Sidebar Navigation Menu

Hi, I'm trying to make the only navigation menu for my website be in the sidebar, aligned to the left. As it's showing up now, the sidebar is a little bland. I would like for it to have graphics for the links, instead of just a plain-text link. If I could design a little button that says "About," instead of just the link, you know? I feel like this will involve making a child theme and doing some .css editing, but I'm a total newbie at all of this. Can anyone help me with this? For reference, the site is here: www.joemcgro.com Thanks!