Here We Go Again!

This morning Daffodil and I are off to another adventure.  We are headed south to the girlfriends’ camping event where she made her debut last year.  A year ago she just had four walls, a ceiling, a floor and a bed – and quite a few totes and suitcases.  Well, she’s not completely finished yet but she has definitely changed since then.  Even though there are things to be done, she has definitely begun to bloom!

She has new vintage-style brake and signal lights and a classy license plate light.

When I last shared photos taken inside, her cabinets had been installed but the drawers and doors weren’t there.  She has all of her original cabinet doors and brand new drawers that my sweetheart made.  The cabinets above the little kitchen look like this now.
The entire upper cabinet has more storage space than you might imagine.  I just need to figure out how to organize it to the max.  You’ll notice holes in the middle where the original propane lamp was attached.  We have that lamp and my sweetheart plans to wire it for twelve-volt lighting so I can use it again, but that’s way down the list of things to be done.
The last time I gave you a tour she had a white dust ruffle under the bed.  I have been gathering vintage train cases to use for storage.  When I found the last one (the white one) at a local antique mall I decided to keep them under the bed.  They were so cute I didn’t put the dust ruffle back.  I’m still undecided whether or not to add the dust ruffle and have the train cases behind it or if I should just leave these cute cases exactly the way they are.
The latest addition is a sweet, little yellow polka-dot valance on the kitchen window.  It has much smaller polka-dots than the curtains on the side and back windows but the lace is the same.  When I put the valance in place, I stood back and smiled.  It was perfect!
 
The original mirror somehow survived through the years.  It was attached to the closet door with ‘awful’ plastic holders.  My heart longed to have a framed mirror on this door but it couldn’t be very heavy.  Then I found this simple frame in a thrift store and I was amazed that it was the perfect size for the vintage mirror.  A little chalk paint and my sweetheart’s ingenious help to attach it with screws that I later painted with chalk paint, and she was back in place.  I’ll show you the before and after sometime soon.

I wanted a different handle on the closet door than on the cabinet doors.  I ooh-ed and ah-ed over many vintage-style door knobs and handles but most were too big.  Or, they stuck out too far.  In the photo above you can see how close the handle is to the kitchen sink.  I knew every time I backed up or turned around I would be bruising myself with bigger, fancier knobs.  So, I looked and looked until one day I found the perfect handle.  I knew it would be just right.  It is similar in shape to the other handles.  It’s the right size and just what Daffodil’s closet door needed.
We had hoped that her little kitchen would be finished before this trip but life got busy and it just couldn’t happen.  Her little avocado green stove will be where the microwave sits now.  My sweetheart temporarily built the two shelves for me to use until the stove is in place.  It’s one of the next things on the list.  Since camping season will soon draw to a close we hope to work on things so she is completely finished by the time we roll out to the first camping trip early next Spring.  In the meantime, I’m so thankful to head down the road this year with conveniences I didn’t have last year!
I’ll tell you all about our trip when Daffodil and I return home.  I have so many projects planned for her in the future.  There are walls to decorate and pretty things to display.  And a surprise or two along the way.  Don’t worry - I’ll share it all with you!

Please Come Inside

I promised to show you the interior of my sweet, little trailer.  She’s not finished yet but she is really beginning to bloom!  The first photo was taken over a week ago enroute to a camping event with my camping girlfriends.  You can’t miss the bright yellow duct tape on Daffodil’s door!  About two days before I was scheduled to leave home we discovered that the old gasket around the window on the door wasn’t holding the bottom of the window tight anymore.  We were concerned that the vibration of traveling down the road would cause it to let go and my darling little window would crash on the pavement as I drove.  There wasn’t time for the local glass company to fix the problem, so my sweetheart said he would make it secure with duct tape.  I told him it had to be yellow duct tape!  He was pretty thrilled when he came home with this bright yellow tape – and it did the trick.  The window is still there, waiting for repair.   The interior photos I’m going to show you were taken while we were at the camp-out.  I’ve been waiting to show you what we’ve done inside so far.  Won’t you come on in?
Here’s my kitchen!  Minus cabinet doors and drawers.  We ran out of time to get them painted and installed.  We couldn’t have installed them anyway because I had to special order the hinges and they didn’t arrive in time to put everything together.  They arrived three days after I got home!
Isn’t my little green refrigerator cute?.  It’s a small ‘dorm’ style refrigerator that’s just the right size.  It was black but my sweetheart made it pretty for me.  It picks up some of the lighter tones of avocado in my stove that will be installed where the microwave and shelf are right now.  My sweetheart is so smart!  He wanted me to have the little microwave (even though I didn’t use it), so he built a temporary shelf and secured the microwave so it would travel right there in place.  He even added the little shelf below for my kitchen towels and potholders.  I put my yellow vintage water cooler jug in the little sink so I would have water for the weekend.  My sweetheart didn’t have time to add the fresh water tank or the lines to bring water from outside to the faucet before I left for this camp-out.  I chose metal mini-blinds for the front window because it is quite close to the burners on the stove when it’s in place.  Curtains could be a problem if they were that close to the stove.  I plan to add a valance over the top of the blinds soon.  You can see a bit of the ‘walk-in’ closet.  I added a few touches of home on the counter – my electric teakettle, a vintage tea canister filled with some of my favorite tea bags and a pretty mug covered with daffodils.  I bought the mug at a local tulip festival last summer.  When I saw it I knew it would be perfect for tea time in my trailer.
Here’s the inside of my cute, little door.  My sweetheart still has a lot of work to do on the door and screen door.  I may paint the inside of the door white  None of the interior trim has been added.  There will be a small trim that I call ‘crown molding’ where the walls meet the ceiling and a simple chair rail where the bead board and upper paneling meet.  My sweetheart will add trim around the door before everything is finished.  It takes time to add all the details, but it will be nice when it’s all done.
Next to the door is a cute, little cabinet and counter.  The possibilities with this space are endless and I haven’t completely decided how I want to use it.  There’s a little seat over the wheel well beside the cabinet.  I’m still working on the cushions for the two seats.  I love the color of the old cushions and I’m looking for just the right fabric for comfy cushions for the back.  We had to cut the cushions down after the bed was in place, so I just tucked the old cushion under on one side to make it ready for my recent trip.  I hope I can find similar fabric to make new seats because I love the pop of color it adds.  The light sconce above the windows are temporary.  I bought a pair of sweet vintage sconces at a big antique fair and I plan to put them where these newer sconces are.  My sweetheart needs to rewire the vintage sconces and that project is way down the list of priorities.
Here’s what I put on that cute, little cabinet.  I ‘won’ this sweet, little lamp from a blog friend who is not blogging anymore.  She made lampshades from clothing and linens she found in antique and thrift shops.  The base is a sweet, old-fashioned couple.  I’ll take a better photo of it soon.  I have a small light bulb in this lamp that’s perfect for evenings when I’m away from my trailer.  It gives a soft, gentle glow and lights my way when I step inside.  I added a cute journal book I found at Ross so my friends and visitors can write their names or whatever they want to write inside.  On top of the little book is a vintage needlepoint sign I found at a local antique mall when they had a big sale.
If you were following Daffodil’s blog last Fall you may remember her yellow polka-dot curtains. 
I liked these curtains, but there was something missing.  Something just wasn’t quite right and I wasn’t sure what it was.  Through the winter and early spring months I pondered and thought and decided – and changed my mind many times.  I have other fabric that seemed it would be a nice choice but when it came right down to making a decision to make new curtains, it just wasn’t right.  A dear friend walked through the process with me and one day her appreciation for these curtains suddenly made me realize I didn’t want to make a big change.  And then I knew.  I knew what was missing – tiebacks and a bit of lace.  Something simple.
It was just the right choice.  And I love it.  At night I can slip one side of each tieback off its little hook so I can close the curtains for privacy.  I’m thrilled with the change.
That big back window that hadn’t been installed yet last Fall?  Well, it’s still not there.  When my sweetheart reinforced the corners of the trailer, we ‘lost’ four inches of window opening on the back.  The process of cutting down this style of window takes a lot of hours.  We had all the glass pieces cut at our local glass shop, but my sweetheart will shorten every horizontal piece and add new gaskets.  It will get done, but it’s not a priority right now.  So, I still have the wall of polka-dot curtains that covers the window opening that was cut through the paneling.  The tiebacks are ready for the day the big window is installed – and it will be wonderful.  I know it will completely the change everything!
I love my bed in Daffodil!  I bought a new mattress, added a memory foam pad and a padded mattress cover.  Then I did what many of the other gals have done – I bought an electric blanket for cold camping nights – and was I ever glad I had it at the camp-out last weekend.  It was c-o-l-d at night – real cold!  It’s hard to take photos in a tiny, little trailer and I didn’t get a good photo of the dust ruffle.  It was a window valance that has a beautiful crocheted edge.  I’ll show it to you sometime soon.  The space behind the dust ruffle is great storage that goes back to the wall of Daffodil’s little ‘trunk’.  It’s a great place to hide things you want to have close to you but don’t want to display.  I didn’t take a photo of the wheel well seat that was by the head of my bed but you can see a bit of it.  I made a little nightstand on that seat with a wooden tray.  Then I added a yellow crocheted doily, the control to my electric blanket, a darling little vintage clock that was a gift from a dear friend and a small devotional book that I enjoy.  I stood a small wicker-framed mirror behind the tray so I could use it when I needed a mirror.  You can see it here, next to the floor-to-ceiling shelf that’s beside of the closet.
This shelf unit gives me a lot of storage.  It has a door that will be added soon.  It’s a good place to keep my vintage train cases that are filled with clothes, things for my hair and makeup and odds and ends of things I just can’t leave at home.  Aren’t they cute?
Next to the shelf unit – in the front corner by the kitchen cabinets – is my walk-in closet.  It’s hard to get a photo of the closet, but you get an idea of what it’s like  My sweetheart is building a new door and he installed a light inside.  I want to do something special in the closet to use the space well and I want to make it pretty.
That’s the tour of my sweet, little trailer.  She is such a fun place to spend time – like the playhouse my dad built for me when I was a little girl.  I have gathered some great things for Daffodil - and those walls need to be decorated.  The fun has just begun.

A New Look and Another Adventure

Daffodil has a new look.  It’s what I dreamed for her from almost the moment I first saw her.  And I’m thrilled that she looks just as beautiful as I knew she would.  Getting there was a slow process and there were many decisions along the way, but she is forever changed.  What do you think?Finally – the old gold color is gone and she is a beautiful shade of creamy yellow and white.  Her white areas still need to be repainted but my sweetheart worked very hard to take advantage of recent warm, dry days of Spring to get this done. The upper rear ‘running light’ was still covered when I took this photo.  I was so busy I didn't stop to take more photos after everything was put back together.  I’ll show you more soon.  There have been big changes on the inside, too – but that will have to wait. 

Daffodil and I are leaving town this morning for the first camping get-together of the season.  Our destination is a beautiful farm about two hours south of home where we will join over thirty other vintage trailer gals for a weekend of fun and adventures at a wonderful country flea market.  There will be many photos taken and things to share when we return.   Until then  - hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s down the road we go!

Big Changes On The Inside

The inside of my little, vintage trailer is beginning to change again.  Work is in progress to get Daffodil’s kitchen cabinets and closet walls redone and installed.  This will give you a glimpse of what has happened so far.  The closet walls are in place and are being installed as I write this post.  I’ll show those to you very soon.

My sweetheart took the old panels off of the upper and lower kitchen cabinets so he could replace them.  His plan all along was to use the framework for both cabinets since it was still in good shape.  He removed the old panels and spent quite a bit of time scraping off the dried glue that held the original panels on.  Then he added the new panels and then he brought them into the house where it was warm enough for painting.  That process took over my dining room table, which was draped with drop cloths so I wouldn’t ‘accidentally’ end up with a white table!  First, the upper cabinet. . .
Then, the lower cabinet. It looks like it has an electrical outlet down by the floor but it's upside down! Between coats of primer and paint I cleaned up the little stainless steel sink and the original Formica countertop.  Pardon the pans drying in the sink – it was a workday and I didn’t have time to dry them so they had to dry on their own!
It was pretty exciting when the paint on the cabinets was dry and the countertop was clean and ready to go.  My sweetheart took each piece out to the trailer and it wasn’t long before they were all securely in place.
I took this photo before the lower cabinet was installed.  It was just set in place so we could see how it would look.  First, my sweetheart had to finish the paneling on the side.  That’s finished now but I haven’t taken another photo to show you what it looks like now.  I will take more photos after the closet walls have been installed and you will see how nice the wall and cabinets look since they were put back in place.  In case you wonder about all the openings on the lower cabinet, under the sink are two drawers and a small cabinet.  My little refrigerator goes in the big opening in the middle and the stove will be in the larger opening on the right.  Under the stove is another cabinet door.  I’ll have to find some creative ways to organize things in the two cabinets so they won’t rattle around when Daffodil and I are on the road.  We will be on the road again soon – but that’s a story for another day!

There have been more changes since the cabinets were installed.  In fact, there have been some very BIG changes that I can’t wait to show you.  You’ll see more photos soon.  And often.  Things are finally beginning to come together the way we have dreamed they could be.  She is a little flower that is just about ready to burst out in full bloom!  Finally!

Vintage Trailer Tour

A few weeks ago I shared Daffodil’s maiden voyage. I told you about some of the fun we had at our camp-out in September and I promised to give you a tour of some of my girlfriends’ trailers so you can enjoy them the way I did.  There are various styles of trailers and some truly show their age.  Some of the gals want to leave their trailers as they are and others of us restore our trailers.  All of us tend to decorate and ‘stage’ our trailers – inside and out.  Many of the trailers were not staged outdoors as much as usual because we were all parked very close together in two common areas.  When we have our own space – look out, the sky is the limit!  So, come with me and we will look at some of the trailers.  I missed getting photos of all of them.  I was the hostess, so I was a bit busy!  Let’s start over here with my friend’s little Shasta.  This is one trailer that is usually decorated from top to bottom but simplicity was necessary.  My sweet friend hadn’t been feeling well so we were happy she could join us.
As you probably can tell, we name our trailers.  We usually have some kind of sign to identify the name, make and year of our trailers.  This one is OohLaLa.  Her sign is a chalkboard that is permanently secured to the side of her trailer.
This is another ‘canned ham’ trailer.  Do you know why these trailers are called ‘canned hams’?  Does it look like a can of ham?In the next row is my sweet friend’s trailer.  This one was completely restored and she’s a beauty.  This is a nineteen-sixty-two Shasta named Mary Lou.
Let’s go around to the back.  Not every trailer has the spare tire on the back but this one does – and you can’t miss it!  Now, doesn’t that just make you smile?  Can you imagine following Mary Lou down the road and having this face smiling at your all along the way?
Let’s go inside and see how cozy my dear friend has made her vintage trailer.  Come in and have a seat.  The sofa goes across the front of the trailer.  My friend made the curtains.  The gray curtains are closed at night for privacy.  The ‘S’ cut-out above the window on the right is a magazine rack that were a signature piece in Shasta trailers for a few years.
And this kitchen is to die for!  She had a double sink and new appliances installed so she would have all the comforts of home when she’s on the road.
This bed looks so inviting!  I was about ready to crawl in and take a nap.  There's a tiny bathroom in the back right corner!
Right behind Mary Lou is another darling trailer.  Her name is Palomino Pony.  I bet you won’t be surprised if she’s decorated with cowgirls and horses.  The outdoor kitchen set up and ready to use. 
Let’s go inside and look.  You can’t miss the theme the moment you step in.  She has used her finds and treasures in amazing ways. 
I think this must be the coziest bed in all the trailers I’ve seen - she has a brass headboard!  The wood inside this trailer is all original.  It’s a real beauty!
Many of the gals have televisions and DVD players in their trailers.  It makes for good movie-watching late at night.  This sweet friend decided she didn’t want just any ordinary flat-screen televisions.  No-sir-ee, she wanted it to look it was vintage.  Her hubby worked to make it just right, complete with vintage knobs.  It almost looks like it’s been there since the trailer was built.
Now we’ll go to the other side of our campsite and see how one of the new gals has decorated her trailer.  Her trailer is fairly new.  It has all the amenities most of us wish we had.  She chose a southwestern theme.  Her ‘red-hot-pepper’ lights were such fun at night.
This little silver beauty is so sweet.  She always has hanging baskets of fresh flowers and a few sitting near her door and at the front of her campsite.  Even her welcome sign (which she couldn’t put out because of space limitations) has a flower basket attached.  I love the little furnace vent ‘chimney’ on the top of this tiny trailer.  It's so cute!
The next trailer in this row belongs to a dear friend of mine.  My friend is Hawaiian - I think you can see it in her theme. 
She didn’t miss a thing – everything is just right!  The inside of her door is painted with chalkboard paint so she can change it whenever she wants to.  We had hot weather the weekend we camped together and these chairs were used a lot.  The little pool was filled with cold water to rest weary feet and help cool us just a bit.
Another dear friend has a motor home that is so nice.  She has it decorated in a denim western theme.

I didn’t get pictures inside this time but I’ll do that another time when we're together.  She decorated the inside of her door with the name of her sweet rig.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of trailers.  Wherever we girlfriends go – wherever we stop along the way or camp together – we always draw attention.  People often stop by and ask to see our trailers.  It’s such fun to share them with others. We’re pretty happy to share our fun when someone stops by.  I think you can see that we have a lot of fun.  More than we could ever imagine! Stop by sometime - we'll show you around.  And don't be surprised if we invite you to join us around the campfire, for dinner or for some of our activities - we love to spread the fun around!

Adventures Of The Maiden Voyage

The day finally arrived for Daffodil to head out on her maiden voyage.  The skies were blue, the sun was shining and she was ready to go.  She was securely connected to the car, everything was packed and all systems were working.  The time came to say goodbye to my sweetheart and take off on my own for my first long trip alone with Daffodil.  To say I was totally at ease about the trip would be misleading.  I knew I could do it but I had concerns about three specific places along the way.  These were  places I knew could present challenges I might have to deal with by myself.  My sweetheart and I had discussed each of them and he assured me many times that I was ready to deal with anything that might happen.  As I drove away by myself with Daffodil following close behind, I’m sure I must have been smiling.  I was excited and anxious to get on the road and head toward our final destination for the weekend. My first concern was close to home and there was no problem – it all went as it should!.  The second place presented absolutely no issues and the third one was the same.  I ‘sailed’ through them as if Daffodil and I were the only ones on the road.  I stopped at a rest stop about halfway between home and the campground.  I had to park in the area marked for big trucks, RV’s and vehicles towing trailers.  I pulled in between two very big rigs and I’m sure they were amused, and perhaps a bit amazed, when I got out of my car to stretch and report in to my sweetheart. Most of the RV’s and trailers on the road are towed by men.  I seemed to be the only lady towing a trailer along the way that day. Something happened to me when I got back in the car to head south after that stop – I felt more empowered and very brave.  I no longer felt like a novice.  I had conquered what I had feared and I was on my way!  I even got up the courage to change lanes and pass slower moving vehicles along the way!  But I was not prepared for what happened when I turned off the freeway to go a few more miles to the campground.  As I drove up the freeway off-ramp to the road where I would turn, tears began to fill my eyes and fall down my face.  As I continued to drive through the little town near where Daffodil and I would spend the weekend my tears came faster and harder.  My heart was so deeply touched – it was full!  And I knew why.  The dream I had dreamed for almost three years was really happening - it was about to come true.  Finally, I was going to camp with my girlfriends in my very own vintage trailer. I had waited for this day – it was here.  I thought my heart would burst!  My dream had come true - and I could hardly contain it!  Daffodil and I arrived at the campground to the cheers and applause of a few of my friends who had already arrived.  They were so thrilled that we had arrived and that our maiden voyage had been a success.  Soon Daffodil was safely in her spot, ready for our weekend to begin.More girlfriends arrived through the afternoon and early evening and it wasn’t long before our group site was full. There were two parts to our site – the side where Daffodil was parked. . . And another part just beyond an open area between the two.
We had such a good time together that weekend.  My very dear friend helped me hostess the camp-out and she was amazing!  She set up a ‘kitchen’ behind her trailer to make our group meals easier to prepare (and clean up after).  It was a busy place, at times. I can’t imagine what we would have done without it. She made this sign to welcome us.
Don’t get worried – there was no 'skinny dip’n' or 'chunky dunk’n' - that I know of!  I added a bit of ‘pretty’ to the rustic setting where we were.  I put lace tablecloths on the picnic tables and centerpieces made with my vintage mason jars, filled with hydrangeas and seed pods from my yard.Nametags are a tradition at these camp-outs.  There’s almost always someone new, but we like nametags even when we all know each other.  Most of the gals keep all of their nametags – some have them displayed in their trailers or in their homes in unique ways.  My nametag is hanging on the corner of a shelf above my desk.  It’s a great reminder of this special weekend. There was time for a lot of visiting and time to share ideas and dreams.  Early mornings and late evenings found us around the campfire.  We planned a special craft time.  We had such fun decorating solar-powered mason jar lights that my dear friend and her husband had prepared for us.  They started with simple mason jars and added part of solar yard lights to the top.  (You can directions and all kinds of ideas on Pinterest.)Everyone decorated their jars and they were all different.  No two were alike.  We had such fun enjoying them at night.
 Our first evening meal together was a potluck.  One of the girls brought a cake to share.  She said she had the stripe on the trailer and the piping around the cake don in yellow in honor of Daffodil and her maiden voyage!  You can bet I gave her a bunch of hugs for her kind welcome for Daffodil.  If you wonder about the words on the cake, they have meaning because most of us are part of a casually organized girlfriend camping group that we have affectionately named ‘Vintage Women With Trailers’.As the afternoons began to fade into evening we were treated to brilliant, gorgeous sunsets shining through the trees.
And as nightfall approached it was easy to see the lights that were on some of the trailers .And then, almost by magic, night fell all around us.  The sun faded, the stars began to shine in the dark sky and, we were blessed to have a full moon shining overhead. And under that moon and those stars you could see more lights that somehow seemed to capture our imaginations. (If you look closely you will see our solar mason jar lights shining in the dark.)
The days flew by.  We spent one day at an Antique Fair in the streets of the little town nearby.  We laughed and giggled, we hugged and talked, we planned and dreamed.  And we decided we will be back to do it all again next year.And then, all too soon, it was over.  They were all gone.  The trailers were gone.  The campsites were empty and it was time for Daffodil and me to head home again. As Daffodil and I drove home I knew I had learned a lot and I knew there are things I still need to learn.  There are things that need to be changed before she and I go again - and we will go again. You can count on that!  Calendars have been marked and reservations have been made for more camp outs next year.