Let the decorating begin!

FINALLY!  Hubby got the LoFlyte painted inside and I'm itching to decorate!  Hung my first official decoration up and now I'm ready to go.  I went thrifting for camper stuff and found some tin stars at Salvation Army for cheap.  I repainted them with Army Green Rustoleum spray paint (I have a fascination with spray paint, always have ... hubby used to say "if it sits still for a minute, you'll probably paint it") and I think they look pretty cute. 

I also snagged some cute Lincoln Beautyware canisters at the same thrift.  Figured I could spray paint them green and use them to store non-food items.  Well first thing was to get them clean so I stuck them in the dishwasher.  Yikes!  Apparently someone before me had the brilliant idea to spray paint them and the paint melted into clumps all over the originally harvest gold canisters.  So I'm now scraping paint down to the aluminum in order to spray paint them.  Worth the work?  Probably not but they're cute and I'm persistent!

I also bought a stack of old Girl Scout calendars off eBay and plan to use them to decoupage the round train case I purchased for more storage. 

Lastly, while still on a spray paint kick, I purchased some Rustoleum vinyl and upholstery paint (did you know they made that?  I didn't!) and sprayed the 2 bench seats next to the bed and the bed guard for the bunk bed that we're going to use as a shelf.  The vinyl was pretty faded and dingy and I went with the sand color (basic beige) which has really freshened them up.  I love spray paint!

Let the light shine in ...

Well the inside is about 1/2 painted ... using Valspar Barcelona White which is quite a bit more yellow than white ... maybe it's "cream" as hubby calls it.  Anyway, it looks so fresh and clean inside.  We're using a semi-gloss so that should help brighten it up even more.  One thing I have to give Shasta credit for is the amount of light inside their old campers.  The LoFlyte has panoramic windows in the dining area (meaning a huge set of windows across the front and one behind each seat) and a total of 7 window sections in a 12-foot living space.  Front and back windows go nearly the width of the camper.  There is a big section of windows in the kitchen area (this section goes from in front of the sink to behind the dinette seat on the street side of the camper).  There are windows on each side of the front dinette (behind the seats) and windows on each side of the couch/bed area plus a tiny little window on top.  With the front door open and the screen door allowing more light inside, it's open and airy and completely non-cavelike.

While I absolutely adore the cute little canned hams, I've been inside a couple and they seem dark and dreary.  I'm falling more in love with this LoFlyte by the day.  So anyway, with the paint on the walls, I decided to put up one of the sets of curtains I've made (still working on the rest).  It's a perfect match ... I had a choice of going with ivory or beige and decided to listen to my daughter and go with beige.  I'm so glad I did.  I think they look great. 

Now I just have to get the rest of the interior painted, the cabinet hardware put back, the bench seats and bed screwed back into place and the shelf section across the back re-trimmed and I'll be ready to start decorating.  I can't wait!

Camping and the Cutest Darn Curtains Ever!

Well, I went on my first Sisters on the Fly camp out last weekend .. what a blast!  They really do have more fun than anyone else!  Other than a minor mishap where I jackknifed the trailer into the SUV and put a big old dent in it (the SUV, not the trailer), it was a wonderful weekend ... neat people, great junk (went to the Nebraska Junk Jaunt) and gorgeous weather.  Couldn't have asked for more.

While I was there, I got to reminiscing about how much fun I had at Girl Scout camp as a child and decided THAT was the theme for my trailer!  For those of you unfamiliar with Sisters on the Fly, most of the trailers/campers are themed.  Most are cowgirl-related but there are some done up in ladybugs, ants, etc.  One of the ladies there had a red/white Shasta and everything she had inside was pretty much red and white ... it was beautiful.  On the fold down bed, she had a gorgeous white crocheted throw with red crocheted flowers, cute little red and white curtains, red and white accessories, etc.  You get the picture.

Another one was done in pink and cowgirl stuff.  She had adorable curtains, boots and had even decoupaged posters on her ceiling.  Very creative.

So, after going through a few theme ideas myself, I decided that since I've collected GS stuff for quite a while, why not incorporate that as my theme.  I ordered 10 yards of reproduction vintage Girl Scout fabric and started making curtains, found some old GS and GS camp pennants and will put them on the cabinet doors along with other assorted stuff.  I also had the brilliant idea that since I'll never use the bunk bed, I'll use it as a shelf only.  I removed the back half and will remount the front half (the part with the edge) so it only goes 1/2 way across my bed.  That way I won't bump my head in the middle of the night and I can display stuff on it.  I also even have an old Cadette uniform on a dressmaker's dummy that is wearing my old badge sash which I think will be cute to display also (as long as I don't scare myself in the middle of the night when I see a "body" in my camper).

I got 1 curtain done so far and I think it's the cutest thing ever.  What do you think?

She's baaaaaaaack!

Got my camper back today ... cost more than I expected but they also did more than I expected.  She's all set to go now with 2 new propane tanks, clean lines, working stove and oven and working heater.  Bearings are freshly packed, electric brake is wired and working, all lights work properly and the electric is functional.  We also purchased a portable gray water tank and some plumbing supplies for the city water hookup. 

After paying for all that, we went to Hobby Lobby and returned the bug fabric (which was just too over the top) and purchased some maroon-ish fabric with tiny diamond dots of avocado green which is being turned into curtains.  It brings out a color from the cushions while coordinating with the avocado appliances.  We also went to Menard's and purchased a nice warm off-white to paint the walls (decided not to introduce any more color because I was afraid it would turn into a circus) and a smoke detector.

I'm still not sure what color to paint the exterior.  I'm leaning toward white naturally with the faded gold stripes being a nice dark avocado/olive green rather than a Kelly or a forest green but then again, every time I see a pink trailer, I drool.  I'm going to have to do some more googling of LoFlyte's to see what others have done.  When I played with Photoshop, the only color that looked decent to me was a darker green so I'm probably going to go with that.  Sometimes the camper has to tell you what color it wants to be and I think this one is saying "go green!"

I'm just glad she's back and nearly ready to take on my camping trip.  The man at the RV place said she's very solid and he was actually amazed that the stove/oven and the heater all worked like they should since he said parts for those are very hard to come by.  So I lucked out on that. 

So far we've sunk $2600+ into her ... would have been much easier to have just purchased a renovated one but we're still way under what one would cost new so I guess that's a good thing.  It will be nice to have her done though so I can just relax and enjoy.  One interesting thing .. we can more than likely get her into the garage whereas the Compact is about 2-3 inches too tall even riding on the rims with the tires deflated all the way.  Guess that's why they call her a LoFlyte!

New Cushions!

The cushions are back from the upholsterer's and I think they look great.  Since we're going to pick up the camper tomorrow from the RV place, I'm going to take one of the smaller cushions with me to find perfect fabric for the curtains and a nice warm neutral paint color for the walls, something that was impossible to do with a 4" rectangle of fabric.

I did notice that the dinette cushions aren't all the same size ... we reused the original foam so not sure what's up with that.  Ah well, that's not something I'm going to worry about.  I also found out she's able to purchase 4" foam at a discount with enough notice so when we're to that step in the Compact's reconstruction, I'll be using the same lady to do the cushions for it.

Shasta Come Home!

My poor LoFlyte has been at the camper repair place for 2 weeks now and they still haven't started on her.  I called today and told them I need to take her on a trip next week and could they at least pack her bearings and rewire the tail lights.  Apparently they're working on a total interior renovation for someone and got behind.  Meanwhile, my camping trip (my inaugural SOTF trip) hinges on getting the camper back.  I told them that I can bring it back to have them mess with the propane lines if I need to but the bearings are crucial and the Nebraska State Patrol would probably like me to have working tail lights so that's pretty important too.

Meanwhile, I have no idea if the cushions are done or not (need to call tomorrow) and she's not going to get a fresh coat of paint ... I'm going to look like Cinderella (pre-fairy godmother) next to the stepsisters at the camp out but not much I can do about that now.  Ah well, next year I'll be stylin! 

Vintage Find

I found these adorable retro glasses at my favorite goodwill store ... this store isn't organized very well and you basically have to dig through bins o' crap to find anything. Last time I was there, I found 2 of the square tupperware snack plates but they were kind of beaten up so I passed. I also (MISTAKE!) passed on a cute little cast iron gumball dispenser that you needed a real coin to work. It was pink, it was only $3.50 and I thought "I really don't need this!" so I left it. Naturally, it was gone when I went yesterday. Ah well, someone got a cute little vintage find.

Anyway, these were stuffed in a bin of plastics ... I found 8 of them but one of them was cracked and the other one had burlap missing from one side so I passed on those 2. Although there are only 5 pictured, I actually got 6 of them. The duplicate is the avocado green one. I think they'll be adorable in the camper.

I'm such a sucker for thrift stores and auctions! :) Today I went to the local GW store since I'm looking for "senorita" gear for the upcoming SOTF event. I did find some big plastic margarita glasses for 50 cents each and when I got them home, hubby mentioned "Oh, I have some plastic ones from the conference last year." Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a use for them. No other senorita gear but I did find a 1970s Gunne Sax dress that I'll probably donate to the high school costume closet for an upcoming play. Just couldn't leave it there and at $3.50, I had to have the blast from the past!