cool sites and free downloads

It’s the start of another month!  August–my birthday month-has officially made it’s debut…and it’s going to be a hot one.  I’m so excited for my birthday this year because my sweet sister-in-law is taking me to see Mumford & Sons in concert!  Last year I got tickets to see Adele from my parents and this year Mumford…I’m loving this concert ticket birthday streak.  Here’s a picture of the tickets.  Pretty cool, huh?

Since the whole announcement that Facebook was buying Instagram was announced, Instagram has had a huge re-emergence.  I admit, the news made me download it.  And I’m glad I did, because I love it!  If you’ve ever thought that you’d like to have a way to display all of those cool shots you upload on your phone, you’ll want to check this out.  Printstagram is a website that takes your images from Instagram and puts them into mini photo books, posters, and prints like these…

Prices are around $10-$12. Definitely worth it for a keepsake of all those little memories.

And, since it’s the start of another month, we can’t forget about the desktop wallpapers from Smashing Magazine.  Here’s a preview…

Have you been watching the Olympics?  My husband is DVRing the entire thing!…got a lot to catch-up on but I love to see USA doing so awesome.  Makes me proud.

Happy August 1st everyone!

diy dreamin’

Even though I haven’t done a personal DIY for you in a while, I thought I’d share some cute DIYs I’ve found!  This first is from Apartment Therapy…

If you’re planning to have any kind of outdoor party soon (or maybe even in the Fall), you’ll want to remember this cute DIY from A Subtle Revelry

And this last one isn’t necessarily a step-by-step  DIY, but it’s so easy, you don’t really need steps.

The only steps would be to take an exisiting picture frame and attach it to a painted board.  You’d have to add hooks if you wanted to hang it but you could also lean the boards somewhere. I would also suggest using some sort of heavy duty velcro strips to attach the frame to the board so that you could change out the picture if you wanted to.

Super cute and so easy!

saturday smash-up

I’ve got lots of fun stuff to share today!  It’s the beginning of another month so there’s lots of freebies!

Smashing Magazine has it’s latest desktop wallpaper/calendars!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Ez posted her July printable calendar.  Download it here.

and now for some Pinterest fun!  I tried a couple of recipes that I found on Pinterest last week…

This was awesome!  It was super easy, healthy, and tasty!  I would definitely recommend it.

This was terrible.  It took forever and the strawberries did NOT turn out like the picture.  They were brownish and only partially dried–they tasted ok but it definitely wasn’t anything I’d be interested in trying again.

What are some of your favorite recipe finds from Pinterest?

and this is one of my recent favorite Pinterest finds-Bandaid Friction block.  $8.49 at CVS and totally worth it!  Works like a charm!

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

all women stalk

I admit it.  I am beauty-skill impaired.  I can’t ever get my hair to do anything “really cute” and my make-up application is what you would call “routine.”  Enter All Women Stalk.

I found this sight through Pinterest (of course!) and fell in love!  What better resource for a girl who has 4 hairstyles and basic make-up application skills.  There are all sorts of useful tips and tricks.  Here’s screen shot of the home page:

 

Aside from make-up and beauty tips, there are travel tips, workout regimens (body specific and target area specific), fashion finds, DIY projects, relationship advice, gift ideas, and book lists.  You (and I) could spend hours reading through all of the articles.  So head on over and check it out.

  Be sure to pace yourself, though.  You could get sucked-in if you’re not careful!

Have fun!

special surprises

I have been blogging for over two years now.  It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure.  From starting with lots of inspiration to actually growing my blog to have it’s own little following and then opening my shop, I’ve had lots and lots of learning experiences.  For a long time, I was almost obsessed with comparing Everyday Clever to other blogs {other much more “mature” and established blogs}–I constantly got “blog envy” and felt that my blog was lacking.  Recently, life-changes have forced me to put things on a bit of a “slow-down.”  Unlike many pro-bloggers, I am not a stay-at-home mom and my blog is not my business–it’s my hobby.  I need the stability of an outside job because I have to bring in a certain amount of incomes.  This is fine, it’s where God has placed me right now {and, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy what I do}, but things with work have been quite busy {not complaining}, and I’ve had to prioritize.

Unfortunately, my blog has been lowered on the totem pole of priorities.  It makes me sad, because I love having a creative outlet and motivation to try new projects and share new ideas, but I know that it’s sort-of a must right now.  With all of that being said, I had felt a little like all of the work I’ve put into my blog over the past 2 years was starting to waste away and that things were slowly on the decline, until this week.

This week, for the first time ever, I received a special surprise from a fellow blogger–Reni @ Bliss and Tell.  The gift wasn’t huge, but it was so cute and really gave me some renewed feelings about the future of Everyday Clever.

Reni designed my oh-so-beautiful business cards a few months ago, after I won the giveaway Jami was hosting at Freckled Laundry.  She’s a creative spirit herself and does a great job marketing herself and her business.  This week, she sent me this little packet of gift tags that are absolutely adorable!

While my posts are not as frequent as they used to be, I have no intention of giving up on this little blog.  Even if no one reads it, it has become an important part of my life and despite life changes and financial duties, I plan to keep it going.  Reni’s {small but thoughtful} gift made me realize that connections with other women and the ability to share creative ideas and inspiration… and life-experiences {struggles, victories, and everything in between} matters to me.

I hope it matters to you to and that you’ll keep reading.

Thanks, Reni!