Easter Centerpiece

If you're looking for something fun to do with all those Easter eggs you've dyed and decorated, Mr Printables has a cute diy: egg sculpture centerpieces.

How cute is that? I think it would be a great activity to keep kids busy too, especially if you're expecting rain tomorrow, as we are in DC.

I personally am looking forward to Monday, as that's when all the Easter candy goes on sale. ;)

Happy Friday + Random Questions

The random questions game is always fun, especially when you have photos to post but your eyes are so tired you can't possibly edit one more photo.

What's the furthest you've ever been on holiday?
The person who wrote these questions must be British. Well, I'm no geography whiz, but I guess maybe Italy? That's probably the furthest east I've been in Europe.

Have you ever been canoeing/kayaking?
Canoeing, yes, many times growing up. It's not my scene.

Can you tap dance?
I wish. I took tap dancing when I was little and loved it, but for some reason as I got older I just stuck with ballet. I can still do shuffle ball change and other really basic steps.

Are you a good writer?
I used to be a really good writer, but I don't know anymore. I'm out of practice.

Do you prefer shopping on high street or online?
Online, I guess. I actually like browsing in little shops and boutiques, but I loathe shopping malls. Actually, sometimes I hate going in boutiques too because the staff always latch onto me and try to be too helpful, i.e., won't leave me alone. I prefer to go into stores with Peter because he is a self-described people-repeller, and I'm much more likely to be able to shop in peace.

Have you ever milked a cow?
Haha. No.

What's your favorite type of fish?
I'm fish-neutral. Wait, no, I pick Nemo.

Are you a good aim with a rubber band?
Yes, actually, deadly accurate, and it has come in handy on more than one occasion. Haha.

Is there anything you wish would come back in fashion?
Yes, I wish people still wore fancy hats all the time, or at least when dressed up.


(Click on image to go to source.)

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
You probably already know the answer to this one: introvert.

Have you ever been horse riding?
Yes, when I was younger I had friends with horses. I tried riding a few times when I was 9 or 10. I didn't really like it. I do think horses are really pretty though; I just have no desire to ever ride them again.

Have you ever been in a fight?
Only with siblings. I'm a pacifist at heart but growing up in my house was often every man for himself.

What was the last thing that made you smile/happy?
Hmm, probably when I talked to my niece last. She's in first grade. She told me all about the boy she has a crush on. I asked her why she liked him, and she said, "Um, because he's really cute and weird." She went on for a while and then said, "Ok, also, I love you," and then handed the phone back to my brother.

Which foreign language did you learn at school?
French, but it's been a very long time...not sure how much I remember.

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?
No. I've ridden a vespa, but I guess scooters aren't motorcycles.

Could you go out with someone who had a child from a previous relationship?
Hard for me to imagine myself in that situation, but I guess?

Who is the most intelligent person you know?
Too hard to choose. I've known some super smart people in my time.

Have you ever flown first class?
No. But once my brother and I got bumped up to business class on a flight from New York, and that was nice. The flight attendant brought us hot towels and my brother was like whispering to me, "WTF am I supposed to do with this?" It was heavenly to have extra leg room though.

Have you ever bought a present for someone that they hated/disliked?
I don't think so. I guess most people probably wouldn't tell you if they didn't like the gift you gave them, but I have a pretty good track record of finding special or fitting gifts for family/friends. I tend to remember things that people say they like or want and then try to find that thing when the occasion warrants.

Have you ever played golf?
No, not unless you count putt-putt. I can't imagine a scenario where I would ever play. It's so expensive to play, and I couldn't be less interested.

Hope you guys have a great weekend! xo, Mary

More New Prints + Free Shipping

I found out that Society6 is offering free shipping worldwide through Sunday and thought it would be a good time to share new prints. I've added about 15 more prints to my shop, some of which are also offered as phone cases, pillows, etc.

Here are a few that I've added recently:

Also, I just wanted to mention that it's not too late to sign up for the May Day swap if you haven't already. I've been brainstorming crafty ideas, and I can't wait to see what others make too.

Flickr Favorites

(Click on images to go directly to sources.)

May Day Swap

My friend Dawn emailed me a couple of weeks ago with the awesome idea of organizing a May Day swap. As it's the first official day of Spring--cold temps be damned, it will be Spring!--we thought today would be an excellent time to announce it.

Most people have probably participated in some sort of May Day festival before, usually involving flowers and treats or possibly even dancing around a maypole. There won't be any dancing required this time...unless you want there to be, then by all means. We just thought it would be fun to celebrate spring and the arrival of warm weather. (God it feels like winter has lasted forever this year, doesn't it? I probably say that every year.)

What kinds of things are we swapping? Well, anything that says "spring." You could send a card, treats, paper flowers, a small bunny rabbit, baby chicks...you get the idea. And it doesn't have to be handmade, though that would be nice (I know some folks are really busy right now, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't also get and give something pretty.)

So please sign up!

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Dawn was nice enough to type out all the details (which I'm not gonna lie, I'm just copying and pasting since I'm writing this at 1 am).

Please email Dawn at d.marie755@gmail.com with the subject line SPRINGTIME SWAP.

In the email, include:
1. Your mailing address.
2. Your shipping preference (domestic or international).
3. If you have one, a link to your blog, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Remember, anyone can join the swap, so don’t hesitate to join if you don’t have a personal site.

The last day to sign up for the swap is April 1.

Everyone will receive, by April 5, an email with partner information. The entire month of April is then devoted to sending and receiving packages! (Just be sure to mail them in time so they arrive by May Day.) 

The “swap” is actually a round robin, so you will mail a package to one person, but receive a gift from another! The springtime packages can be purchased or created, vintage or handmade. They can be whatever you would like them to be … but they shouldn’t cost more than $10. Include a jar of honey or jam from the farmers market. Add some dried flowers or a vintage postcard depicting a warm-weather picnic.

Lastly, and most importantly, have fun! Enjoy getting to know two additional bloggers during the hopeful promises of spring. And be sure to snap a photo or two of the package you receive, unravel and open. Come May 1, there will be a showcase of everyone’s gifts!
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If anyone has any questions, feel free to leave me a comment. Oh and feel free to grab that button on the sidebar to help spread the word.
xoxo, Mary

Scenes from Life

In case your Monday has gotten off to a rough start, I thought I'd share a few nice things. Our weekend was mostly filled with rain, taxes, laundry, errands...all the things that make me want to crawl under the covers and not come out. But it's precisely those things that make me work a little harder to notice nice things too. They're happening all the time, you know.

Rows of houses.

Stay gold, Ponyboy.

Birds nesting in this wall, peeking their heads out to call to each other.

More birds in this alley, and things starting to bloom.

Paw prints in the sidewalk.

A pretty window.

Stained glass patterns.

And if none of that made you smile, it's clearly a serious case, which can only be helped by this.

Happy Friday

Let's play the random question game, shall we? It's Friday!

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Blue Green

What is the last photo you took?
This one, on my phone.


Summer or winter?
Neither really. Both are pretty miserable in DC.

Favorite smell?
Rosemary mint shampoo by Aveda (because it reminds me of a time in my life when I used it all the time), honeysuckle (again, sense memory-related...reminds me of childhood), chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, clean sheets.

Do you have a special talent?
I'm really good at making wastepaper baskets, procrastinating, daydreaming, and coloring.

Would you bungee jump?
Possibly, in some future scenario where I'd lost my will to live and/or had a lobotomy.

What's the last movie you watched?
Safety Not Guaranteed. I liked it a lot.

Computer, television, or book?
This is a hard one. A few years ago, I would've said book without hesitating, but now I rely on the computer so much for my shops, and well, everything. So I guess I'd say computer.

What was the last thing you ate?
Blueberry yogurt for breakfast. And coffee.

Who do you miss the most?
Too many people. I guess my niece and nephews.

Are you named after anyone?
Yes, my great aunt.

If you were another person, would you be friends with yourself?
Sigh. Who writes these questions anyway. I guess that would depend on what type of person I was.

Would you adopt if you couldn't have kids naturally?
Assuming I wanted kids, of course.

If you had a free plane ticket, where would you go?
Probably back to London. Or maybe Copenhagen.

Who was the last person who called you?
Peter. Missed call. Wonder what he wanted.

What is the funniest thing you've seen recently?
Parks and Rec last night. It was hilarious.

Do you know all the words to The Fresh Prince theme song?
Hahaha. And yes, obviously.

What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator?
I have been stuck in an elevator. And I alternated between being completely panicked and completely bored. And then panicked again.

Would you rather take the photo or be in the photo?
You already know the answer to that one.

If you could hire someone to do something for you, what would it be?
I don't know, maybe run to the post office for me or other time-consuming errands. A driver would be nice too because I'd never again have to circle the block five times looking for a parking space.

And now puppies, just because.

(Click photo to go directly to source.)

Scenes from Life

It's been forever since I did a scenes from life post. I guess the Instagram wrap-ups are sort of the same thing, but I do still take photos with real cameras, I promise.

These photos are all from last weekend. We had nice weather on both days, and in between working on my shops and boring chore-type activities, Peter and I actually got outside! To see actual sunlight and trees and stuff. On both days!

Saturday, we went to my favorite garden down the street, where nothing is really blooming yet, but it was still very pretty. And there were lots of cute dogs and toddlers and all that good stuff. (No pictures of the dogs or toddlers. I always really want to take photos, especially when those two things collide, as they did last Saturday, but I'm not sure if that's a creepy thing to do...taking photos of other people's children? There was a hilarious encounter between a little Asian boy and a Shih Tzu. Also, a little kid riding a tricycle got stuck in a small dip in the pavement and just looked around and no one helped him out. It was kind of hilarious and cute and sad all at the same time.) Anyway, on to pretty pictures.

Turtles looking up at me. I think I might have been interrupting some sort of mating ritual actually. Haha.

On Sunday, we went down by the water, and by water I mean the Potomac River, which is just a few minutes away.

Boats on the water.

Boats not on the water.

Little boats.

Big boats.

People seem to really like green and red when it comes to boats. And blue too.

I love ducks.

There were lots of gulls out too.

Pretty sure this gull was getting ready to dive bomb this sailboat.

 I don't know what these trees are called with the white bark, but they sure are pretty.

Ok, I actually took more photos, but I think I'll stop there. I'm sure you were all enthralled with my caption-writing skills.

xo, Mary

New Prints!

I have good news for those of you who've inquired now and again if I would ever sell prints in my Etsy shop. Well, I'm still ironing out the kinks with the print lab to offer them on Etsy. But in the mean time, I decided to open a society6 shop called, what else, myhideaway!

I've added 11 photographs so far. Here's a little peek:

The great thing about society6 is that they can print really big sizes: all of my prints are offered up to 40" by 28"! And they can also do things like framed prints in all sizes, gallery-wrapped canvases, pillows, phone cases, and more. (I think I'm going to order that pastel sky photo on a phone case for myself! It looks so dreamy and better than I could have hoped.)

And I have a special link for special peeps to get free shipping on all my prints worldwide until March 17! (It only works if you click that link.) Feel free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

Also, if you're on society6, let me know! I'd love to follow and heart.

I'm working on more prints and will keep you guys posted. Hope your week is off to a great start. xo, Mary

The Birds

It's been forever since I did a shop update, so I thought I'd do a quick post with a few things I've added to My Hideaway lately.

Three pretty birds all in a row. I love making these colorful creatures, and I expect I'll probably make a few more before I move on to something else.

What have you been making lately?

Dining Room

Several people have contacted me with questions about our new dining table and chairs, so I thought I'd do a post for those who are curious.

The table is the dylan dining table from CB2, designed by Jonas Wahlstrom. It is really beautiful in person, and somehow manages to be rustic and modern, warm and industrial, all at the same time.

We love the architectural lines of the iron base, which might look black in these photos, but is actually powder-coated graphite.

The table top is made of sheesham wood (also known as Indian Rosewood) and the wood grain is gorgeous. There are striations of color which vary from a warm reddish brown to caramel to almost blond, and there are dark knots in the grain here and there as well.

We looked for a long time before deciding on this table. We both loved it instantly, but the price was $999. That was too much money for us to spend on one piece, so we kept looking. But every other table paled in comparison, so we waited patiently (and sometimes, not so patiently) and finally, CB2 had a sale. We also had a discount code, and when we realized that if we combined the two, the table would be 30% off plus free delivery, we went for it. Even with the discount, that was a huge chunk of change for us, and we knew it would mean waiting a while before we could purchase more furniture. But it was totally worth it; we couldn't be happier with the table.

We bought the chairs from a local vintage shop. They were designed by Folke Pålsson for FDB Mobler in Denmark in the 1960s. Despite their age, the chairs are in great condition (with a few minor spots here and there from being "well-loved") and they are sturdy as well. Also, they are really comfortable. Initially, I didn't want a solid wood chair because I've never found one to be comfortable to sit in for more than a few minutes. But these are about as comfortable as wooden chairs can be. We will probably buy removable seat pads in a neutral color to use when we have company, but the rest of the time just leave them as is. (And I should note, I am not one of those people who buys vintage just for the sake of buying vintage, if the piece of furniture is useless and uncomfortable.)

Again, we looked for a really long time before finding these chairs, but I'm so happy we did. The tone of the teak wood and the clean lines go well with the table. Danish furniture and design company Hay relaunched this chair (known as the J77) in 2011 with a few small changes. The shape appears to be pretty much the same, only the modern version is made of beech instead of teak, and they come painted in red, grey, white, or black, or natural beech.

Also, if anyone's curious, the footed serving dish I'm using as a centerpiece at the moment is vintage Dansk. You can find similar dishes often on Etsy.

We still have a lot to do in this room. We will be painting the walls a light grey and hanging curtains on that window (we've already bought them, just waiting to install the rod after we've painted). I'm also looking for a small sideboard or cabinet to put on the back wall by the door to hold nicer dishes and things we don't have space for in our small kitchen. And we will buy two more dining chairs at some point. I'm sure we could find two more vintage chairs just like these if we were patient and looked hard enough. However, I like the idea of the chairs at either end of the table being different (though they'd have to work together with the existing furniture, obviously). We also might add a rug for a pop of color, but that would be later on.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of mismatched dining chairs? Also, I'm currently hunting for some colorful placemats, maybe something with a retro pattern. Any suggestions?