Renovation of my 1965 Aloha vintage camper

Saturday, I traveled an hour and a half to look at a 1965 Aloha vintage camper.  The seller had sent me pictures, and it looked real good, so we headed out.

The camper had some water damage, but looked better than any others we had seen, so I gave a deposit and made plans to go back and pick it up yesterday since my Jeep was in the shop. 

Last night, we bought the camper home. 

Looks pretty good huh? 

Well, with the sun shining just right (or wrong), it showed more water damage than we had seen at the first visit.  Too late to back out.  It's mine. 

Got up this morning and got to work!

Tear out the old and get ready for the new.  

Then the painting began.  

The hunter green had to go.  

I had chosen a light turquoise, but when I starting painting it, it was way too pale to be near the white.  I needed more contrast.  So, I took it back to the hardware store and they added some blue and black, but then it was like a royal blue, so I had them add some green.  Perfect.  

As for the paint, I am using Benjamin Moore exterior gloss and rolling it with 1/4" nap. 

I'm not a professional and don't try to make it look that way.  

Just want a fun camper to spend some time with the Sisters on the Fly. 

(I'm Sister #6249)

www.SistersOnTheFly.com

Tomorrow we rip more rotted wall out and start replacing with good wood.  

The fun has begun!   

Trip from PA to NC. A VERY long ride!

My son and I just got back from a trip to visit my parents in Burnsville NC.

Google maps says the trip takes less than 9 hours. For us, it takes 10-11 hours. We stop to eat and since I drink McDonald's sweet tea to stay awake, we do lots of bathroom breaks. :)

Nothing real exciting on this trip, but we got to visit old friends and spend lots of time with my parents. 

We lived in Burnsville, NC for 12 years, so we had lots of friends to visit. 

On the way, we got to buy gas for $1.99 a gallon!

I took this photo at the TN Welcome Center on Hwy. 81 South on the way to NC. 

Love the old cabin look!

And not too far from my brother's house in Bandana, NC we saw this awesome old house. 

Notice the Christmas decoration on the porch. 

On Sunday morning, we went out for breakfast and this place was the only restaurant in town open on Sunday morning, except for fast food. 

The sign is sooooo cool retro, but it could use some TLC. 

Eggs and sausage were good, but the homefries were deep fried and tasted 

like old grease french fries. 

I must remember to ask them to cook my homefries on the grill if I eat breakfast there again. 

Here's a photo of the menu. I loved the play on the southern slang. 

It really is how some of the locals talk that are from that area. 

On the wall at Lil' Smokey's, I was surprised to see two signs that I had made when I lived there and did craft shows!

I took this photo on our way home, near Erwin, TN. I took it with my phone, so I apologize for the poor quality, but look at the beautiful scene!

I took a couple photos at a Virginia rest stop on the way home. 

And the gas on our way home in VA was even cheaper!

So, this is my mismatch of photos. 

I should of taken more, but I was busy going to 7 different thrift stores hunting for wool clothes to recycle, eating at lots of favorite restaurants, and visiting old friends. 

My two favorite thrift stores were Shops of SafePlace Thrift (formerly The Attic) in 

Spruce Pine, NC on 226 in the Grassy Creek Shopping Center behind Western Sizzlin, 

and Barkin' Basement Resale Store which is run by Yancey County Humane Society and is 

located in Burnsville Plaza Shopping Center on Hwy. 19E across from Burnsville Chevrolet. 

Be sure and stop by and shop. Shops of SafePlace Thrifts benefits domestic violence victims and Barkin' Basement benefits the animals of Yancey County, NC. 

Meals I made sure to eat while I was there was:

Pollo Loco at El Chapala's in Burnsville. (twice)

Appalachian House Salad with house dressing at Appalachian Java & Cafe in Burnsville.

Fried rice at Tokyo Restaurant in Spruce Pine.

Potato wedges & potato soup at Garden Deli in Burnsville. I was gonna have baby rack

ribs, but we went for lunch and the potato soup sounded yummy and it was!

In closing, I am sooooo glad to home! 

I walked into my home last night after 11 hours on the road and I have to say that being in 

my primitive decorated environment makes me happy, and sleeping in my own bed makes me even happier. 

It's a Primitive Christmas!

Primitive Christmas crafts available for a limited time!

I've got some primitive Christmas things that I made and have put them in my etsy shop.  

Primitive stitchery ornaments, primitive dolls, fabric covered candy canes, Snowmen & a penny rug table runner.

 All items were made by me. 

This is just some of the items available. 

All are in my etsy shop for sale until Friday evening. 

www.PriviesAndPrims.Etsy.com

Stay in your comfy jammies and shop from home!  

I'll be happy to ship them right to you and you don't even have to go out in the cold.  :)

My first craft show this year!

Every year I say I need to stop doing shows.  They are just too much work for my body.  If you've ever done shows, you know what I'm talking about.

This year, I decided to only do two shows.  One is this weekend and one next weekend.

This weekend, the show is at the Lime Valley Mill.  It starts on Black Friday and goes through Sunday afternoon.  If you're in the Lancaster County area, be sure and stop by for some handmade goods!

Here's some photos of things I made for the show.

 Reindeer penny rug made with upcycled wool clothing. 

 Burlap gift bag appliqued with upcycled wool clothing. 

 Wool applique table runner made with upcycled clothing. 

Wool star snowman ornament made with upcycled wool clothing. 

Rag stuffed primitive Christmas tree stitchery made from an upcycled curtain panel. 

Log cabin punch needle mounted on a painted horn book. 

Wool applique Christmas sheep and Santa pillows made with upcycled wool clothing.  

Small burlap bag for gift card, appliqued with upcycled wool.  

 Another snowman burlap gift bag appliqued with upcycled wool.  

 Primitive doll, "Charlie".  Pattern by Serendipity Primitives.  

Primitive prairie Christmas doll made with pattern by "You Are Special".  

Primitive Santa & Crow doll made with pattern by Chestnut Junction. 

Like I said in my last post, I've been busy!  

I've been busy!

Long, long time since I've been here.  Missing in action, but definitely 'in action'!

I work at a campground, so in the summer I don't get lots of time to craft.  Because it's in my blood, and it's who I am, I still MUST find 'some' time to craft!

One thing I did was make fire starter cups for the campground store.
I bought an old crockpot at Goodwill and asked around for sawdust.  A friend gave me a HUGE bag of sawdust and I went to a thrift store and got a banana box full of old candles for dirt cheap!  I was in business.  I went to Dollar Tree and bought some Dixie cups (3oz) and some stick matches.  I also got an old cooking pot from Goodwill.

I melted the wax in the crockpot, then scooped some sawdust into my cooking pot and added some melted wax with a ladle.  Mixed it up with a spoon and made it kind of a sawdust granola texture.  Spooned it into the cups, stick the matches in, then add a tiny bit more wax to seal the holes from the matches, then sprinkle some wood shavings on top and add a bit more melted wax.  They sold like crazy at $1.00 each!

Another thing I recently worked on was primitive stitcheries.  

This one hasn't been ironed yet, but it gives you idea what they look like.  Get black frames from Dollar Tree and you're in business!  I stitched them on fabric that was a heavy cotton curtain panel I bought at Goodwill. 

One mistake I made, was when I went to buy a water soluble marker to do the writing, I mistakenly bought a disappearing marker!  It works, but I have to stitch it right away before it disappears.  :)

Love Dollar Tree!  I bought plastic candy canes and tore homespun fabric strips and hot glued them on at an angle.  Then I soaked them in a coffee mixture to prim them up and hung them on a wire fence in the sun.  

They look great on a Christmas tree or you can tie some together with jute twine and use them as bowl fillers. 

A future project that I started and haven't finished yet, is thin wood boxes.  

I spray painted them and will cover them with fabric, sand the edges to distress, and stain them with coffee.  I'm not sure yet what I will do on the tops.  I'm thinking wool applique or punch needle.  

Have you ever made salt dough ornaments?  I tried my hand at it and wanted to dip them in wax.  Didn't turn out so good.  :(

I made the mistake of not cleaning out the crock pot first.  It still had the wax for the fire starters.  

It had red wax in it, so everything came out with a pink tint.  I think it works great on the candy canes, but not so good on the snowmen.  Also, there was sawdust in the bottom of the pot and some got on the ornaments.  You can see it at the bottom of one of the candy canes.  Lots more on the back of the snowmen.  I threw them in the trash.  :(  

I think they're also too thin cause they break really easy.  At least it kept me busy and out of trouble for a little while.  :)

Yesterday, I stitched some wool applique snowmen on burlap bags.  

They are 12" high and make great gift bags!

I bought 4 of the bags and each one will be different.  

Two done, two to go!

Today, I'll be working on a rug hooking project~~~

Stay warm!

Two new pin cushion patterns available!

Two new pin cushion patterns available!

Primitive Americana Patriotic Sheep & Chubby Snowman!

In my etsy shop~And they're instant download!!!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PriviesAndPrims

I dyed wool for the first time!

I had dyed raw sheep's wool with Rit liquid dye one time, but I've never tried to dye wool fabric.  I love the mottled look of the overdyed wool that I see in primitive stores and online, but it's a bit pricey.  So, I wanted to try it myself.

I was given this wool blanket from a friend that got it at Goodwill.  It wasn't quite the orange I wanted for primitive pumpkins and penny rugs.  Perfect guinea pig fabric for my new adventure!

I went to Labadie Looms in Bird-in-Hand, PA and bought some Cushing's dye.  The shop owner suggested I use 'rust' and I'm very happy with it!

I was afraid I'd make a big mess and put some some old clothes on and got out an old pot that I was saving for just this kind of project.  

I'm amazed at how easy it was and I didn't make a mess at all!

The darkest piece is the first one that went in the dye.  The one on the far right is the last piece that went in.  

The fabric actually soaks up the dye, so the mixture gets lighter and lighter.  I just kept adding pieces until the water was clear.  There are 4 pieces all together, but one is hidden in the photo.  

This is the exact look I was going for and now I'm hooked on dyeing wool!!!

My etsy shop~

Have you checked out my etsy shop recently?
 https://www.etsy.com/shop/priviesandprims
I have lots of patterns and wool for sale.

Even grab bags of wool to give you a good variety of choices for your penny rugs!  Patterns include stitchery, punch needle, wool applique & penny rugs.

If you need wool, but don't see what you're looking for, just send me a note and I'll see if I have what you need.   I've got TONS of it!