My Camper: Interior Changes

After many late nights and a neglected house, I finished the interior of the camper just in time to use it for Fish Lake.  My husband thought I was a little nuts as he heard the sewing machine begin to hum at 1:00 a.m. (the night before our trip) as he climbed into bed.  

My curtains had to have tie backs.  

For looks and to allow air to flow through the windows during the day.

Even though I still have changes that need to be made, I'm very pleased with the results!

Ready?

                                Before:

After:

I took these pictures after our trip.  Seeing how I hadn't cleaned the dust and dirt off the walls yet and I forgot to remove the hat and fishing pole from under the table. :)

The cushions turned out perfectly!  I wanted to use red vinyl but the upholsterer told me that would not be the best idea.  Vinyl is hot and sweaty and doesn't breathe well.  Wet bums (from swim suits) would cause the cushions to not dry and get moldy.  Yuck.

The red fabric is a material they use for car seats.  It won't fade in the sun, it breathes well and it is easy to clean.  I thought they worked perfectly.  The fabric gives a little because the cushions are tightly squished between the walls.  Doesn't seem that noticeable in person. 

I love the oil cloth table cloth!  It was a purchase from a local fabric store.

                                Before:

                             After:

Kevin was sad to see the hunting motif on the back wall go.  Seems like we have a conflict of interest here.  :)

The upper storage area was great to have on our trip.  We kept tupperware bins of stuff up there.  We could fit Cole up there to sleep.  We have an air pad that fits perfectly there.  

But Cole LOVED sleeping in the tent with Dad. 

The bed is so large when I fold all the cushions down!  We easily could fit the whole family in.  But I think the boys will stick with camping in the tent.  I thought Cole would beg to sleep in the camper but the tent won every night. 

                                 Before:

                             After:

See the floors.  I can't wait to redo those!

I polished all the copper hardware.  My cute little tea kettle worked perfectly for warming hot water for Frankie's bottles.  The blue door is an ice box.  Like a cooler.  Big ice blocks fit in there to keep the temperature cool.  

                                Before:

    After:

Sorry for the poor lighting in some of these.

I ripped out the linoleum that was on the back splash.

I'll eventually need to replace the counter tops.  I'm not a fan of the little nails around the edges.

The trim around the back is in bad condition.  I just had my dad spray paint it anyway until I get to it.  Someday I'll have the back splash run from the counter top all the way up to the cupboards and by the door.  To cover where the linoleum damaged the wall.  

Damage on the wall that will be covered by the backsplash.

I love the look of the curtains without the ties but it covers the cute windows when they hang down.  

                                             Before:

Closet / Porta Potty

                             After:

The Porta Potty is in the garage.  Fish Lake has great flushies.  We'll save the porta potty for those rare trips where we might need one.

I built these shelves the day before we left.  I bought the bins at Ikea.  It is great to just stack up the bins, bring them inside and pack one for each person and then put them back in their assigned shelf.  The kids were in and out of these all weekend.  It was a great place to keep all their "stuff" out of the way.

Yay!  I'm cooking in my new kitchen!  That was a lot of fun!  

I made a Yummy Corn and Black Bean Salsa for our Sunday picnic in Fruita (Capital Reef).

You must try this recipe!  It's delish!

3 Large Tomatoes Diced

3-4 chopped green onions

1 Avocado Diced

1 Can of Corn drained

1 Can of Black Beans 

1 Pkg. of dry Italian dressing, prepared as directed.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and then pour prepared Italian dressing over.  This salsa tastes better when it has been refrigerated for several hours.  

Enjoy with your favorite chips!  

I have been sooo tired!  Two weeks of  really late nights working on the camper, our renter of 2 years moved out of our basement 3 days before we left (permanently, Yay), basement apartment and post vacation cleaning, playing with family who is visiting from out of town and the 4th of July celebration.  It finally all caught up with me!  All this fun,  I am wiped out!

My Camper: Painting

Sheesh!  We've been busy!  Thanks for all the trailer love!!  It's so fun to have you on board! :)

Getting our trailer ready for our upcoming trip has been non stop!

It won't be entirely updated to where I want it but close enough.

This is my little inspiration book.  I have measurements, fabrics samples and sketches of how I want things done to it eventually.  

These are the speckled Formica counter tops which I'll eventually replace.

 Sadie is so excited about his project, she's even made her own trailer inspiration book and has copied everything I have put in mine.  She is just like I was to my Dad when I was little, following my every step asking me what she can do to help with my project.  

Here we are prepping for paint.  I tore out the linoleum back splash in the kitchen, removed all the cupboards and hinges and taped everything for my Dad to paint it with a spray gun.  

Ready for paint.

I LOVE that we didn't spend ONE penny on paint!

We had a 5 gallon bucket of leftover off-white paint from our rental house that we used. 

My awesome Dad getting the gun ready.

I felt bad for him because it was a really warm day and he had to wear that white suit and be in that tiny hot space.  I kept him busy that day.  It was a lot of hard work.  Thanks Dad!!!

The spray gun saved us so much time and made everything look a LOT better! Yay!

I didn't care about paint getting on the floor because I'm planning on replacing it with a cute red and white checkered floor.

Again, I used left over paint from my kitchen in my home to paint the kitchen in the trailer.  It's a good thing I love this color because it's in both of my kitchen's now. :)  

The color is a Martha Stewart Vintage Map.  Which is now discontinued because I bought it when her paints were sold at Lowe's.  Now they are at Home Depot and she has a whole new color line there.  

Vintage Map is a perfect aqua.  Not really green and not really blue either.  Perfectly in the middle of both.

A little sneak peek of the fabric.

Poor Kevin wasn't too thrilled when he saw all the floral.  How could he not know where I was going with this?  I've done nothing but STARE at my inspiration photos and show everyone who walks through my door the inspiration photos for the last 3 weeks!  It makes me laugh.  

I'm sure he'll like it when it all comes together.  I can't wait to show you how it's coming together! 

Even though I'm exhausted, I have had so much fun!

I forgot to add some links to my last post.  Tin Can Tourist is a fun place to browse classifieds of vintage trailers.  I also added the link to Constance.

My Vintage Trailer: Falling in Love

Every spring in Virginia there is a fair that my sister goes to called 

Lucketts Spring Fair.

My sister Jill posted these next 3 pictures on here blog (which is private) of her fun adventure.

They sell all kinds of cute and adorable stuff like this:

for really good prices.

At the fair, my sister spotted this adorable Vintage Serro Scotty Camper on display and instantly new that I'd fall in love with it.  

Boy was she right!

Once I laid eyes on this little cutie, I was hooked and told my self that I would not rest until I own a little camper of my own.  

After all, I do enjoy our annual trips to Fish Lake every summer.  Why not invest in one of these and add on a few more fun trips?  Bear Lake, Uintahs and Moab .  With Living in Utah, it won't be hard to find great places to take something like this.  

This is the interior of the one my sister posted on her blog.  ADORABLE!

After doing a little research on google, I had NO idea that there was a world out there of people who restore cute little vintage camper trailers!  Why hadn't I known this earlier?  There are many groups and rallies where people who own these get together with their trailers and all open their doors for people to have a peek inside.  Wouldn't that be fun?

During my search, I fell in love with another darling.  Constance.

I love it all!

Especially the red and white checkered floor!!

And I love, love, LOVE all the Cath Kidston decor inside!  If you don't know who she is, well then click here.  your welcome.  Sadly her stuff is sold in London.  But thankfully she has a US site.  Which I can't really afford anyway.  A girl can dream right?

Look at these.  I love the stripy little awnings!

Anyone that knows me well, knows that when I get a Bee in My Bonnet, I can not let it rest.  Here I am sitting on the computer drooling at all these darling little trailers and I can't resist searching for local finds on KSL and Craigslist.  In my search I realize that these things sell around $500 for really old rotted and gutted out ones to $5,000 - $10,000 or more for restored ones.  That doesn't really work for me.
Meanwhile, it's Memorial Day weekend and my Dad has decided to take a Day trip 2 hours south to visit his family members graves in Loa and Lyman, Utah.
Once I discovered he was traveling south, where there are a bunch a little old towns along the way,  I knew that would be the PERFECT place to look for a trailer within my budget and updating needs.  I'm pretty sure some people down there don't post things on KSL or Craigslist too often.  Or even know it exists. 
I couldn't speed dial him fast enough.  "DAD, be on the look out for any small old trailers for sale!"

Just 3 minutes after we ended our call, he sees this little trailer on the side of the road that read, FOR SALE.  $550 OBO.  Which totally caught him by surprise at the timing.   

Quickly he pulled over and took down the information and thanks to smart phones, sent me a picture.

The owner emailed me some pictures of the inside.

I was so impressed with myself!  I thought about it for one whole week!  How's that for the Bee-in-the-Bonnet type?  Patient, I know.  

Not too bad.  But I must see it in person if I'm going to buy it.  

We dropped the kids off at my Mom's house and my Dad, Kevin and I took the drive to see it.

I wasn't so sure how Kevin would take onto all this little trailer stuff.  But he was neither here nor there about it.  He's very nice and tolerant of my dreams.  

Well little did I know....... he's into it!  What do you think?

It was a very windy day.  

I'm looking real good next to MY 11 foot 1970 Vintage Travois Trailer!

I did it!  We rolled out of a little town called Sigard with this baby for a whopping $480.00

A GREAT deal if you ask me!  We checked the interior for severe water damage and the condition of things and felt that it was worth the buy.

We didn't tell the kids where we were going.  Just that we'd be back in a while.  Their faces just lit up as we pulled in!   I love Cole's face!

This little old thing is like a resort on wheels to them.  Ha! 

Here they are, dying to unload the trailer and get in!

We all couldn't wait to clean that old thing!

Kevin and my Dad are all on board! :)

Sadie couldn't wait to help scrub it clean too!

Frankie enjoyed the free entertainment.

As the sun went down my Dad pulled out his camp chairs and we sat and stared at the trailer, dreaming of the changes we'd like to make.  

It was all quiet and we wondered where little MaryJane went.

Oh, we found her.  

Happy as can be with her pillow pet and that darn binky and lovey.

The seats fold down into a large king sized bed.  MaryJane couldn't resist.  Don't worry, those cushions are already on their way to have a new fabric on them.  I can't wait to share the details of the changes that have been made so far.  We have been busy!  Trying to get this thing ready for use within two short weeks!

Yikes!

Do you have a Vintage Camper?  Am I totally crazy?  

Lots to Celebrate!

Last week we had a marathon Saturday.  

But it was a fun one, with lots to celebrate.

Thankfully all the excitement happened while Aunt Jill was in town!

Our morning Started off bright and early with a Tangled themed dance performance by MaryJane.

We had to leave the recital a little early to catch... 

this handsome boy's Baptism.

I can't believe he is 8!

It was a very sweet Baptism.  I hope Cole can remember this day.

Cousins.

I love MaryJane wearing her costume.  A great reminder of the fun filled day. She stood front and center in her costume on the stand in the chapel while all the kids sang I am a Child of God.  So funny.

After the Baptism we ran home to have lunch.  Yummy Sliders with homemade rolls (just ask my Dad), Jill's awesome potato salad, and the cute "8" cookies that the bakery made.

Cole ate just in time to make it to his soccer game against his best friend Peter's team. 

No way, was he going to miss that game!  Cole even scored 3 goals!

After the game, since the family was already here,  

we went back home to have a mini Birthday celebration for Frankie.

I made this crown for him and a "1" on his onesie.

I also made the cake too.  But I cheated a little.  The grocery store bakery made the frosting.

I ordered white, blue and yellow butter cream frosting and threw it on the cake. 

It was really yummy! 

Frankie wasn't too sure of the cake. 

Seeing how he is still on baby food and not table food, cake was a big adventure.

He hated the cake all over his hands.   He just didn't know what to do.

It was tough to crack a smile out of him. 

Remember Henry?

Well he and his cousin stopped by to wish Frankie a Happy Birthday just before bed time.

Once we set Frankie on the couch next to him, he was all over Henry!

I have never seen Frankie act so excited towards someone. 

He just dove right for Henry, grabbing his face and tried to kiss him.

I was cracking up!  Poor Henry was a good sport and tolerated Frankie mauling him for a while as I tried to snap pics.  Then suddenly he burst into tears.  He had had enough.

What a sweetie.  Sorry Henry, Frankie just loves you!!

After the fun day, Grandpa asked Sadie, "So, did you enjoy the party today?"

Then Sadie said," Yeah, except for the part when Mom tortured Frankie and tied him to a chair.  He was just stuck there and he didn't like it and he couldn't get out!"

Now that is HILARIOUS!  

For the smash cake I sat Frankie on a kid chair and tied my bath robe sash around his tummy and through the back slats to stabilize him from not falling over.  Just like I did here for MaryJane.  It's not even that tight.  Frankie just didn't like cake on his hands.

Oh Sadie,  I love the spark you add to our family!

And that my friends is a lengthy report of our fun marathon day. 

Thanks to our family for supporting us the WHOLE day!