What Happens in my Head and Home: May 2015

AND THEN I RE-VAMPED IT AGAIN!
Ok...so, I literally FORGOT how to blog! I've been wanting to write on this subject for quite awhile...I go to my blog and I just stare at it...I have NO clue how to write a blog post....I know it's been sooo long...I've been busy....I've been taking a ton of pictures, which I love! and...I had another baby....that's a good excuse right? RIGHT!

ANYWAY....now...I originally wanted to blog about this, oh...I don't know....three years ago! I just never did....so...I will now....only now, I have more to add to it :)

It started with a text from my sister Sarah…."So….how important are bunk beds in a camper to you?".....my response….depends….then…I think it ended with some pictures and some text that said something like, look what Paul bought you (to buy from him).

It was a 30 ft Jayco something or another....to me, it didn't really matter...it was cheap....it had room....it was OURS! I was excited.....the only thing...inside....it....was....~~pink~~ ....~~peach~~....~~pink~~.... ~~peach~~... pink...I think the color is pink?

First of all....who the heck designs camper things....like I understand this is from the 90s...or 80s...I don't really know....technicalities really aren't my thing. But...I don't see the correlation between gold, silk, ruffles, ~~pink~~ ~~peach~~ pink and camping? I don't get it....I think they need to hire new designers...even some of the newer campers....really???

Anyway....I am soooo so sooo thankful that the people that owned this camper before us put in the laminate wood flooring stuff....under the couch, there is still carpet....can you guess the color? Why the heck would you use pink carpet (said in my most Nicole Curtis-sy "Why the hell would anyone cover this up" voice - perhaps I watched a bit of Rehab Addict in my blog hiatus)...

So...we went to Sarah and Paul's house to look this beast over and to make sure it would work for us(ah...like I was going to say no)....we sat in there for quite awhile talking with Paul and Sarah...just talking and looking around (just one of those moments I always think of when thinking of my camper <3)...it needed a new awning...which came with it...it just had to be put on the track, which, was interesting to do. It also needed new stabilizer jacks, it appeared as if someone took off with the jacks still down. THIS was our first inclination that we should sign up for Amazon Prime :) worked well for us, free shipping...on heavy camper stuff...yes please!

I'm sure there are other things that Jacob had to add to it or fix on it ... but really.... ~~I don't really care about that stuff~~ that's not my area of expertise....so...I'll skip all that....back to the PINK stuff....I scoured pinterest looking for easy ways to fix this thing up....there wasn't a TON with detail...or a ton of easy, quick, cheap fixes....which...well...that's my style, ha

First....the pink flowery couch....you can kind of see it in this picture

I needed to find something to easily cover up this big pinky peachy thing you looked at right when you walked into the camper....the dinette cushions were in major need as well....I really like to think of thrifty and super easy ways to do things....it just makes my OCD mind happy...I looked n pinterest and most of the suggestions involved sewing (which I can do, just not very ~~straight~~ well)....no thanks...and fabric can be expensive....and I have little kids, it's going to get dirty....so....I thought...and I thought....and....I came up with the perfect solution! JERSEY KNIT SHEETS!!! I covered the couch and dinette seats with a jersey knit sheet and king size pillow cases....They worked AMAZING....I'm not kidding! They are soooo stretchy and you can tuck them in all tight and nice! AND with little kids around it's so nice that you can just pull them off and throw them in the washing machine when you get home! BRILLIANT!

I also painted the kitchen wall (it had weird flower things on it...again....why....) and the little wood trim piece along the middle of the camper

BEFORE

AFTER

I also re-covered the piece of whatever it is there on the back of the dinette seat, easy peasy....I went with a more neutral color so I wouldn't have to do that kind of stuff again (basically if I couldn't duct tape it....I wanted it to be neutral!)

As you can see, I also covered the weird....like....velour....velvet....fabric thing that was above the cabinets....this was super SUPER easy! I just gently banged those little fabric squares out of their little spots....chose a fun fabric and very ~~quickly~~ carefully I duct taped the fabric on...yep...I used duct tape ;)

See...duct tape!

I figured that way, if when I want to change them, it'd be super easy to do so (and....spoiler alert...I did change them)

To cover the ~~gaudy~~ beautiful 80's style frosted glass....I was kind of at a loss....I wasn't sure what would work...so...I did what anyone would do....I walked around Hobby Lobby with no plan in mind hoping something would jump out at me...and...it did....I love when that happens....

Originally I was going to use scrapbook paper, but the glass doors are weird sizes and that wouldn't work...blah...so....I found these little square foamy type sheets....for like 20 cents each....so, I bought them up, cut them to size and....taped them on....again, easy for change if one would want change (which I knew I would eventually)

Side by Side with glass vs the foamy stuff

Hmmm, what else did I do...Oh yeah...the valences....these were kind of fun to do...like I said, if I couldn't duct tape it....I wanted it to be neutral so....I went with brown, I wanted something ~~not pink~~ dark enough that I wouldn't have to worry about it getting dirty or anything....for these...I got to get out the staple gun...YAY! That thing is fun! It was fun to see how this transformed the look so much (which after looking at the pictures...it doesn't look like THAT big of a transformation...but...it really does make a difference!)

Close up of the valences

Before

After

So...there you have it...my FIRST re-vamp of my camp(er)

I left it this way for two years...during this two years....there was some weird crazy baby tornado wind thing that came through and only affected our house and our neighbors house....soooo weird....I heard it super windy out...went upstairs looked out the window AND THIS is what I saw:

Our camper (and Jacob's truck) are under those trees! What the heck happened! We lost all of our trees! And thanks to some amazing friends, this was all cleaned up by the end of the day...but...we had no trees left :(

I didn't really think too much about what might have happened to our camper....then...we went out and looked....nothing major thank goodness...a couple dents, some scratches....but nothing HUGE! However, according to insurance....it was "totaled"....that made me sad...but...then we just bought it back from insurance (or something like that...again with the technicalities)...and all was good....whew...

Fast forward two years, a basement redo and one child later.....

One weekend....Jacob was leaving for Wisconsin to go hunting....what's a girl to do when she is left at home with three kids for the weekend....ah...why not take on a project like re-vamping your camper...again....

Jacob left on a Wednesday....so on my lunch on Wednesday I went to JoAnn fabric on a hunt for the perfect fabric....I took pictures of about 10 different fabrics and decided I needed to mull it over a bit....When I started this I had a vision of what I wanted....I could see it in my head....but...to find what I really wanted....that would be difficult...or...so I thought...the biggest thing is finding the fabric....it kind of sets the whole look of the camper...

So, on Thursday on my lunch, I went back to said fabric store...and it seemed as if they had all new fabric (they really didn't but that place can be a bit overwhelming!) .... I found the fabric I wanted, within like 5 minutes! So...I bought it....on sale...of course....It only took me a yard and a half to do this project (TEN BUCKS.....it cost me TEN BUCKS in fabric!) And bonus it only took five minutes, that meant I still had time on my lunch to run to Target! SCORE!

Since I had the fabric, next, the little foamy things that covered the glass...those fell off here and there and I was sick of them...plus...the look I wanted, that didn't really fit...so....I got myself some wrapping paper....yes...wrapping paper...and a little glue roll thing and I glued some wrapping paper right onto the glass....like I said, if I want a change I want to be able to do it quickly and easily! This seriously took me 20 minutes to put the wrapping paper over the glass and get it cut to fit perfectly....so easy...so if I find something that I like better, it'd be an easy change. I wasn't 100% sure if I liked how it looked, but figured I'd just leave it and change it if I found something else.

I also wanted to change the dinette covers to something that kind of went with the fabric I chose....thank goodness target had some cute (and exactly what I was looking for) king size jersey knit pillow cases and....on sale! So, I got a couple of those...well...I got four of those....looked in their dollar spot for some decorations to add and wow...they had the exact stuff I ~~wanted~~ needed! I love their dollar spot...I feel like I want a notification when they get a new shipment of things for their dollar spot....or ... I wish there were an entire dollar spot store with THAT type of stuff....holy cow, I'd be there all the time! Ok...anyway....since I was at target...of course I had to look to see what else they had....well...I found some pillows and they matched great and really added a "pop" to the couch!

So, the total of my second revamp only cost me $10 (for fabric), $5 (for wrapping paper), $3 (for glue roll), $20 (for pillows), $23 (for pillow cases) $5 (for accessories in the dollar spot) for a grand total of $66 bucks! SIXTY SIX BUCKS and my camper looks totally different! The End.

Oh....you mean you wanted me to show you what my camper looks like now? Too bad....use your imagination....just kidding...that would be mean...I mean, if you took the time to read all of my rambling...you probably want to see what it actually looks like now huh....well...here it is!!!!!