Vintage Dutch Girl

Monday, June 25, 2012

Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 5: Recovering Window Cornice Thingys!

For this part I will heretofore refer to the top of the window covering cornice thingymajigs as Cornici. I'm certain that it the correct pluralization of the word cornice, yes? Ok, maybe not, but I think it's fun. Cornici. Rhymes with Octopi. Sort of.

I decided to recover the curved Cornici in our new trailer (Lumi :) with Premier Prints Topeka Solid Chocolate brown fabric that I purchased from Fabric.com, my fave online fabric store. well, all the regular windows cornici. I did have one flat cornice over the kitchen window that I used the chevron print to recover.

In the interest of saving my wrists and hands from days of aches and pains after tearing out hundreds of staples I decided to leave the previous fabric and just put the new fabric right on top of it. Ah yes, much more simple. And made the project quick quick quick. Well, as quick as you can get with a three and five year old around.

Another benefit from leaving the old fabric intact? It was super handy to see where the previous Cornici coverer had cut the fabric to help it stay tight and unwrinkled on all the corners and curves:

But hey, we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit. First off, I had to remove the industrial strength velcro strips that hold the side curtains on. Then i tried to get a rough measurement of the amount of fabric I'd need per cornice:

The comes the fun.When you are recovering just about anything you first center the cornici or chair seat board or whatever on your fabric. You then wrap the fabric around from opposite sides, pull tight and staple from the centers out. Here's a wimpy diagram:

The key is to not create any lumps, bumps or folds on the visible side so keep turning your piece (or cornici) over and checking to make sure everything is smooth.

Last up, the corners. I'm not going to lie, they are not always easy. Just keep folding and pulling and stapling until they lie flat or look as good as you want them to. Once again, I was glad to have left the old fabric on so I had a folding template for the corners.

After I was all done, this is what the inside cornici looked like:

I reattached the velcro strips on the inside (for the side curtains) and then had my hubby help me hold the cornici in place to reattach to the trailer walls.

Less diamond pattern, more sassiness!

And the before n after of the kitchen cornice:

This made SUCH a huge difference in the cheerfulness of our trailer! In fact, the next week or so my Mom also decided to recover her faded cornici with some fresh newer fabric. It make such a huge difference! I dare you to try it :)

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

Friday, June 8, 2012

Travel Trailer Makover, Part 4: Wallpaper Removal, a Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains...

Oh yes. the diamond wallpaper border. I was extremely nervous about this but had decided that if I was going to eliminate all of the other diamond/check gray/green/beige fabric I should also try to remove the wallpaper border:

I had tried to find out online if anyone knew what kind of wallpaper this was and how to best remove it. I found only one lady on an RV forum who said her new trailer had the peel n stick kind of wallpaper boarder and to just peel it off slowly. So, after the hubby's enthusiastic approval ("Sure, whatever you want Hon") I tried to peel back a small part of the border in a hidden spot to see if it would work.

AND IT DID! I sent this crazy face text to him:

Hee hee :) I was kinda excited. The pink arrow is pointing to the place where I had just removed the wallpaper! I found that as long as I peeled back sssuuuuuupppppeeerrrr slowly it did not leave much gunk behind.

However....

There IS a significant amount of sticky glue gunk left behind.

I tried MULTIPLE methods at removing this gunk. The very best method to remove the leftover peel and stick wallpaper gunk is spraying Goo Gone on it and leaving it set for a few hours. Then, come back with a plastic putty scraper (I wouldn't recommend a metal one - it might damage your wall!) and scrape like crazy.

Lather Rinse Repeat. Took about three sessions of spay, soak and scrape on each section. LOTS of elbow grease.

But hey, by the end you end up with a pile of yucky wallpaper and smooth, unsticky walls:

And apparently a daughter who is proficient at angry birds.

Next I took all the curtains, window valance thingys, queen headboard, venetian blinds and cell shades down. Fully dismantled and ready to be sassified:

The original, straight from the manufacturer look to the dismantled, oh-boy-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into look:

And you might notice on the taken apart photo, I had already begun to sew the new side curtain panels:

First I laid all the original panels on the new fabric to get measurements....and to take before/after photos :) Then I serged and finished the edges. On the bottom I left a pocket so they could slide over the wall mounted curtain end holders:

The tops had to be gathered and then velcro sewn on. Yup, these hang from the cornice thingys by industrial strength VELCRO. I love it! It means whenever my kiddos pull on them (because you know they will) and rip them down, nothing is damaged. It's just velcro. No problem!

Hoo boy, this post is getting too long! Next up: recovering the window cornice thingys.

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 3: Bright, Bold and Beautiful Fabric...

I was on another trailer stuff gathering shopping excursion and found my first color inspiration piece. It was super late at night and I had left the kiddos at home with my Hubby...didn't really want to repeat the poo accident episode.

So, I'm walking through the world of Wally and saw this pillow....and Ka-Chow! another light bulb moment!

This pillow really helped me decide what my final colors would be. Within a few days later I had ordered a large amount of fabric up for consideration.

My main fabric choice was this Premier Prints funky chevron number:

This premier prints Zoom-Zoom Village Blue was the perfect fit for designing a fresh, YOUNGER, modern style for my trailer sassification project. And the rest of my design board:

Also, for the bunk beds I decided to personalize their curtains and bedding. The fabric design board for their bunks:

Orange and navy chevron zigzag and stripes for Bubbalu on the left, pink elephants and chocolate brown polka dots for Lil Chick on the right.

ALL fabrics are the Premier Prints brand, purchased at Fabric.com. I am in LOVE with Premier Prints fabrics. They have wonderfully modern, fresh, bright prints for home decor. I've been extremely happy with them! Also, they are super inexpensive. We're talking like $7.50 a yard....so I can change my mind often and it's totally OK. Click HERE to see all that's available, if you dare!

Oh, did I also mention? Spend $35 and you get FREE SHIPPING. Awesomesauce.

Next up in the series: sticky, yucky wallpaper removal - UGH....

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 2: Before Tour...

OK, before I delve much deeper into this blog series we should do a formal BEFORE tour....so you can see the differences AFTER the project posts!

Hi there, how are you? Meet our newest family member:

Her name is Lumi (Loooo - Rhymes with 'Moo'....Me - Rhymes with, uh, 'Bee').

She's a new extra light travel trailer with bunk beds and bathroom in back, front queen bedroom and a large tip out.

This pic was taken while were going on our maiden voyage....err, campage trip this Memorial Day weekend.....and it's about 8 AM....and I am sleeping in my cozy bed. The kiddos were WAY too excited to go to bed at any sort of normal time and had also been up a few times that night (They still think that going potty in the trailer is a fun novelty)... and then woke up super early. Super fun times! My hubby, in my best interest and playing a strong offensive move in the game of crabby wife, gifted me with a few extra hours to sleep in and took the kiddos fishing. Smart man :)

And check it out, they were successful! Lil Chick was less than thrilled about the slimy fish. Look at her facial expressions:

Back to the tour. Here is the floor plan of our Passport 2650BH Travel Trailer:

Walk in the front door and you are looking into the main living area. Here are the before pics of the Dinette, Couch and Wallpaper:

Oh yes, the weird tacked down curtains and cornice top thingys as well.

Next up, turn to your right and you see the main bedroom:

4 inch foam mattress, blah divider curtains, more weird curtains, ho hum bedding, no sheets and also a "headboard". Yes, I'll put that in quotations. It's an OK room, just not my style!

Next you turn to the left and you see the kitchen:

Lots o' wallpaper and another window cornice.

Lastly, head to the back and you see the bunks:

No, these are not the same pic :) CLOSE. But not the same. Notice they have blinds. Not quiet cellular shades, but loud, scare you awake when you bump them in the middle of the night, blinds. Also, looooong pull strings. Um, choking hazard? Yes. My Bubbalu would use them for some sort of mischief. That's for sure. Took those down right away.

So. What have we learned today?

1. Amanda likes PicMonkey.com
2. Amanda likes to make collages with PicMonkey.com
3. Lil Chick doesn't like slimy fish
4. Tour of Lumi is complete
5. My Hubby is smart :)

Next post, new fabric choices!

Whatcha up to today? I'll be busy today sewing a casual summer dress for Lil Chick. We have a large family photo session with my Hubby's family coming up soon and she needs some new sassyness.

Also, my Bubbalu finished preschool yesterday! I can't believe he's ready for kindergarten in the fall. And.....summer vacay from school has now begun. This Mama will most definitely be surfing Pinterest for summer entertainment ideas! My cousin Maria introduced me to the idea of busy bags and I am LOVING THEM. Such a good idea.

See y'all soon-

Amanda- Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 1: Shower Curtain...

First of all, I apologize for the travel trailer sassification posting delay. See, we were busy actually USING our new trailer (Lumi) for the first time. You know, the main point of having a trailer. Not for shredding it to pieces and revamping it; for CAMPING. Err....glamping :)

OK, here goes.

It aaaaaalllll started with a shower curtain.

I'm in the middle of Fred Meyer with a list a MILE long of stuff I'm looking for to outfit our new travel trailer. Cooking hardware, organizational stuff, utensils, storage bins, etc....

The kiddos are being less than helpful. I have them side by side in that weird car cart at Freddy's that had the kiddos high and up front "steering" the cart.

After breaking up eleventry hundred fights, reminding them eleventry hundred times to stop shrieking in the store, picking up my clipboard eleventry hundred times after they knocked it to the floor (Yes, I shop with a clipboard. Yes, I am a nerd. Hey, at least its not a fanny pack. ) I decided to go for it and let them stay in the Fred Meyer kid play area.

I'm one of those nervous types of Mama. Kinda wary regarding these kinds of child care centers. However, after having heard positive things about it from other Mama's that I trust, I decided to check it out. Yup, loved the system and the safety features and went for it. Bubbalu was pounding on the locked entrance door chanting, "let me in, let me in!" A pretty good sign.

Was a SMART Mama and took the kiddos to the potty first.

Yup.

So, I was now blissfully child-free and finally able to tackle my list.

Fast forward 10 minutes. I'm pushing my (now empty of children) ginormous child car cart through the store, knocking items off my list. I find this gorgeous light aqua blue modern print shower curtain...and Ka-ChoW! Light bulb moment.

I say to myself, oh yes, I am GOING to find a way to switch out the current blah trailer shower curtain to this sassy one.

I'm holding the shower curtain in my hand when I hear this crackly overhead page,

"AMANDA ------- --------, WOULD YOU PLEASE RETURN TO THE CHILD CARE CENTER"

Oh. CRAP.

At this point I'm guessing Bubbalu has jumped off a table or something and broke his arm. And please remember: It's been approximately ELEVEN minutes since I checked them in the child care center.

For real.

I get there and Lil Chick is bawling! Turns out she has had an accident. A HUGE accident. A poo in the pants accident.

Oh. CRAP.

Literally.

Thankfully, I had thrown the sassy shower curtain into my cart. And by golly, I am NOT leaving the store without my sassy shower curtain. And all the other random stuff in my now full cart.

Picture this: A now flustered Mama pushing a full-of-products-yet-still-childless child car cart around to the checkout line with one hand while the other hand is holding Lil Chick's hand. (There is NO way I'm going to carry her. Poo squishing down the side of my shirt and pants?! No thanks. Been there done that.)

Another SMART Mama move: I choose the Family Friendly checkout lane.

Because only a compassionate fellow parent can even possibly begin to understand my plight when my child is SCREAMING at the top of her little yet mighty lungs:

"I HAVE POOP! IN! MY! UNDERWEAR!"

Broken record? Yes. Screamed this delightful little phrase from the time I first arrived at the child care center to pick her up, through the entire checking out process, aaaaalll the way to Lola (our Tahoe) in the back of the lot, and about halfway home....at which point Mama remembers that she has a random Dora DVD in the car and by golly, that "we use the car TV only for LONG car trips" rule is going to be broken.

Stopped crying about three notes into the Dora theme song.

ANYWHO. Yes, a poo accident in a store. Just another lovely entry in my parenting diary.

Back to the main point. I found a sassy shower curtain to replace the blah one that came with the trailer. I first seam ripped the handing hardware off the original shower curtain. Then I cut and hemmed the new shower curtain to size since a trailer shower is much smaller than a regular shower. Instead of a traditional shower bar and rings we have glide tracks in our trailer bathroom with glide tape sewn to the very top edge of the shower curtain.

Glide tape is flexible plastic strips with little clips every 6 inches or so:

Using a zipper foot on your sewing machine, set your (hefty upholstery size) needle to a side position:

and sew along the top and bottom of the plastic glide tape strip directly onto the top inside of your fabric:

Trim off the excess and you are done! Snap that sassy curtain up onto the slide tape and take some photos:

SO much better. More projects to come! Next time I'll be able to do full before/after photos as I wizened up and started snapping pics before I took things apart.

Off I go to clean my (ignored-for-a-month-because-I-was-sassifying-our-trailer) house...

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Mojo. Heritage. RV Upholstery. Yup, hold on to your socks...

Schneikees, I've been neglecting this blog. Again.

I've thought about taking a permanent break on this blogging thingymajig because you can't really predict if you've got the bloggy mojo or not.

And that mojo has been sparse this year. Sparse, I tell ya.

It tends to show up when I'm adequately rested, fed, exercised, and all is right in my parenting world.

Um, yeah. That's not often.

However, I like this thing. I like just blurting out whatever I want to blurt out.

I can talk about my kids. Or shopping. Or parenting failures. Or parenting successes. Or crafting and sewing (LOVE). Or DIY. Or decorating. Or Pinterest. Or cooking.

It's just my slice of life. And in the end? I'm blogging for my family. I hope my kiddos can look back on what I wrote and (aside from immense guilt at the potty training torture they put me through) feel like they really get me. Like they really know me.

And in the end that's all that matters. Not fortune or fame or any worldly possession or accolade. It's all about the heritage of our family.

Whoa. Didn't mean to get so deep there. Quick, let's change the subject before I bawl all over the keyboard.

So, what's new with you? Are all three of you still here?

Our latest news: We finally bought a travel trailer, YAY! We are a family seriously in love with camping. Er....I mean GLAMping. Heh. My hotel on wheels isn't exactly "roughing it". I don't care if you are sleeping on the ground in your shirt or are in a huge deluxe RV, it is an awesome way to build family memories and have some fun. Once again, our family heritage had a huge influence on our love of camping...{sniff!}...We both grew up in camping families and have multiple camping trips planned this summer. Often with the grandparents....er, often with BOTH sets of the grandparents! Oh its just SO lovely when your parents and in-laws are friends :)

Anywho, back to the travel trailer:

Guess what? I tore the entire thing apart and sassified it.

Yep, it was a brand new trailer.

Yep, I tore it apart.

What can I say, my hubby loves me (and deeply trusts me too, I guess!). And he gets me. He knows this kind of creative project breathes joy and life into my soul.

So, I'm a thinking I should show you my huge six week project of sassifying our new travel trailer. Yes? Yes.

See you soon. I think. Maybe. We'll see...

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Spring 2012 Collection...

Hi there! I've been busy boosting my Etsy shop inventory, adding lots and lots of fabric choices for infinity scarves as well as a whole slew of Mash-Em Up infinity scarves.

Here is a quick looksee at some of the VintageDutchGirl Spring 2012 Collection:

C'mon by and check out the rest over at the shop !

Off to sew some more...

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Burnt Umber Blossom Winner!

Thank you to all who entered to win the Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf!

So sorry, but there can only be ONE winner. And to keep it fair I use Random.org to, you guessed it, randomly choose the winner for me:

Comment #77 is:

Congratulations Lisa! I will be contacting you shortly.

Thanks again to all who entered to win!

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Setting Diapers on Fire…

My husband and I set a diaper on fire last night.

It all started with a baby shower game. You know, the game where you melt different chocolate candy bars in numbered diapers and have the participants try to guess what candy bars are in each diaper. I call it the 'Sniff A Poo!" game. Baby shower awesomeness!

I was also planning on making cupcakes for this baby shower but found I was out of sprinkles, frosting, and cupcake liners. Pretty much everything except a cake mix. Off to the grocery store I went. I found oodles of sprinkles in bulk and had a mighty fun time choosing a huge variety of colors. You know, for all my future sprinkle needs. One can never have too many sprinkle options. And can I just say? Bulk is the way to go in the purchasing of candy sprinkles. I think I spent a total of $3.00 and have 7 new sprinkles.

WOW, I sure have a lot to say about sprinkles. I'm sure all three of you who are reading this are sitting in shock and amazement at the level of entertainment this post has achieved.

While shopping, some other bulk candies jumped into my cart as well. Don't really know how THAT happened. Not that I'm complaining. I was nice and let them stay. I'm in the car driving home (happily munching on some of those jumpy chocolate covered peanuts) when I realize that I forgot a KEY component in the cupcake making process.

The cupcake liners.

Back to the grocery store I go. However, I went to a different grocery store to avoid the shame and embarrassment of having to return to the sprinkle grocery store. Yes, I will call it the Sprinkle Grocery Store from now on. It has a nice ring to it, dontcha think!?

Fast forward three hours: Cupcakes are made and cooling and I'm in our office designing a 'Sniff A Poo?' guessing game sheet. My hubby is melting chocolate candy bars in diapers in the microwave. You know, for the game. Soon, he yells to me that he set something on fire. Um, what?

Turns out, there was a chocolo-diaper hot spot and it burned a huge hole in the middle of the diaper. Whoops. Turns out diapers can catch on fire. Good to know! I for one have never seen a warning on a diaper box: Do NOT Microwave Diapers, risk of fire.

Our house STUNK despite opening windows to air it out. This morning? Same yucky smell. I'm hesitant to use the microwave. If I reheat my coffee will it taste like a burnt diaper? Probably.

I'll let you know how the game goes. For your future baby shower hosting needs, here is a free printable of the Baby Shower melted candy bar 'Sniff a Poo!" game sheet:

Print off as many as you like.

Speaking of things being burnt, the Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf Giveaway ends this Saturday the 31st of March:

Get your entries in! Up to seven possible entries! See post HERE.

Off to clean my house...

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Burnt Umber Blossom Giveaway!

One should not celebrate thine birthday alone. Or be selfish with thy gifts.

SO. Let's GIVE SOMETHING AWAY!

OK, this has been a LOoooooong time coming, time for a chance to win a Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf!

This has been a super popular scarf on my Vintage Dutch Girl ETSY shop, and for good reason, it is a gorgeous blossom print on a trendy mustard colored background:

All the normal giveaway rules apply!

HOW TO ENTER:

1. LEAVE ME A COMMENT just saying hi!

2. Earn another entry by FOLLOWING ME via the Google Friend Connect Follow Me doodad located on the right sidebar and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you signed up or already DO follow Vintage Dutch Girl.

3. Earn another entry by adding the VintageDutchGirl ETSY shop to your favorite shop list (by HEARTING the shop) and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did or already have it on your heart list!

4. Earn another entry by liking the VintageDutchGirl Facebook Page and LEAVE ME ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

5. STILL need some more entries? Whew...OK. Earn another entry (if you're still counting, that's up to FIVE) by posting or sharing this giveaway (with the link!!!) on your FACEBOOK personal, shop and/or business page and LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

6. TWEET this giveaway (with links of course) and LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so.

7. BLOG this giveaway and link to it....then guess what? Yup, LEAVE ANOTHER COMMENT telling me you did so and include link please!

(Giveaway only open to residents of USA and Canada)

*Why so many entry possibilities? I want to say THANK YOU to those who read and follow along with my blabberings and projects!*

I will leave the contest open thru SATURDAY, MARCH 31st, 10 PM PST at which time I will select a winner through Random.org and post the results.

Remember!!! You do NOT have to run a blog or have a google/gmail account to enter. Just click in as anonymous and make sure you tack your first name and email on the bottom of your comment so I can contact you if you win.

Enter enter enter and I hope you win!

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Friday, March 16, 2012

Keepin' it Real - Office Revamp...

Heyya there!

I am up to my earlobes with reorganizing/purging/cleaning/revamping our home.

We have a LOT of stuff that really does not enhance our lives. So, it's getting tossed out. Or rather, donated to our school thrift store.

Evidence of our madness:

I firmly believe in the ministry of mediocrity.

Aka: KEEPIN' IT REAL, GIRLFRIEND.

First up, home office.

My hubby does part of his office management from home and needed some more storage, filing cabinets, ya know....STUFF.

So that meant:

New furniture! YAY!

Shopped forevah and finally settled on Ballard Designs Tuscan Furniture Collection.
It FINALLY arrived, was set up, and I am slowly getting this office fully functional.

(Functional roughly translated: To have the ability to surf Pinterest at all times.)

Nah, not really (yes, really).

I've been looking (Pinterest, of course) and came up with a bunch of office organization ideas.

Our office is technically coded as a bedroom and has a nice large closet in it. Since our house has a shamefully low amount of storage we are going to maximize that closet.

One half of the closet will be for game storage. Yes....games.

Because we are nerds who have an insane amount of games that need to be stored. Carcassonne? Settlers? Dominion? With every single expansion you've ever heard of?! Yep, nerds like that.

Keepin' it real submission #2:

I tell ya, every time I try to ease a game or puzzle out of the pile three more smack me in the face. OUCH.

The other half of our office closet is for supplies and will hopefully look something like this:

Source: bhg.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Everything in its rightful place. Ah, the dream closet.

The reality:

I'll have you know I took this photo while standing on top of my large upright piano. Yep, risking my life to display my messy office. Keepin' it real.

And in closing, keepin' it real submission #4:

I'll have you know I took this photo well over a week ago...and that little orange snack bowl?

It's still there.

Like I said, keepin it REAL.

Off to sort through piles and pick up a little orange snack bowl...

Amanda- VintageDutchGirl

VintageDutchGirl is on Facebook...I chit chat over there when I'm not doing crafting to avoid my housework. C'mon over and say hi :)

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )