Our Tree

Hi guys! How are you? It's been a while. The holiday season was a busy one for
My Hideaway, which kept me cutting and stitching, packing and shipping right up to Christmas. I loved every second of it. Thanks so much to everyone who supported my little shop!

I've since been feeling a bit under the weather, as tends to happen this time of year after the holiday rush. Needless to say, our New Year's Eve celebration will be a quiet one at home, probably with hot tea and soup instead of bubbly, but that's OK.

I wanted to share a few pics of our "big" tree this year. Because I decorated the mantel with gold and white accents, I decided to keep the same color scheme for the tree. We didn't pack on too many ornaments either because Peter and I wanted to let the natural beauty of the branches shine through.

If you're wondering where the colorful felt and handmade ornaments are, rest assured, we had two trees! I have a smaller white tinsel tree that I stuffed full of cheerful little felt ornaments and funny trinkets that people have given us over the years, and that sat on the hall table to greet everyone who came through the door...definitely a crowd-pleaser. :)

I'm normally a "more is more" type of person when it comes to Christmas decorations. Bring on the bright colors and festive garlands and all the sparkle, but I really loved our gold and white minimal decorations this year. It felt calm and peaceful, while still being cozy and cute. It's given me a lot of ideas for things I want to try next year!

Speaking of next year, I'm working on making my list of goals and resolutions, both for my business and my personal life. I'm thinking there are going to be some big changes in 2016. What about you? Making any resolutions?

Happy New Year's Eve! Hope you have a good one! xo, Mary

Holiday Decorating - On the Mantel

I decided to keep our holiday decor simple this year: white and gold accents surrounded by fresh greenery. I'm not usually one for minimalism at Christmastime, but I have to say I love how calm and peaceful it looks. I did have plans to DIY a white wreath out of felt, but I've been too busy to indulge in just-for-fun crafting, and I didn't want to wait until Christmas Eve to put up our decorations. So I bought this paper wreath kit from Paper Source as an alternative. It's so pretty!! I don't know if you can tell from these photos, but half the leaves are made from paper with a shimmer finish, and half from paper with a matte finish. It has just the right amount of shimmer to catch the light, particularly when the candles are lit, without being too over-the-top and glittery.

I'm not gonna lie though, it did take forever to put together. I probably would've been able to design and execute my own DIY in the time it took! But I honestly don't regret it at all; it looks beautiful above the mantel, and I think it fits in perfectly with the decorations we already had.

We've been trying new holiday-scented candles lately too...maybe I'll share some that we've liked if anyone's interested in that sort of thing. I never really thought I'd be a candle person, but it just makes the whole room cozy and warm (especially now that the nights are drawing in), and lighting candles has become a daily habit.

Hope everyone has had a great start to the week! And to my fellow shop owners in the midst of the holiday rush, remember to take a break now and then and breathe. Don't worry, it will all get done. xo, Mary

Fall Decorating - On the Mantel

I don't usually do seasonal decorating...mostly because we have a very small house with no garage or basement, and there isn't a lot of room to store decorations. But this year, I decided to find a way to do it anyway because it makes us happy and adds so much warmth to the house as the days get chillier.

But because we don't have a lot of storage space, I gave myself a couple of rules. First, anything new I bought should be able to be repurposed or displayed in different rooms throughout the year. So even though I love it, nothing too specific to Halloween or Thanksgiving. My goal was too find things that felt "autumnal," especially when grouped together, but that could just as easily be displayed during other seasons. The second rule was to use as many things we already owned as I could, to save both space and money.

My theme was "vintage woodland cute" because of course it was. I'm such a sucker for woodland animals and pumpkins and foresty things this time of year. And that vintage crewel piece reminds me so much of my childhood; there were handmade pieces like that hanging in our house and all our friends' houses.

Now that I think about it, everything about autumn feels very nostalgic to me, with all the holiday traditions and the memories they inevitably evoke. Peter and I carved a pumpkin yesterday for the first time in years, and the smell of goopy pumpkin guts hit me so strong! It was a little gross but so much fun at the same time. :)

Have you done any fall decorating? Leave me a link in the comments. I want to see!
xo, Mary

Fall Flowers

How pretty are these flowers from Trader Joe's? And only $3.99 to boot. Also, these leaf candle holders from Crate and Barrel are new and so nice. The insides are brass, and when the flame gets a little lower, the punched leaves glow and give off an amber light.

It's so autumnal in here right now you guys. I'm burning pumpkin candles, and they smell amazing. I wish I could make these photos scratch and sniff!

Also, I don't know what got hold of me this year, but I went a little nuts on the decorating. I have a bunch of photos to share of all the cute stuff on the mantel. I'm currently trying to decide how many photos is too many photos. Oh geez.

Hope everyone is having an excellent Friday! The leaves are finally turning here, and it's beautiful outside. :)

Scenes from Life

I keep seeing lots of talk about fall activities around the blogosphere, but it is still very much summer around these parts...sunny and warm. When you don't have kids to return to school (and are no longer a student yourself) there is no real definite end to the summer season, is there? We're still trying to squeeze in a few summer adventures before the month is out.

The bees and butterflies go crazy for the lavender in our backyard. I've planted other pollinator-friendly flowers, but the lavender is definitely their favorite. If you like bees, try planting some in your yard or on your balcony; it's super low-maintenance and seems to be hardy in all climates. (I know lavender is supposed to prefer a hot and dry climate, but we had the wettest spring/summer ever, and it did just fine. And we've also had extremely cold temperatures and lots of snow, and nothing seems to faze it.)

I've tried a few times to get good photos of the butterflies, but this is the only one that was remotely in focus; just when I've got my settings right, they flit away to another plant. I love the way butterflies move through the air; it's sort of graceful and haphazard all at the same time.

We've had this summery welcome mat for a while, and I don't think I ever shared a photo. We got it at Target for $3.98 or something crazy like that (it was already on clearance). I have to say the natural coir doormats from Target last longer than any other we've tried. Remember this popsicle mat we got May of 2014? Probably not, but take my word for it that it still looked great until just a few months ago. That's an eternity in the world of doormats. We will keep this one forever too, but we'll probably move it to the back door once it gets closer to the holidays so our neighbors don't think we've completely abandoned the house. A summer doormat in December is sort of the equivalent of leaving your Christmas lights up till July, right?

I love the colors, and it makes me want to go to a pool! We haven't been swimming once all summer...must do something about that soon.

More zinnias growing in the window. I got a packet of zinnia seeds earlier in the summer, and I've gone kind of nuts planting them in any spare container I can find, all over the house and on the back patio too. I'll share some more photos when they bloom! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! xo, Mary

Christmas!

Merry Christmas, a couple days late! I hope everyone had cozy, good times with family and friends. I ate so many Christmas cookies I think I might actually be made of sugar and spice and everything nice now. Pretty sure I'm leaving a trail of sugar and glitter wherever I go. :)

I got a new lens for my camera as a Christmas present to myself (thanks, me!), and I snapped a few pics of decorations and things to practice on Christmas Day. I definitely had some focusing problems on some of the pics. I really hope it's just a matter of me needing more practice and not an issue with the lens, or the lens communicating with my camera. If the weather cooperates, we're going to go out shooting over the next week so I can practice a bit more in different light/settings/etc. Anyway, here are a few of my practice shots that I thought turned out ok.

We got our tree and decorations up late this year, so I'm definitely in no hurry to take them down. Not that I am ever in a hurry for Christmas to end. I wish it lasted longer. The tree smells so fantastic, much better than any I can remember in fact. I wish I could bottle it up!

I hope everyone is enjoying some time off to relax, recharge, and wipe the slate clean for a new year. xo, Mary

Kitchen Update

A few people emailed me after the dining room update and asked when I would post more photos of the house. Every room is still a work in progress, but I decided to just go ahead and post them one room at a time and update the photos as we make changes. So without further ado, welcome to our kitchen! :)

The kitchen was renovated right before we bought the house, which we were thankful for despite the fact that the countertops and cabinets aren't exactly what we would've chosen if we'd been renovating ourselves. I should stress that they aren't bad at all; I actually think the warm wood cabinets complement the cool granite countertops nicely. It's just not exactly our taste, but like I said, not bad at all. We definitely looked at some what-were-they-thinking kitchens when we were house hunting. The pendant light over the island was really terrible though, and we changed that first thing. (You can see what it looked like here if you're curious.)

The one thing I didn't love (besides the light fixture) was the light green painted walls. The color has grown on me over the last (almost) two years since we bought the house, but we're still planning on repainting at some point in the future. I did go ahead and paint the back wall with chalkboard paint as that was a no-brainer and didn't require moving any appliances. I love the way it looks. There's actually only a bit of green now peeking out over the sink, the stove, and over the closets on one wall, which you can see in the top photo.

The two retro stoneware containers are from Sagaform. I bought them from a small boutique, but you can find them lots of places online. The Russian doll is actually a set of 6 measuring cups that fit together like traditional nesting dolls. I found both those and the blue enamel storage bin at The Container Store.

Here's the whole gang. :)

We've been using the Radish hand soap from Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, and it smells so good. (Is anyone else a fan of those soaps? What's your favorite scent?) That bird tray in the corner is from IKEA, if anyone's curious.

I don't know how many years we've had that Cuisinart coffeemaker, but it's been a really long time. It still works great and makes good coffee. The paper towel holder is by simplehuman, and it works pretty well too. The sink caddy is from Joseph Joseph, and it's, by far, the best one I have ever owned. I went through so many sink caddies that rusted or fell apart over time before finding this one. It's made of plastic, so it won't rust, but it somehow manages to not look cheap and plasticky. Also, the whole thing comes apart and is dishwasher safe, though I just wash ours out in the sink. It's lasted a couple years with no problems.

The cute little print hanging above the sink is a silkscreen by Robert Darr Wert that we found at a flea market a couple of years ago. I'd seen his stuff at vintage shops mostly, and it was always a bit too pricey, so we were super happy to find this one for $15. Wert was a print maker and textile designer known for his mid-century modernist folk art style. I love folk art, and I love mid-century furniture and accessories, and Wert's art is like the best of both worlds.

If you're wondering what the other side of the room looks like...most of the wall is taken up by a closet that houses the washer and dryer. The striped rug is from Crate and Barrel; we bought it just after we moved in, and it's held up really well considering it's in the kitchen. I've spot-cleaned a few coffee drips here and there, and I vacuum it regularly, of course, but for the most part, it still looks great with minimal effort. The trash can is from simplehuman. I can't find the exact one we have--we did buy it three or four years ago, so it might be discontinued--but here's a similar one. I know not everyone really cares what kind of trash can they have, but I have to say, this one is pretty fantastic.

I'm a sucker for cute straws (haha), and there was no way I could pass up these sweet gingham straws from Kikkerland. I bought mine at a local shop, but you can find them at Paper Source too. I've heard people complain in the past that paper straws get soggy, but these are coated in beeswax so that's really not a problem. I guess they could still get soggy if you left your drink for a really long time, but it's never happened to me in the time it takes to drink a smoothie, and I drink smoothies fairly slowly to avoid the dreaded "ice cream headache." Also, they get bonus points for being biodegradable and compostable. (The solid color straws in the back are from IKEA.)

This little napkin holder is also from IKEA. I bought it last spring, I think, and it was the first napkin holder I've owned in my life. I never saw the need for one before as I guess I never used napkins all that much. But this little cloud is the cutest and was probably the best $1.99 I've ever spent at IKEA. And of course, I had to fill it with cute napkins, right? These are from Target, but only available in store.

I bought this kitchen towel from Kitch Studios on Etsy, and I love it. A lot of the printed tea towels I come across seem like they would be impractical to actually use and are more suited for display, but this one is 100% soft cotton, and it's absorbent and washes/dries well too.

So that's our kitchen! I hope you enjoyed this tour. :)

I'll update again if we should change anything. I do have ideas for the chalkboard wall. We will also probably tile the backsplash at some point and relocate the Wert print to another wall. And we are going to paint too...not sure what color, but definitely something brighter than the pale green that's there now.

How much else we do really depends on how long we stay in this house. Like I mentioned earlier, it was renovated right before we moved in, and even if we had the money to redo the whole kitchen right now, we wouldn't. There's so much waste in the construction industry already; we don't really want to contribute to that. If we end up staying in this house a good long while, we might think about it in the future.

I'm not going to add a source list because I think I already linked to everything above, but if I missed anything, just let me know in the comments. xo, Mary