Just did a test run with Shapeshift.

0. Buy some BTC on an exchange. Apparently, if you are not already part of an exchange, buy some BTC on localbitcoins. They have an awesome guide here.

1. Create an address on MyEtherWallet.

1b. Go to https://www.myetherwallet.com/#generate-wallet

1c. Open up a text document. Type a password into the document. Save the document. Copy and Paste the password into the password field.

1d. Click Generate.

1e. Where you typed out password down, also save your address, private key (encrypted), private key (unencrypted.) Save it again.

1f. Download the encrypted and unencrypted .json files. Save these in the folder with your ether password document.

2. Go to Shapeshit.io. Select BTC on the left and ETHER on the right. Note the limit / minimums on the BTC side (right now they're Deposit Limit: 2.5285 BTC Minimum: 0.00012962 BTC).

3. Go back to MyEtherWallet (if you still have it open) or your text document and copy your ADDRESS. It should look like 0x7cb57b5a97eabe94205c07890be4c1ad31e486a8. Paste this address into the ETH side under "Your Payment Address". Include the 0x. Double check it. Check the "I agree to terms box". Click "START".

4. You will now have a DEPOSIT ADDRESS and a WITHDRAW ADDRESS. Take a screenshot of this page. Click the status button. Leave this open. Check the address again to make sure you control it and have all the information to that address (private key or .json and password.)

5. This is where I don't know what to do. I assume you somehow move your BTC from the exchange. You basically want to send whatever BTC you bought to the DEPOSIT ADDRESS shapeshit gave you.

6. Wait.

7. It should confirm. You can also look at https://etherchain.org/account/0x7cb57b5a97eabe94205c07890be4c1ad31e486a8 -- change the URL to be your address. At some point, Ether will appear there.

8. Remember that folder we made with the text document and json files? These should be kept in at least 2 places. I personally have them on my computer, on dropbox, on a flash drive at my parents house, and printed out here. I've got a lot of Ether though so I'm fucking paranoid as shit.

---

Original Comment:

As far as I can tell, the easiest way right now is to buy some BTC on an exchange (kraken or poloniex), then you use Shapeshift.io to change the Bitcoin into Ether. Correction: the easiest way is to buy bitcoins via localbitcoins.com. Create a new Ether wallet instantly using my awesome tool MyEtherWallet.com.

I believe mk walked others through it, maybe he can type up a step-by-step. I haven't bought since the presale. There are also a ton of reddit threads.

Save everything MyEtherWallet spits out at you (and shapeshift and the like) and keep it safely on your hard drive, in cloud storage (ie: dropbox), and physically on a piece of paper.

Wait a while, then sell, and buy a house.

I traded in all my BTC (save for a random donation link that still has like .02 BTC) in for Ether in August 2014 during the presale. I am a very happy camper these past couple days. So is my friend: