PicMonkey Awesomeness (How to Make a Facebook Cover Photo in 5 Minutes or Less)

For those of you who live in blogland I'm sure you have already heard of PicMonkey, the free online photo editing tool that makes your pictures look awesome.  And did I already mention the part about it being FREE?!  Yes, I'm sure at some point they will start charging for their awesomeness, but for now it's a zero dollar time sucker.

I've been using PicMonkey to edit all of my blog photos lately.

It's super easy to use - even for a tech-no like me.  Today I want to show you how easy it is to make a cover photo for your Facebook page using PicMonkey.  In the past, I've used Picasa but PicMonkey makes it so much easier.  Seriously, you can make one is less than 5 minutes although it will probably take you longer because you'll be having so much mindless fun playing around with all of the different options.  I realize for some of you this is really elementary, but I've found that most people I know in real life (those that aren't blog-obsessed and spend countless hours online) have no idea 1. that PicMonkey exists 2. that making a cover photo is super easy.  Most of my real life friends think that I'm some kind of genius because I make creative cover photos for my blog Facebook page and for my personal Facebook page, but you all know how far that is from the truth.

So here's a simple step-by-step (because I'm tired of texting the steps to my friends):

1. Go to PicMonkey and click on Create a Collage.

2.  Choose a style under FB Cover and then start uploading the pics you want to use.  Once the pics are uploaded you can play around with the arrangement by dragging them in different spaces.  When you like what you've created hit save at the top.

3. Go back to the main PicMonkey page and this time click on Edit a Photo.  Upload the collage you just created.

4. Now the fun of adding text, effects, borders, clipart, etc begins.  This is where you can really get creative.  In the photo below I added the Urbane and Tranquil effects.

5. Hit save and you're done!  That's it - then just upload the saved photo to your Facebook page.  Easy!

My personal page-

My blog page -

So there you go.  I'm not a genius.  I just like to decorate - a house - a Facebook page - whatever.  Speaking of blog Facebook pages, Michelle at Ten June shared some great tips that we learned at the Haven Conference on how to really use your Facebook page to promote your blog.  It's a great post.  You should check it out, if you haven't already.  

And don't forget today's the last day to enter the Shabby Apple $50 gift card giveaway.  I'll be announcing the winner on the Our Fifth House Facebook page tomorrow.