love designing and decorating anything I...
Read article →The Power Of Words
So I have this thing for quotes. From books, movies, interviews, speeches…some people have an amazing way with words, and make it seem easy to combine them...
Read article →Finding Your Passion
It’s that feeling you just can’t seem to explain. Your mind is consumed by the thought of something that excites you more than anything else, and yet you...
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