2013 – Page 2 – Casa de Berry

2013, gifts, holiday

Gifts from Paper Source

November 20, 2013November 19, 2013by casadeberry3 Comments

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love Paper Source. I’ve framed a good number of their gift wrap and also used it for various crafts. During a recent visit to my local store, I made note of some items that would be lovely gifts:

Clockwise from top left, then center:

– I love this chevron paper, it has the requisite holiday red, but the green is a mossy shade and it also has gold – the perfect holiday palette.
– My oldest is always arguing with me about who loves who more, so I might get this frame and settle this argument once and for all 😀
– These holiday tea towels are a delightful pop of color for the season. Such an easy and relatively inexpensive way to change the decor in the kitchen.
– Gee, I sure wish that this adorable prism phone case also came in a Galaxy S4 size! It is a little frustrating to see about 90% of the cool styles be only for iPhones.
– This pale turquoise and gold frame is just gorgeous. I love how ornate it is, and at the same time it looks like it’s decades old. I have been lusting for it for months and might finally get it this holiday season.
– We’ve actually given this cutting board as a gift – it is perfect not just for the “obsessive chef”, but also for someone who is learning how to cook.
– For those of us caught up in the fox trend, here is a sweet set of glasses. Maybe to toast in the new year?
– And last but not least, some lovely Downton Abbey-themed tea. I’m still not over Lady Sybil (sob).

I can’t believe it’s already November 20. It seems I wait so long for summer to be over and then fall rushes through in a snap. It is only 5pm as I type this and it is already dark outside. How is your holiday shopping going?

2013, cats

A rescuer’s job is never done!

November 18, 2013November 17, 2013by casadeberry2 Comments

This past week we’ve seen a couple of tiny, maybe month-old, kittens running from our front yard into the side yard. I started leaving out food and Steve and I got worried that with the cold nights, the wee babies might not make it.

Steve ended up setting up the trap and catching the mama cat, who is beautiful, but very, very skinny:

We thought there were three babies, but it turns out there were five. By noon on Sunday we had caught four of them, but the last one proved elusive. We left a thick blanket on top of both the trap and carrier and made the carrier (with the babies inside) face the trap so mama could see her little ones.

Just look at those sweet faces!!! But don’t be fooled, these little ones are totally feral. One of them got Steve’s hand pretty good and one I held kept trying to bite me the whole time. But so damn cute!

I bought wet food and gave mama and babies food and water, which they made disappear right away. I caught the last baby Sunday afternoon and put him with his siblings, where they engaged in all sorts of climbing shenanigans. We put mama in with her little ones so she might nurse now that she’d had food and water. I plan on taking the whole family to the shelter on Monday so they can get check-ups and socialized a bit before they get adopted.

Both our cats, Bernie and Willie-Boo, and our dog Foxy, are rescues, and we plan on getting any future pets from shelters as well. I hope this mama and her babies find good homes, they are all beautiful so I am sure they will be adopted soon!

2013, autumn, dining room

Sweet Vintage-style table setting

November 15, 2013November 14, 2013by casadeberry2 Comments

I was going through my fabric stash the other day and I came across a couple of pieces that I thought would look great together, so I set up a quick little vintage-style table.

I love the small pumpkins we got at the patch last month, we each get one pumpkin, but my choice was the 4/$1 deal on the little ones 😀

We had a mishap last holiday season and lost half of our dishes. Steve had had them since before we met so we decided to donate the rest and get some new ones at IKEA. We chose cream and brown so we can mix and match.

I love that I have a brand new palette for my table setting and I didn’t have to spend any money on it!!

2013, about me, birthdays, fashion, foxy, november

42

November 13, 2013by casadeberry10 Comments

This is how old I am now. I’ve been 42 for a couple of days now, since 11.12.13 😀

November 12 happens to be a popular date for births in our family. My sister was born that day as well, although on a different year. My cousin was also born on that date and so was a cousin-by-marriage.

My latest birthday started wonderfully, with some presents and my three men singing Happy Birthday to me. My sons happened to have the day off because of school conferences so it was a very lazy day, spent mostly in pajamas, except when I decided to try on my gifts:

My husband got me a beautiful fedora and an adorable fox sweater. Because yes, I am totally into the whole fox trend. I also used some of my birthday money to get these sweet fox earrings, although mostly because my dog’s name is Foxy. The day ended with our cousins watching the boys so Steve and I could go out to dinner, which was paid for by my mother-in-law, who kindly gave me a restaurant gift card. Sa-weet!!!

I have to say that I am a very lucky girl. I have a wonderful family, sweet friends, I get to stay home with my monkeys, I am over the plague we all had (except for the cough, but I can live with that) and I hope the rest of my 42nd year is as wonderful as the first few days have been!

2013, costume, craft, halloween, husband

Labor of Love

November 1, 2013by casadeberry21 Comments

Because, in the end, that’s what it was.

My husband Steve has been making costumes, piñatas, and cakes for his boys for the past few years. I figure we are close to the time when our kids, or at least our oldest, won’t want a homemade costume any more. Maybe that won’t happen, but I will always remind my kids that the endless hours spent in the garage, the numerous trips to Home Depot or Lowe’s to replace a dead part or buy more X-Acto blades, was all worth it the moment they saw their costume and the smile reached all the way up to their eyes.

Credit goes mostly to Steve, of course, who is given a challenge and decides to knock it out of the park, but to the people that help in different ways – Gran, who came over and painted and glued and kept Steve company until 4 in the morning one night. Grandpa, who goes to every school parade to cheer on his grandsons, and who helps them get ready in the classroom.

Yeah. By the way, those are penlights 😀

Our boy at his school parade:

Side and back views of Gipsy Danger:

(by the way, our son’s sweetheart is somewhere on these pics, but I didn’t tell you that – sshhhhhh!)

Steve also made the call to go to Aidan’s karate studio party in the afternoon. He was desperately wanting sleep but Aidan was very excited about going, so daddy went, too:

My friend J’s daughter and Gipsy Danger had a lot to discuss:

There was a costume contest, and my boy posed and flexed for the judges.

There was a little drama around trick-o-treating time, but all was well in the end, and now my dining room table is full of Gipsy Danger parts. We’ll save the head, of course, for our (someday) Hall of Fame. Aidan loves the gloves he wore as part of the costume so those are being worn today 😀

My husband’s dedication to making our boys’ lives magical is definitely something I am thankful for.

2013, costume, halloween, husband

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2013by casadeberryLeave a Comment

Steve worked his magic one more time and has created an amazing costume for our oldest. He wanted to be Gipsy Danger, from the movie Pacific Rim, so in a few hours this Jaeger will be patrolling the school. And later he’ll be asking for candy 😀

Happy Halloween, everyone! More pics later.

2013, costume, craft, halloween, husband

More costume progress pics!

October 29, 2013October 28, 2013by casadeberryLeave a Comment

Or, as I wanted to title this post, “I used to have a green bowl”

But it was meant for a greater destiny

Steve has been coming home after long hours at work, and then putting in long hours into making this costume for our oldest:

His mom has been helping him, and we went paint shopping yesterday:

Our boy has been very patient trying things on:

Again and again

Now, if you saw the movie you’ll probably recognize the costume. Otherwise, you’ll have to be told what it is, like I was 😀

Two more days, people!

2013, books, giveaway

Outlander winner!

October 28, 2013October 28, 2013by casadeberry1 Comment

Congratulations to comment number:

redpoppy94 – you are the winner of the Outlander book, it will be delivered shortly!

2013, books, giveaway

Outlander giveaway!

October 21, 2013October 20, 2013by casadeberry5 Comments

One of my all-time favorite books is being made into a series. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon, is only the first on an ongoing saga that includes romance, time-travel, historical fiction, etc. It is a wonderful story and this week I am giving away a copy so that the lucky winner can catch up before the series is broadcast next year.

Diana herself gives us a synopsys on her site: “In 1946, after WWII, a young Englishwoman named Claire Beauchamp Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband, Frank. She’s an ex-combat nurse, he’s been in the army as well, they’ve been separated for the last six years, and this is a second honeymoon; they’re getting re-acquainted with each other, thinking of starting a family. But one day Claire goes out walking by herself, and comes across a circle of standing stones—such circles are in fact common all over northern Britain. She walks through a cleft stone in the circle….and disappears. Back into 1743, where the first person she meets is a gentleman in an 18th-century army officer’s uniform. This gentleman, Jack Randall, looks just like her husband Frank—and proves to be Frank’s six-times-great-grandfather. Unfortunately, he also proves to be a sadistic bisexual pervert, and while trying to escape from him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Highland Scots, who are also trying to get away from Black Jack Randall—though for other reasons.

In order to avoid being handed over to Captain Randall, Claire is obliged to marry one of the young clansmen. So she finds herself trying to escape from Castle Leoch and her Scottish captors, trying to get back to her husband Frank, trying to avoid being recaptured by Captain Randall—and falling in love with Jamie Fraser, the young man she’s been forced to marry. The story rolls on from there…”

Would you like to win your very own copy of Outlander? The only rule you MUST follow is:

1 – Leave a comment on this post, I’d love to know what kind of stuff you like to read, but if you just want to say “I want to win!” that is okay, too 😀

For extra entries, you can:

2 – Follow me on Facebook, and let me know in a separate comment.
3 – Subscribe to my RSS feed, and let me know in a separate comment.
4 – Follow me on Twitter, and let me know in a separate comment.
5 – Follow me on Instagram, and, yeah, you guessed it! let me know in a separate comment.

Y’all have until October 27 to enter, I will announce the lucky winner on Monday, October 28.

Good luck!!!

2013, boys, costume, craft, halloween, husband

The guessing game begins

October 16, 2013October 15, 2013by casadeberry3 Comments

My husband has started work on our oldest’s Halloween costume. It is pretty darn awesome so far – here’s a (tiny) sneak peek!

Here are a few of the costumes we have made in the past:

Aidan as Drago from Bakugan

Alex as Wubbzy

Alex as Godzilla

Aidan as the Xenomorph from Alien

Most of the work here is Steve’s. I sewed the wings for Drago and made the Wubbzy outfit while Steve painted the face on it and shaped the tail. Everything else was done 100% by him. Long hours of work, lots of attention to detail, lots of love for his sons to have a great costume. Most of the time he stays up the night before Halloween to make sure every detail is perfect, and then gets rewarded by the boys’ excitement in wearing their fab costumes at their school parades.

It has worked so far that whenever one of our boys wants a homemade costume, the other wants a store-bought one, so when Alex was Godzilla, Aidan was Captain America. Last year Alex wanted to be a monkey so we got his costume from Old Navy. This year, he wants to be a monkey again, which makes it easier on Steve 😀

I’ll be posting more sneak peeks of Aidan’s costume as progress is made!