How To - Make a Custom Header

First impressions matter, and no matter how good your content may be the design and appearance of your blog is just as important. One of the first aspects people notice is your header, as after all it is usually what is placed at the very top of your blog.
I strongly recommend creating a custom header to use instead of the header and description that will appear in a plain font if written in blogger.
First things first you will need a platform or program to create your header and I suggest using Picmonkey - a free and very easy to use photo editing website.

Once in Picmonkey you will click on 'Create a collage' which will bring you to a page that looks like this:

From here you will be able to change the width and height of your header using the dimensions at the bottom of your screen, upload photos to use on your header using the images tab, choose from different layouts in the layouts tab, use swatches for backgrounds in the swatches tab, and change details of spacing between layouts in the background tab. 
I suggest having a play around with these different options and finding the ones that work for you. Below I have created a collage using one layout,keeping all backgrounds white and at dimensions of 950 x 250.
I like to play it safe and use the width which is the same as the width of my blog.

Now it's time to begin designing your header and so you will click the 'Edit' button which will take you directly to the Picmonkey Editor.

Along the left side there are a number of tabs which allow you to do and create different things. Again, having a play around with these will allow you to discover what Picmonkey offers and what you would like to incorporate (in this case) into your header.

I have clicked on the 'P' tab which is where you can add text to your collage. As you can see I have chosen the 'Sue Ellen Francisco' font to write part of my header. A text dialogue box will appear where you can adjust the colour, colour intensity, size and other smaller details of your written text.

Using the same font I have then written the next part of my header with the only difference being in the colour black #000000 and in a smaller size. I suggest your header be the name of your blog so to not cause any confusion for your readers.

I have then clicked on the 'Overlays' tab which includes numerous shapes and objects to add to your collage. Specifically, under 'Geometric' I used a rectangle and triangle and under 'Hearts' I used a heart. Employing these shapes I created an almost key-like design and changed the colour to match 'ALLURE' and sent the objects behind the 'BLOGGER DESIGN' text by right clicking and choosing 'send to back'. I then tweaked the header by making my objects a little larger and aligning them to my liking. 
At this stage, you will save your header by clicking the 'Save' button on the top of the screen. Once saved to your computer you will need to upload the header into blogger.

You'll need to click on 'Layout' in the left side tabs and then click on 'Edit' on your header module.

This will open a window shown above where you will click 'Choose File' and choose the image you saved from Picmonkey. I would suggest then opting for the 'Instead of title and description' option as your placement, otherwise the plain font which blogger automatically produces for your header and description might still be noticeable.
Important: Make sure the 'Shrink to fit' box is unclicked as when I have tried shrinking images in the past they can at times become quite distorted. Press 'Save'.
The Configure Header window will close and you will have the chance to preview your custom header by pressing the 'Preview' button in the top right of the 'Layout' dashboard. If you are happy with your creation don't forgot to press 'Save arrangement'.

You will now see your customised header in action! 
There are certainly many additional programs and platforms which you can make your header on, however I find Picmonkey to be the most simplest of them all and suits my needs just fine.
The only other thing that you may be wondering is how to remove the white background on your header which will not match the white background of your blog. For some reason even if both colours are a complete #ffffff match you will see a difference. If your header background is not white you don't have a problem, however if it is and you would like to make it transparent I will be uploading a separate tutorial for this - which will require Gimp (a free photo editing program you can download from the internet).
I have done this on my header and as you can see the colours now match up. If you tilt your computer/laptop screen you will be able to see the outline of the rectangle header however this is as best as I can achieve.
I hope this provided you with some help in creating a header for your blog. Stay tuned for a step by step tutorial on how to remove that pesky white background.
Happy blogging! xox