Help Please

Hey, everybody, I really liked how the designer of this banner blended the pics together and how he changed the color of the characters and the background in a realistic way like that. So I was wondering if you could tell me how I can change the characters on my banner and background like that and how I can blend like that. (I don't mean filling the background and such, I mean changing the background and characters, and blending and making it look realistic like that). Also, can you also tell me how to make crystals in any assorted sizes using photoshop. Thanks in advance.
www.anime-unleashed.com/top1.gif

The same answer we give EVERY time.... use layer masks, blending modes, and play with hue/saturation.

Sorry, guess I wasn't thinkin. Could you perhaps answer the crystal part of my question?

Indeed. That banner seems to draw a lot of attention.