Is there any guidelines, tutorials, ebook that I can use to convert html/css into wordpress themes easily. What I am doing is making a copy of the default theme and from there, customize it thoroughly as I am not really a php wizard. Any help, suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks guys!
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You can't "convert" HTML into WordPress. The best you can do is recreate using the same colors, and graphics. You don't need to be a PHP wizard. Customizing a WordPress theme is all about knowing CSS and HTML. You only need to know PHP well if you are customizing functions or editing plug ins. Sometimes if you are changing a layout.
I agree that it isn't a huge job to convert HTML/CSS into a wordpress theme; I was able to pull it off and I am certainly no PHP wizard! I just used a few tutorials I found on Google, and I believe this was one of them. It's a pretty good guide: http://thethemefoundry.com/blog/html-wordpress/