VINTAGE CAMPERS

On a cold weekend before the big love day, I wanted to make some sort of Valentine that was vintage camper related.  So I came up with these DIY Vintage Camper Hand Warmers.

I initially thought of felt and fabric campers decorated like Valentines with some lace,  but it seemed a bit weak.  Like, what do you do with it?  Cute. Thanks. Toss aside.

So when I stumbled across some heart shaped hand warmers on Pinterest I knew that was the answer.  Valentine felt & leather vintage camper hand warmers are totally usable and seasonal!

I had my project ingredients on hand already, except the silver soutache trim.  That was ordered from Amazon after the silver ribbon I had didn’t work out so well.  The white leather was a sample I took from a designer showroom some time ago for an eventual craft project.  Its time has now come!

IMG_7666The camper cookie cutter was used to trace campers onto red felt & white leather & one of my vintage camper Christmas ornaments was a guide.  Once the campers were cut out I outlined them with the silver soutache trim.  Then added the Z stripe onto the red & white camper, again with a whip stitch & nylon thread.

I planned to put doors & windows on using darker felts but decided I liked the campers more simple.  I stitched the heart to the white camper, whip stitched a back side (booty!) onto each of them and called it done, mostly…  they still needed the beans and final stitch up!  Around here we use pinto beans!

Simply put them in the microwave for 30 seconds, or safely over a low campfire in a metal container or wrapped up in foil, and then tuck them in your pockets on a cold night!

They’re so much better for mama earth than those disposable hand warmers!  Plus these cutie little pocket pals will make a great gift for a happy camper!

Version 2I’m not sure these will be necessary for too long here in Texas, but with a hovering cold front, for now, they’re awfully handy!

When it comes to making Christmas ornaments, of course I had to make some vintage camper ornaments! Using a vintage camper cookie cutter as a template for the ornaments and some fun textured scrapbook paper, I cut mini vintage campers out in pairs of mirror images and then assembled them using 1″ strips of paper to […]

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Glamorous camping.  I love the idea of it.  Of glamping.  Adding a few special touches like some unnecessary but pretty accessories, flowers, special dishes and glassware, and some texture, like these faux furs and tablecloth, to create a luxurious layer on top of your usual camping basics.   It adds style to an otherwise mundane setup.    […]

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After our inaugural trip in Peggy Hill, we noticed that we could benefit from some more counter space, for storage in particular.  Get a few boozehounds in there and the bottles start to stack up pretty quickly!  With so much real estate on the backsplash over the stove, I decided some shelves would be nice to help get […]

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It’s been cold and rainy here lately which usually triggers a sudden need to bake. Wanting to make a vintage camper cake, I started looking for other camper cake examples and was a little scared to see so many beautifully sculpted miniature camper cake replicas.  While I enjoy decorating cakes, I am not the best […]

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