How to Create Editable Blocks of Text for the Homepage?

You have multiple options here, depending on the amount of flexibility you want to give the editor of the text blocks.

1. Create a custom loop with WP_Query. See our examples and the Codex page for usage. Then you print the excerpts of the page these boxes are linked to.
   You can use attachments (images) and the full formatting here.

2. Use widgets. See our examples and the Codex page. Limited formatting because the visual editor doesn’t work too well in widget forms.

3. Use a custom navigation menu and print the description.

You can combine these methods: Use widgets for header and footer, WP_Query and page or post excerpts for the other boxes.