Caravan Dreams

This week, I've mostly been obsessing about all things Caravan related. I've spent a disgusting amount of time on the internet soaking up some amazing caravanny inspiration and making one or two caravanny purchases. I am currently awaiting delivery of some Mod Podge (to carry out inner cupboard and door makeovers with wrapping paper/wallpaper, inspired by this and this), plus some amazing sticky back plastic that I found on ebay (see here). Oh and I'm bidding (with fingers and toes crossed) on a sweet little 1970's cutlery tray to house my most extravagant Connievan purchase (see here). My oh my, I am having SO much fun!!

On Wednesday afternoon I spent a truly pleasurable few hours with Connievan, it was great being able to walk down the road to her with Little B (she's about a mile away). I made us a little packed lunch so that we could eat when we got there, and I took down the two cushions that I made last month. It was a sweet moment when I put the cushions in place, they look amazing with the crochet blankets look.....

The colours match incredibly well to say that I made them without actually seeing the blankets.

The blankets have been in the 'van all winter (forgot to fetch them out), and thankfully they are absolutely fine. Connie has a wee bit of a damp issue on one of her side panels, but it's kind of inside the panel itself if you see what I mean and doesn't affect the interior at all. In fact, she is remarkably warm, dry and cosy for a twenty year old gal.

As soon as I arrived I opened up all the windows to let some air breeze through and spent a bit of time cleaning around the kitchen area. Then it was time to begin with a little bit of prettifying, yipppeeeee! I stuck up some lovely little hen hooks that I bought last year using a magical "No More Nails" type of adhesive, wow, what great stuff that is! I had plans to put up lots of little pictures that I've been collecting too, but forgot to bring the blutack with me, so that will wait till next time.

I also did a little bit of outside prettifying too.....remember me telling you I'd bought some flowery stickers? Well...........take a look................

♥

Ta-dah!! I put a few around the door, plus some on the front and back. I couldn't go too mental with it as J has already been raising his eyebrows at  the whole idea of me sticking things on Connievan. So I had to be restrained, but they do look so sweet. A bit silly maybe, but I don't much care, they make me happy and that's what counts.

Now then, are you familiar with the Little Grey Rabbit books? They're the sweetest, most adorable books written in the  1930's by Alison Uttley and illustrated by Margaret Tempest. I LOVED them as a child, and the top two books on that pile there are from my own childhood collection, published in the early 1960's. The others were bought for me from a car boot sale by my mother in law for 50p each, and were published in the '80's.

The characters and the stories are enchanting (I re-read them regularly even now as an adult), but it's the illustrations that really make my heart squeeze.

Oh sooooo incredibly sweet, don't you think? That wonderful patchwork quilt calls out to me every time!

Little Grey Rabbit lives in the cutest woodland cottage. It's furnished simply, with brick floors, green painted windows, buttery yellow walls and THE MOST ADORABLE blue and white gingham curtains.

For some reason I have always loved these curtains. So it'll come as no surprise to you if I tell you that I am making blue and white gingham curtains for Connievan. Yeah, you already saw that coming didn't you?

I bought a great long length of gingham fabric from Ebay last year and made a start with them, but didn't get too far at the time. I'm determined to get them finished this week though, as we're taking Connie out on a trip next week.

Would you like to see where I'm at with my curtain revamp?

Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had the nifty idea of combining blue and white checks with a little bit of red floral and a dash of ric rac. Do you like?

The floral fabric just runs as a band across the bottom, to add an extra bit of va-va-voom to the whole effect. I confess I am quite madly in love with them. It's proving to be a tough ol' job though. I'm keeping the original curtains as they are lined and in good shape, and am *simply* stitching the gingham panels on top. It's not easy. I tried to do the first one with the machine, but the curtain fabric was too thick (it's a thick velvet) and it all went pear shaped. So I painstakingly unpicked the dreadful machine stitching and began the whole thing again by hand.

It's laborious work, and probably my least favourite type of sewing. Little invisible hemming stitches, hundreds and hundreds of them. Thousands probably.

I sat last night in the Big Chair by the bay window and managed to do one whole curtain. Only nine more to go then. But as I sit and stitch, my mind wanders off into Caravan Dreamland. I start to think of fairy lights and paper lanterns and pretty floral bunting and dotty tablecloths and stripy picnic rugs and granny square blankets and piles of squishy patchwork cushions.....it's so happy and colourful and cosy and carefree in Caravan Dreamland!

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ps I've got a Caravan Dream board over on Pinterest if you want to go have a peek

I also found a couple of fabulous websites yesterday whilst getting lost in Pinterest, they are full of lovely caravanny things.....

http://getcampie.com/

http://littlevintagetrailer.com

pps one last thing....you can read my original post about Connievan here. I'll take some more pics of her interior soon to show you. I love her SO much! ♥

xx

Edit to add :: Thanks for the pincushion love, I made it a few years ago using the Anna Maria Horner pattern here.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Bethany]

I've never heard of Alison Uttley and the Little Grey Rabbit books. They remind me of Beatrix Potter and her books, though, and we LOVE those. I will have to dig around online and see if I can find some copies!

[jeu de voiture en ligne]

I like it! thanks for charing!

[Rachell]

Happy days!

[Bari Jo]

This looks like so.much.fun!

[Stevie Godson]

Your blog gives me so much pleasure that I thought I would return the favour and tell you how to make your own Mod Podge. It's so expensive and used to be unavailable in South Africa, where I live (I'm a misplaced English gal!), so I had no choice but to make a plan.
This works just as well at a fraction of the cost: Buy a large container of wood (white) glue. Mix some in a glass jar with water (1 third glue to 2 thirds water). Mix well and use exactly as you would use Mod Podge. It dries exactly the same way, too. If you don't want the mixture to be quite so runny, you can add a little more glue. It keeps well with the lid on the jar – just stir well again each time you use it.

[Shawna]

I grew up with Little Grey Rabbit and you are the first person I have ever come across who has heard of them. Thanks for making me smile!

[Debbie in London]

I looked on here for an email address but couldn't find one, so posting this here.

I came across this today, and thought of you!
http://folksy.com/items/2534369-I-love-my-Caravan-Wall-Hanging

[Silvia]

FANTASTIC!

[lori]

i have connievan envy! my friend just bought a small trailer that is undergoing the same transformation, with a little gypsy twist!

[Sue]

Hi, love the connievan titivating that is going on. I'm also hooking my first ever striped granny. Thanks for sharing.

[RainStorm]

I still can't get over those beautiful stripy cushions! Will have to check out your caravan pinterest board too :)

[Lianne]

Those curtains look awesome, can't wait to see them when they are finished.

[beberouge]

OOO I dream of one day being able to have a caravan to beautify all of my own, but I have to admit mine is a selfish want as I want one to turn into a little space all for me and all my crafty goodies. xx

[Laura Miller]

Oh Lucy how your post brought back many many memories of my childhood! In the 60s and 70s my grandparents (Nan & Gramps) had a caravan down at Beauport Park in Hastings and most of our summer weekends were spent down there. Their first caravan was not dissimilar to yours and my Nan was an ace at crochet - she even made crochet curtains!!! Enjoy every moment in Connievan and made wonderful memories for your children!!! xxx

[Christa]

Love your Connievan posts! We also own a 20 years' old caravan, but it does not look half as pretty. My husband already raises his eyebrows when I am suggesting changing the pillows, let alone sticking flowers on it ;-) Hopefully he will change his mind someday.

[Jennifer]

What a beautiful colourful post and Alison Uttley books too. You're making me all nostalgic, as my favourite book while growing up was, "The Country Child." I loved that book so much, especially the chapter about waking up on Christmas Day. If you haven't read it, it's written for an older child and I think it's still available on line. I suspect you and Little Lady would both like it.

I really like Better Homes and Gardens and my local newsagent keeps me my monthly copy. If only there were fewer ads for medication and more crafting, it would be almost perfect.

[Sue]

I Love what you're doing to Connievan, it's adorable. I also love the pictures in the Little Grey Rabbit books, they remind me of the books I used to read my girls when they were very little, in fact they are some of the few childhood books that I kept for them. They are Brambly Hedge, by Jill Barklem, I just love the pictures in these books. Have you seen them? They were a gift from my Mum from Marks and Spencers. These books were published in 1980 although I don't know when the first edition came out.
Have lots of fun finishing up decorating Connievan for your trip next week. I look forward to seeing your curtains hanging up soon!

[Maggie Cawthorn]

I love what you are doing with the caravan. The curtains are lovely. The Little Grey Rabbit books were my favourite and I bought a couple from a vintage fair last week. One of my favourite things was the cowslip ball!! Every time I see cowslips I think of that.

[Katherine]

I've heard that Modgepodge can leave things feeling sticky - you might want to test it out before committing to it! Hope it works, can't wait to see the pictures.

[Misty]

Lucy, where to start everything is so cute and sweet. I love the new curtains and the stickers are so cute. Personally I think you can never have enough stickers....the pincushion is adorable. Have fun camping next weekend as we are going camping also need to finish up our little things to take too. Have a great time.
Happy Thoughts,
Misty and Pets

[Naomi @ redeemcreations.co.uk]

Beautiful as ever Lucy. A little ray of colourful sunshine at the end of a long day! Connievan seems to be a little patch of paradise for you - I hope you get lots of chances to enjoy her this year. What happy memories your children will have!

[Margaret Powling]

I have tried and tried to leave comments, but they never appear. Trying again, to see if this works!
Margaret P

[Julie]

The blue gingham is perfect with the red floral, going to be beautiful.

[KayElleC]

My Flossie-van hasn't come out of hibernation yet as our pulling car is hospitalised at the moment...undergoing major computer and immobilser surgery!

Can't wait to get her tho' as I have a little plan (when she's on the drive) to escape to her in the evenings to make things for her!

Ssshhhhhhh! Don't tell the hubby! He thinks I'm mad already (he raises his eyes when he sees me photographing 'odd' things, blogging, surfing for Flossie-van purchases, so a crafty ideaway may push him over the edge!

He and J should get together and swap stories! Hahaha!

It's ALL fab Luce....thanks for the inspiration, colour and sharing xx

[Sandra Licher]

I needed your wonderful inspiration today! I do need to mow the lawn first but then watch out! I love the books and the darling illustrations and I love gingham. I especially love the way you added the bottom red print and the rick rack! OH! It's just precious! You are just a fabulous color coordinator! You make everything you touch cozy and homey and joyful! I can't imagine how cute that connievan is going to be when you're done with it. Thank you so much for the inspiration! I really needed a "pick me up" and although I don't have a camper..I have a house! I'm thinking of the inside the cupboards re-vamp! Oh yeah! It might even inspire me to clean them out! LOL! Have a wonderful time this weekend and Happy Jubilee!