Do you ever speed through a meal so fast that after you’re done, you can barely remember eating it?
As I uploaded the pictures from my breakfast this morning, I realized I basically inhaled my morning meal and could barely remember even enjoying it!
Breakfast this morning included a toasted wheat bagel topped with a mixture of ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, a sliced nectarine and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
Served with a cup of Godiva pumpkin spice coffee for some Friday energy.
PBF Flashback
Back in February, my go-to techy blogger guru friend, Katy Widrick, posted about The Wayback Machine.
The Wayback Machine allows you to type in a web address and browse the different looks of a site from the archived dates available.
How fun, right?
Like many bloggers, when I started Peanut Butter Fingers, I used a template through WordPress and tried my best to make it look unique.
Check out PBF three months after I started blogging in December 2009:
My self-made banner clearly needed some work!
Jumping ahead, I kept the same design, but my banner changed to become a little less pixelated:
For some reason The Wayback Machine website isn’t showing my entire site during the time that this banner was up, but at least it captured the banner itself!
Eventually, I decided I wanted a more personalized look and sought out the help of a design professional, The Blog Fairy.
The first banner idea she sent me back was adorable and featured a cartoon peanut butter and jelly sandwich, much like this one:
(Source)
While it was cute, I wanted something a little more professional-looking and requested a banner with a real food photo in it and sent her the image of the apple and peanut butter that you see today!
I’ve actually been thinking about doing a website makeover for a while now, but every time I think about it, I begin to feel attached to the current look of PBF. I wouldn’t mind having a site with an even cleaner appearance (I love a sleek, white website), but don’t know what the future holds, especially since redesigns can be quite expensive. We shall see!
I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane!
Questions of the Morning
- What do you think makes a website appealing?
To me, a great website is clean and easy to navigate. Keep it simple!
- If you’re a blogger, has your blog changed appearances at all from when you first started?
Clearly PBF changed a bunch in the beginning!
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Love the throwback PBF – I know I’ve changed the design on mine several times so it’ll be fun to see the different changes!
For me, a white website is the best, but with a touch of personality thrown in there somehow so it’s not just a carbon copy template.
Sigh, I hate it when I eat so fast that I don’t even remember what I’m eating–it happens *all* the time, mostly because when I’m staaarving, I eat at the speed of light! I’m really trying to be more mindful lately of what I eat so that I savor each bite and enjoy my meals. 🙂
(P.S. I love your site layout–especially the spoon o’ PB on the side. 😉 )
Oh wow, I’m totally checking out the Way Back Machine! My banner has changed 3 times now and I’m still always looking for ways to improve things on my blog, but I think a good choice of colours, simple menus, and no over-cluttering makes a good layout. Pictures in posts always help too! 🙂
I like clean, simple and professional designs. I have not changed my blog too much in the past year but am just starting the process of cleaning it up and moving to WordPress…should be a fun adventure 😉
I like a clean and simple blog that is easy to navigate as well. I like the look of your current blog. Mine changed once when it went from blogger to wordpress and I much prefer my wordpress look, I have thought about changing it but I am kind of attached to it at the moment.
Wow, I always wanted to know what your blog looked like when you started it.
When I started blogging, like you, I used a WordPress template. Only when I started self-hosting, I changed the whole theme to something cleaner and “designed” it the way I wanted it and making my own banner. I love blogs that are clean looking because it makes it easier to find your way around.
I love your blog design! I’m contemplating a site redesign. I really want a three column blog instead of the two I currently have.
I never saw your website as those first two and I feel like I’ve been reading forever! I like clean and simple too. Too much stuff just overwhelms me. I just put a new header up last week and tweaked some things but when I started blogging (almost a year ago) I did the “fancy” design stuff almost immediately, paid someone and got it out of the way. I think laying out all that money also made me stick with it! haha
I like when blogs look clean and organized (a big attribute in my eyes!), have a nice picture that adds a touch of color, and is easy to navigate. I haven’t had my blog too long so I am still on wordpress and have only had one banner, but I am trying to decide when is the best time to transition into a more ‘design your own’ approach.
I read blogs when I have a spare minute in my day, and I enjoy seeing the familiar look of a blog I love. For that reason, our blog has only undergone minor changes from time to time. The banner has never changed except in size! It’s not because it’s especially cute or anything, I just like the feeling of recognizing a blog and I assume my (3 or 4 haha) readers do too.
I woke up 20 min late for a dr appt this morning, so I totally inhaled my oatmeal today! I hate that! I don’t feel like I had anything to eat now.
I like clean and organized blogs too. Clutter makes me feel overstimulated. I also like the apple with PB, a healthy snack for a healthy living blogger!
I must – I repeat MUST – make the time to change the appearance of my blog. It’s awful – plain wordpress design with very ltitle added to it. I need to figure out how to do this asap!
your blog stays true to you, love that it’s both cute and professional. you did good, gal!
-Sarah
oh how fun! i want to check out that “wayback machine”. i think a blog that is easy to navigate (like you said) and characterizes the blogger behind it is what draws me most to a blog. i don’t like when blogs are TOO flashy, but a little color and design to make it interesting is fun. i think your current layout is the perfect balance of professional and fun!
I changed my banner too and seeing the first one makes me cringe now!
Yes my blog has definitely changed too! I even changed names from Pleasant Peach to just my name. I didn’t really know the direction I was headed, so I made it broad and used my name! I cringe how mine used to look!
I looked at that, too! good gosh, remember my first go-around with Life of bLyss? it was a mess of teal and weirdo flowers on the heading and…. well, it was what it was. 😉 I like that my blog now has “ME” all over it.
I do like a simple blog that doesn’t have too many things on both sides. I will get distracted easily! I don’t mind a background color as long as everything else isn’t busy!
I only started my blog in August, where I used blogger. I changed it when I switched over to my own domain on WordPress, but I’m still not self-hosted. I tried to make mine now look simple and professional!
I love the simple look of your blog, but I know he feeling of wanting to change it up! I actually started blogging over on Blogger at http://heather-hesington.blogspot.com since September 2011, and eventually switched over to WordPress after hiring a friend to design a simpler, more professional looking site. I love the white background, streamlined look but I miss the cute feel of my other one at times.
The best thing to do is make a list of what you would change, then go from there on whether you need someone to help or not.
The good news is, you don’t have a deadline so can play with it whenever you see fit! 🙂
PS: That breakfast looks DELISH!!!
I have been wanting to redesign my blog for ages. But, I don’t have the time to teach myself and can’t afford to pay anyone. I would want my blog to be simple and clean.
Considering my blog is just three months old, it has not had any changes yet… I wouldn’t even know HOw to changed it! My sister helped me with my header.
i’m still not self hosted yet, but i’d like to be and i’d love to do a complete redesign. just need to wait until my bank account agrees with me 😉 i love the clean look of your website though!
Mine has changed several times. I LOVE my new clean, white appearance! I don’t have a banner yet because it’s being made, but I love that my blog is WHITE and CLEAN now! It makes it so much easier to look at, and white is one of my favorite colors because it just looks so pure to me. It’s fun to change up the look 🙂
I remember you from the wordpress days! ha! I still use wordpress but I have tried my best to make it look slightly creative…since blogging is just something I do for fun and not for a living I just can’t justify spending money on a blog re-design. But I agree that I like the white look even thought mine in red..haha!
I love the look of your website. It’s clean and simple, but fun too. Do you have any advice for new bloggers who are trying to design or redesign their websites and don’t want to pay anyone to help?
A website is appealing if it feels friendly. I like warm colors and lots of pictures!
Maybe I’m reading into this but your comment about never knowing what the future holds made me wonder if you were going to quit blogging? I sure hope not!!
no, no!! not at all! 😀
Oh good! Have a wonderful weekend!!
My blog did change. The first one was just a picture of me that I uploaded. It was fine, but the unprofessionalism (word?) made me a little embarrassed to show the blog to the world.
Later I had a graphic designer friend do my header, and I LOVE it now!
I like your design now. It is easy to read, find things, and the spoon on the right is too cute.
I have Blogger that I set up in 2008, but never used until just recently. I have a total white template, simply because I don’t like any of their prefab templates and I want to swap to wordpress in the future.
It’s a very boring look and definitely could use some personal flair! however, it gets my job done for now as I’m still super new to the blogging!
My blog has changed appearances, names, and hosts multiples times. I started off anonymously blogging so that led to some confusion as to what to do with posts I didn’t really want my family and friends to read when I started blogging publicly. I’m actually working on merging the blogs now and featuring posts from my anonymous blog from way back in 2007. It’s a nice trip down memory lane!!
Mostly I look for a design that reflects the blogger, the person’s lifestyle. Standard backgrounds and banners do nothing for me. It’s just hard to become engaged with the blogger and their story.
I am forever changing my header. I can’t help it. I like change. I am more of a content person, less of a visual.
Oh, I don’t think you should change your blog! I personally love your layout. It’s my favorite blog layout out there to be honest. (Not to mention one of my favorite blogs to read, too), 🙂
thanks so much, kate! 🙂
So fun! I am personally attached to that PB spoon in the sidebar. Whatever look you go with, I hope the spoon stays! 😉
haha! the spoon should definitely stay. it always makes me crave pb!
I just redesigned my blog and went for a more “sleek” layout that what I had before. It’s still not sleek by many people’s terms, but is less cluttered which is what I like. I still need to get a way to show old posts, etc. I think.
I love the layout of PBF, but would be VERY excited for a new layout! I think you could make it even more “profesh” yet! You are such a great writer, you deserve any blog layout you choose!!
My blog definetly has changed since I started 🙂
I love reading your blog and find it very easy to navigate . Your pictures bring all the beautiful color you need. It’ s great just the way it is, love it!
thanks, mary! 😀
wow that is so cool! The beginning of your blog is so cute!
Mine has changed 3 times since i started blogging 6 months ago! I would love to do a total overhaul but the thought of it makes my head hurt 🙂
How fun to look back at the old blog! I just started my blog a few weeks ago after reading others for years. I’m not too familiar with html or anything so I feel like every day I’m learning new things. I can see that it has kind of a high learning curve, and I’m kind of wishing I would have chosen to use wordpress than blogger.
Mine has changed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it changed again at some point. Since the current title is “Confessions of a Not-So Domesticated Newlywed,” I will probably need to change “newlywed” to something else at some point haha … I don’t think I can be a newlywed forever. 😉 Fortunately, changing that one word won’t change my url name!!
My first template was a premade one. I changed it when I changed from blogger to sel-hosted wordpress and made the whole change myself. I didn’t want to pay for the design, way too expensive for me. A lot of time, but 100% worth it (I did buy thesis to make it). I think I like my design even more since I’ve made it myself.
I went from no banner, to banner, to newer banner/design & I’m happy with the current look. I don’t like a lot of “clutter” either, so I’ll probably be sticking with my simple design for a while!
I LOVE the layout of your blog. It is just right: clean, simple-yet cute, & reader friendl! Too many blogs are ridicuously overwhelming and difficult to navigate. While others also have good content, they are just too stressful to read & keep up with. After stumbling upon your blog, I quickly became hooked because it was SO easy to read/navigate. Your blog actually is the only one I have ever religiously read – and the reasons above are pretty much why I became a daily follower. That’s not to take away from the great content and material published daily! Your twitter new post updates are equally nice because they are brief & to the point and include a short link. Anyways, totally love your blog! I’ve gotten my sis and friends to become daily readers!! Great work! 🙂
I just got mine redesigned last summer, but I am a freak and can’t stick to one thing for to long – I love when things change!
Very cool to look back at!! I’m a relatively new blogger so my blog design has been pretty much the same since the start with the exception of a few minor changes. But, I’m not completely happy with its look and have been trying to figure out how I want to alter it.
Also, your breakfasts the past few days have got me craving nectarines and peaches!
I’ve kept the same design, but the picture quality has improved immensely….
Cool! Its fun to look back! Ive been thinking of moving my site over to wordpress and changing the entire look (i’m craving a sleeker, calmer look) and even theme LOL. I started it with an idea but had to idea where writing would take me, and it’s turning out to be a bit different than I expected.
It is funny how your blog and your blogging life evolves? 🙂
This website Wayback Machine tool is neat! I have only been blogging since last August, which is actually longer than I thought, I guess. I haven’t changed my design, but I have tried to add components to the blog. I get overwhelmed by changing the site though – I am computer illiterate, but posts like this give me the encouragement to take the time to figure it out and make design changes!
I think it is common to take a while to find yourself. I really like how your site looks now. It is very sleek.