President’s Day Sales

Here’s what Im spotting for President’s Day deals! I linked the best deal or my favorite piece for each sale as well! Scroll all the way down for a shoppable collage of images!! Happy President’s Day and also Russ’ b-day!

Anthropologie – extra 40% off sale! $150 off these outdoor chairs I’ve been eyeing.

Article – 100+ items discounted!

CB2 – Lots of new discounts, this pretty side table is their steepest at 50% off!

Cotton On – 30-50% off everything!

Free People – additional 25% off sale

H&M 30% off everything including sale!

Jcrew – 40% off. Swim anyone? Love this suit!

Gap hasn’t done this deal in ages 40% off EVERYTHING + 10% extra. Use both codes. It’s just been “up to” deals for months, stoked to see this! This striped wrap midi dress is an easy staple! Also perfect range of Spring colors on these sweatshirts. I wear a sweatshirt 3x a week so stocking up on these!

GoJane 50% off sitewide!

Madewell – Extra 30% off sale

Old Navy – 50% off storewide! This classic Anorak is a Springtime must!

Target – BOGO Swim // Spend $40 get $10 for clothing // Up to 25% off Home – eyeing these chairs and this geometric front bedside table!

Urban Outfitters – Flash Markdowns 50% off! 50% off Vans, this snakeskin boot too! // 30% off BDG Jeans which I love.

West Elm – 20% off everything + steeper discounts on things like rugs and lighting! This rug is 50% off and so on-trend.

 

metal dining table ideas

After a years long hunt turning up nothing we loved, Russ insisted on making our dining table. Trouble is, he hasn’t had a second to do it, so here we are 6 months moved-in and still no dining table. It’s totally fine and we’ve gotten away with it, but I am so excited to get this project started! Since he has made the shift toward fabrication (welding and metal work) of course he wants to have some metal elements with the table. Our kitchen is all really light wood, the floors are pretty light wood-look tile as well. So I’d love to bring some contrast in with color, and a new material. I’m leaning towards cement top with metal legs! As you’ll see metal legs can mean a million things. Thought I’d share my faves below! See if you can guess the one Russ and I agreed on!

Love this one with a thin cement top! I believe this is tempered glass here which is awesome, too! // Source

I love the wide look of this base. // Source

Metal Dining Table Inspiration

This rounded sheet metal is so rad and unexpected. I have a lot of round elements in the living room so it could go super nicely! // Source

Metal Dining Table Inspiration

Another sheet metal look. // Source

Interesting but still simple! // Source

A little heavy for our space, but so cool nonetheless! I think it would work best for an extra long 10+ footer! // Source

Close up of the legs!

Love love this one. Ive never seen anything like it and the materials are pretty inexpensive! // Source

Obsessed with this one. The mixture of materials is so glam! // Source

Closer look at the legs. If you wanted to warm it up, make it more modern farmhouse or scandinavian inspired would be rad with light wood and black metal.

Like this! Love the mix of wood and metal stacked. // Source

Very cool. If I did this with our space (7 foot table max) I’d just do the metal in one piece centered under the table top. // Source

Very cool angles! // Source

Love the weight and angles on this! // Source

Similar but with a live edge. // Source

The dimensions of our nook sadly don’t work for a circle table but this is incredible! // Source

Okay if you guessed #1 you’re right! I think it will be a great addition and play off the lines of the stair railing and be a great focal point as its one of the first things you see when you walk into the house!

you belong: valentine’s day

I talk about this A LOT on here because I know it’s so important! A sense of belonging in the home. Everything I’ve read shows that it’s the little things we do that create this. But that without it children can grow up with a myriad of emotional issues, even if there’s no presence of abuse or apparent neglect. A safe place to land, a consistent caregiver, and unconditional love are where it’s at! It’s not the fancy trips, or what toys they have or clothes they wear. Luckily it’s much easier than all that!

I know parents who are amazing at this, who have traditions coming out their ears and are always up to something fun as a family. Whether it’s a donut run on Saturdays or an (outside) flour fight when they make pies for Thanksgiving. A special birthday song, or a one on one trip when they hit a certain milestone.

Creating our own immediate family’s culture has taken a lot of work! Sometimes it feels like pressure and obligation and those are the moments I remind myself WHY we do this.

It’s made me hyper aware of what other parents do around us and I get so much inspiration from it! I guess the point of this intro is that I hope you know that these efforts do not go unnoticed by me, and to also keep up the amazing work!! Each small act of love weaves together this amazingly important environment that kids thrive in!

So this is the inspiration for the YOU BELONG series. In Alison’s Brand School she talks about how to create a successful brand, and without it seeming reductive — dare I say that a family has it’s own brand, too? And the trick to being successful according to her is to be consistent and then do something to occasionally delight. This is why I think Holidays are the perfect place to occasionally delight and our daily routines create the consistency kids thrive off of.

YOU BELONG: VALENTINE’S DAY

I’ll be sharing a few super easy things you can do in your home to occasionally delight each month! Just to get ideas rolling for my own self or hopefully to help or inspire you in your own homes.  If you have ideas of things you do in your homes for this holiday or any other, let me know I’d love to add them!

  1. LOVE LETTERS: Write a Valentine for each of your kids telling them all the amazing things you love about them. What you hope for them as they grow. A list of the funny things they’ve said the past year. I keep a note in my phone and anytime they say something good I drop it in! This printable is darling as well! A perfect yearly interview you could keep and watch them grow through the years!
  2. IN THE ROOM: You know you’ve succeeded when your kids wake up with a “Whoa!” and blowing up 10 balloons in their room is the easiest way to do that. Most people do this for birthdays, but I think you can get away with it any holiday you choose! Another fan favorite is covering their door with the rolls of crepe paper so they have to bust through it. The smiles on their faces is worth it, I promise!!
  3. ONCE A YEAR: Having something that kids only get, but can always expect once a year is why Christmas is so freaking fun. (And also the presents) Maybe it’s a special treat, a dinner out, a movie you watch just this one day a year.
  4. GET IT ON FILM: One thing I hear as a parental regret from friends (and myself) is that they wish they had more on video. Asking your kids questions about mom and dad’s love story, or just doing a little yearly interview is something they will cherish forever. My kids ask to watch family films at least once a week. My only tip is FILM HORIZONTALLY. You could also film your love letters to them! If you need ideas for questions, might I suggest our viral video. 😉

5.  COOKIE CUTTER: It might sound stupid, but having something as easy as a cookie cutter goes a long way! Cut out shapes for food. Trace paper for decor or cards. When you wake up the day of the holiday and realize you haven’t planned a thing, you can always make heart shaped toast. HA!

 

 

family culture

FRAME FAMILY – FRESH COURAGE TAKE

We are kind and gentle with ourselves and others.

We do not need to be perfect, but we always show up.

We are on the same team and we are each other’s biggest fans.

We respect ourselves and others and the belongings of ourselves and others.

We work hard and we clean up after ourselves.

Our best words are thank you, please, you’re welcome, I’m sorry and I love you.

We can always start over with each other. Have a do-over, or a reset.

Life should be fun and filled with laughter, and if we’re not having fun, let’s examine why.

We keep our agreements and we are honest.

We love and celebrate what makes us unique in our family and in the world.

We always listen to problem solving ideas.

We gift experiences over things.

Routine: We pray and study uplifting things together everyday. We have 1 hour to watch or play on our screens. We eat well balanced meals and take care of our bodies, and we eat as a family with all screens put away and turned off. We get plenty of sleep. We clean our own spaces each week and the spaces we share. We work for our money and privileges. We look for ways to help others and we wake up with fresh courage every single day.

Valentine’s Duds for Kids

GIRLS

BOYS

Amazon pulling through with some cool tees!

Queen of Hearts tee in a bunch of cool colors! // Emoji tee in unique colors so you can keep wearing it. // I love a random graphic and this Dino Tee is right up that alley. // PJs

Valentine's Duds for Kids

no candy valentines

It’s back! One of my favorite posts to work on all year! Each year since the beginning of Small Fry we’ve made printable Valentine’s and here are 5 more to add to the archives!

I got these toys either at Dollar Tree or Walmart and my main purpose with the style of the printable is that you don’t need colored ink, you can easily swap out whatever color paper you choose, and the dimensions are flexible so if you find a toy or treat that you like more you can typically make it work with the way these will print off!

  1. DIBS! Was this just a thing at my high school? If you’re with your group of friends and you saw a cute guy or girl you could say “Dibs!” to get a first shot at love before your vulture friends started in as well. You might strike out either way, but the head start was always appreciated! These little candies are actually markers from Walmart! // SIMILAR ONLINE: EtsyDibs! Valentine || No Candy Valentines Printables
  2. AWFULLY FOND OF YOU! Saw these darling rubber duckies and couldn’t stray too far from the classic Sesame Street song! Ducks via Walmart. ONLINE SIMILAR: Yellow Set // Tons of Options here via Oriental Trading!RUBBER DUCKIE valentine || No Candy Valentines Printables
  3. TKO – You voted here’s what won! These are Dollar Tree “Finger Fighters” and I didn’t want to unpackaged them because it helps illustrate what they actually do, so I opted for a tag. You could staple, tape, or glue dot these right on! Hayes chose this toy to give out to his school friends! // Buy them by the case here or individually in store!Total Knock Out Valentine || No Candy Valentine Printables
  4. OUT OF THIS WORLD! This one was Cal’s pick! Dollar Tree has the by the buckets full! Buy online in packs here!Alien Valentine || No Candy Valentine Printables
  5. COLOR MY WORLD! These colored pencils come in 5 packs at Walmart and each heart pulls off to reveal a new color!  BUY SIMILAR ONLINE: Heart Shaped // Crayon Balls Style // Standard Stacker // ErasersColorable Valentine || No Candy Valentines Printables

DOWNLOAD THE PRINTABLES BELOW! If you use these I’d love to see! We have our #smallfryDIY hash tag that I live for!

Favorite Super Bowl Food

3 SLAM DUNK RECIPES for your SUPER BOWL PARTY!

HAM AND CHEESE SLIDERS

Ham & Cheese Sliders

24 good white rolls
24 pieces good honey ham  (thick cut, not deli-style)
24 small slices swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip

{Poppy Seed Mustard sauce}

1 1/2 T. poppy seeds
1 1/2 T. yellow mustard
1 stick butter, melted
1 T. minced onion
1/2 tsp. worschestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayo & miracle whip. Spread into both halves of each roll. Place a slice of ham & a slice of swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls & place into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes, or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil & bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover & cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

SUPER NACHOS — Rachael Ray’s recipe and honestly the at home nachos I’ve ever had!

PICO DE GALLO SALSA
4 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped, for medium to hot heat level
1 small white onion, chopped
1⁄4 cup cilantro leaf, finely chopped

BEEF AND BEANS

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb ground sirloin
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1⁄2teaspoons dark chili powder
  • 1 1⁄2ground cumin, half a palmful
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper sauce, giving you medium to hot heat level
  • 1(14 ounce) can black beans, 15 ounces, drained
  • CHEESE SAUCE
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3⁄4lb monterey jack pepper cheese, shredded, about 2 1/2 cups
  1. Arrange a mixture of 2 varieties of corn chips on a very large platter or use your broiler pan as a platter.
  2. Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside for flavors to marry.
  3. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and sauté 2 minutes, then add meat and crumble with wooden spoon. Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper sauce. Cook meat 5 minutes, then stir in beans and reduce heat to low.
  4. In a medium sauce pot, melt butter and add flour to it. Cook flour and butter 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat, then whisk in milk. When milk comes to a bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove cheese sauce from the heat.
  5. Pour cheese sauce evenly over the massive spread of chips and top evenly with beef and beans and the pico de gallo. UBER NACHOS! Serve immediately as is or, garnish with your choice of extra toppings.

GREEN CHILE ARTICHOKE DIP — a fan favorite around here. My friends and family request this from me for all our parties! I love it with soft french bread or baguette.

Ingredients
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese room temperature
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
2/3 cups mozzarella cheese
2 (4 oz.) cans of hot or mild green chiles
1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts quartered

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayo and sour cream with a wooden spoon.
Mix in mozzarella, parmesan, and green chiles and artichoke
Bake for 30-35 minutes uncovered until bubbly and golden brown.

easy family game night

This post is a paid sponsorship by Goldfish® Crackers, but all opinions are my own.

It is so easy for me to slide into the after-school routine rut, to push through ’til bedtime and forget that there can be easy fun to be had!  Check out these Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish® Special Edition Disney Mickey Mouse Cheddar crackers!  Perfect to use for a family game night. We came up with a handful of minute or less games where all you need are some household items and, of course, your Goldfish crackers!Easy Family Game Night

Not only do these crackers add fun to our family game night, but they are delicious too! Baked with 100% real cheese, no artificial flavors or preservatives, and with color sourced from plants, these are a yummy snack you can feel good about serving your kids.

What I like about the timed games is that you can easily tailor the skill level for each kid. The game doesn’t have to change but, depending on their age, they have to complete it faster! We thought of a few games using Goldfish crackers and your everyday drinking straw.Easy Family Game Night

EASY GAME IDEAS

-Using a straw, suck up all the crackers in the bowl and transfer them to a new one!

-Goldfishing! Using a straw, blow your Goldfish cracker across the finish line faster than your opponent or under the time limit set for each age group.

Easy Family Game Night

-Hockey! Split your team by colors: yellow Goldfish and red Mickey crackers. Set up your field with equal numbers of crackers, either by randomly scattering or using strategy. The rule is simple: you can only pass through two opponents to get to the goal. Use a finger or straw to kick the ball through the pairings of opponents until you get to the goal!

Easy Family Game Night

-Stack-a-Mickey. Partner up and stack as many Mickey crackers as you can in the time limit. Just try not to laugh or wiggle!

Easy Family Game Night

We’re obsessed with these cute crackers and the reminder that mixing it up and having some family fun doesn’t have to take a ton of effort or planning! Got any other game ideas with easy household items? I’d love to add to our list!

FRYday

“Bring FRYday back!” was one of the more requested posts for this here blog and it makes my heart so happy that so many of you love it, too! Happy weekend to you all, here’s what’s been on my mind:

WATCHING: I am laughably late to the game, but I started Downton Abbey. Ha! Obsessed with the Dowager and I wouldn’t have made it this far without her, when you watch them all in a row it’s so depressing! It’s been such a calming thing to do to help me fall asleep at night when I normally get swallowed up in anxiousness.

I’m also on my annual January task of catching up for award season. Bohemian Rhapsody (loved it, bawled), Mary Queen of Scots (two powerhouse performances, people HATE how it isn’t historically accurate but I think it’s fun!) On the Basis Of Sex (about Ruth Bader Ginsberg) slow moving, but powerful and important to see really how far we’ve come in her lifetime. I always say I was born in the wrong era but I know now I for sure wasn’t. The inequality of the past is not for me, even if the fashion or music are. 😉  Greenbook, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Favorite, what should we see next?

READING: I took several months off reading to finish a religious text for my church. I had 6 audible credits which is unheard of for me. I cracked back in with my book club’s pick Maisie Dobbs. Truthfully bored and more than halfway through, but maybe Downton is the blame? It’s like a slower less action packed version of it with a supernatural twist with 1000+ 4 star reviews!!

LISTENING: Cold podcast. OOF!!! Steve Powell’s songs haunt my nightmares. // Music wise, on a big Cage the Elephant kick and putting any good music you hear from my Insta stories on THIS spotify playlist. Got any new bands for me?

WEARING: These blue light blocking glasses. // These super rad sneakers – Nike’s color pairings are so good with this style!! My two most ahead of the trend friends rock these and I shamelessly copied. // This hands down most perfect gloss ever created. // Russ and I have been sharing (I got him it for Christmas but he immediately was onto my scam!) this perfume Le Labo Noir 29 and I have never had more people stop me in my tracks to say I smelled amazing. Smells even better on him! // I increased my shopping budget from $0 to $50 which is VERY exciting. Pro Tip: Don’t buy a venue immediately after finishing a house when your husband hasn’t taken a paycheck in two years. Kapeesh?

ANTICIPATING: My sister is spoiling me for my birthday by inviting my fam to Newport Beach for a vacation next week. We leave on my birthday and I go straight to our dentist (Dr Winterton at South Coast!!) but I am praying for good weather while we’re there, mama needs some warm sunshine! Any new restaurants or fun to be had there?

ALT SUMMIT + ALISON’S BRAND SCHOOL!! Alison invited me to be a coach at her last workshop and honestly was so fulfilled by the whole thing. Helping people have breakthroughs personally in and in business and passing on whatever knowledge I’ve gleaned along the way. I loved it. I was thrilled to hear they wanted me back to coach at their workshop at Alt Oasis in March! It’s a 5 day Alt Summit in Palm Springs including amazing meals, parties, and swag not to mention access to amazing brands to strike partnerships with, and infinite education to be had. Then right in the middle of Alt, Alison is doing her workshop! I think the tools she gives are what is lacking about Alt so it’s such a great partnership! And the ticket for BOTH is $915 or $1200-$2400 for just a ticket to Alt by itself. NO BRAINER. Mention my name and maybe I’ll get you in my group!! I would love it so much.

Also working on something different to treat my anxiety, as well as my son’s. I feel like I’ve been on the phone with different doctor’s offices all week! It’s been so disappointing to realize that no matter what or who or where it’s about a 6 week wait. Breaks my heart for people out there who finally get the courage to look for help and then just have to wait for help or hope of relief for that much longer. Definitely an unfortunate aspect of our health care system here!

How’s that for a FRYday re-entry! Brain DUMP alert. Happy weekend friends!!

1.18.2019 share: 0
0
Tags:

#framefarme: pantry

This post has been sponsored by Mott’s. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Our two+ week holiday break is now over and as much as I loved the quality time with my big boys, my house is a wreck and I haven’t been able to check my emails in days. I am definitely ready for the routine and a little bit of down time to get back in the swing of things!

on-the-go SNACK TRAY

I’ve been tackling the organization of an area every week or so in the house. The pantry is a work in progress, but I get asked about it a lot so I wanted to share! I teamed up with Mott’s to share our beloved pantry and how I mapped it out to make it extra easy for my kids to be independent during lunch and snack time! You can grab both their Applesauce Pouches and their new Apple Juice Pouches at Dollar General, so you know it’s a steal!

On-the-go Snack Tray

In the planning stages of the house, I knew I wanted the pantry to be a galley style: long and skinny with 12 inch deep shelving running parallel. Makes it really hard to photograph, but you can catch the video footage on my Home Tour highlight on Instagram! It has an amazing door (a half door that connects the pantry with the garage, so you can get groceries right from the car to the pantry!), open shelving for pretty serving dishes and vases, and a kid art wall that helps my actual kitchen feel uncluttered but is still on display in a high traffic area.Pantry Organization

I invested in shallow shelves so nothing would get lost in the back or in corners! Corners are the biggest wasted space in my opinion, so we don’t have any! These bins are the perfect size, were $1 each, and I love that everything is uniform and pleasing to the eye since there isn’t a door on our pantry! The only things that don’t fit in the bins are bigger bags of chips or cereal boxes, so they get their own shelf.Pantry Organization

I did a whole kid-level shelf devoted to packing lunches so the kids could easily walk the aisle and pack most of their lunch (or grab an easy after-school snack) on their own! I always stock Mott’s Applesauce Pouches and Juice; they’re one of the few brands that ALL my kids will eat, so I feel like these purchases at Dollar General give me the most bang for my buck! And then, there are chips, nuts, cookies. I also have the snack tray in our fridge for fresh fruit, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, hummus and other dips, string cheese, and more!On-the-go Snack Tray

The boys get up around 7. They know that they have to be fully dressed for school, breakfast, teeth brushed, a morning spiritual thought with mom and dad, and (of course) lunch packed before they can watch TV. That seems to be all the motivation they need before the bus comes at 8:05! Once they take off, I pack my own snack tray — credit goes to Shannon of Clean Eats and Treats for the awesome idea! — that I take in the car (we’re about 20 minutes from any gas stations or grocery stores) so that we’re covered on the go, too!

On-the-go Snack TrayYou can find a Dollar General near you here. I love having one so close to me and am always sure to stop in for excellent deals on the brands we love like Mott’s!

  • Search Small Fry

  • Follow By Email

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

  • Archives