How do I do these things...

[enginestar]

Need some advice on some things...

- I want to bend a layer. Not sure what to click and best way to do.
I've clicked around but cant see anything to bend. I can change perspective, but that doesnt do what I want.

- To an existing image... add a white strip, add a shadow around the white strip, then add text on top of the white layer.
I kinda got this figured I think, but wanted to know the best recommended way

Thanks.

[Ofnuts]

1) Try Filters > Distorts >Curve bend. But if it's the text layer see https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-ofn-bend-path

2)

1. create the text layer (because you don't know the size of the rest until you have done that)
   
2. add a white layer, crop it around the text (crop tool or selection+Select>Invert+[delete]
   
3. Filters>Light and Shadow>Drop shadow
   

[gramp]

...and this reference to a script mentioned in an July 2013 post of Ofnuts' I just came from on the old dead dessicating gimpforums.com which transforms a panoramic image into a ring (the region between two radii on a circle):

http://registry.gimp.org/node/20869

You could maybe examine it to see if you could modify it to fit to another geometrically describable figure. (I was actually wondering if it would be possible to just, ignorantly, "copy" a rectangular figure, line-by-line, top-to-bottom, squeezing individual lines down as necessary to "fit" the lines of an arbitrary shape, line-by-line, top-to-bottom.)

[Espermaschine]

All those questions are meaningless anyway, when OP cant be bothered to give a meaningful description of what he/she wants to do or give timely feedback.
Bend layer ? Let the guessing games begin.