Grandma

Lillian Agnes Stephen September 11, 1925 to July 24, 2011.


My Grandparents on their wedding day in the 1940s.

I have been somewhat offline here recently. My grandmother passed away this week. Today was her funeral and I started thinking about some of the part that she has played in my life.

Both of my grandmothers at my wedding in 1998.

She was a child of the depression a very thrifty person. She had more of a waste not want not lifestyle. She saved bits of used tin foil, was a bag washer, and taught me many other ways to pinch pennies. Today we would just call that being green! Some of this was from raising 6 children which must not have been easy at times especially with 5 boys and 1 girl.

The part I remember most is how she used to love to go to all the garage sales on Fridays and Saturdays. She took me along with her several times and I remember she would let me pick out some jewelry and some other odds and ends. If anyone was looking for anything in particular you could tell her and usually she would be able to find it for you down to a lid for your old Corningware dish!

She also had a back room in her house that would rival my stock room now. Our only difference is that I like to share my finds online while she would stockpile and then would have a garage sale every now and then. But, she understood that older and vintage items had value. In that way, she was ahead of her times. The last several years after her stroke she was unable to attend garage sales. I'd like to think that she would be very proud of me and my online vintage shop and had she been able to get out and do some shopping herself she would have made quite an asset to my shop!

Grandma with my daughter in 2001.

She was a fun loving person who had a strong faith, loved family, playing card games and dancing. Who always had a smile and she will be dearly missed by many.

Project Twilight Bungalow

Until recently I never really gave this camper a second look or really even a second thought. Then as of Monday I gave myself three short weeks to revamp the inside and get this show on the road! My idea was to make this thing a funky and fun way to travel that was unique and one of a kind.

My vision is to have a vintage kitch shabby chic travel theme! Now it's up to me to try to pull these different design ideas and make them work together. I had been hoarding vintage maps and funky old vacation postcards for a long time and thought that somehow I could incorporate them into this camper and thought why not decoupage the walls with them. The cabinet fronts and a few of the walls painted a pale aqua, and the refrigerator had to be painted with chalk board paint for notes and menus. Retro polka dotted fabric covered headboards, striped, floral, and burlap pillowcases with some old lace mixed in and for bedding I had to use my great grandmothers shabby chic quilts.

For the kitchen I have this idea of using many vintage mason jars, tins, enamelware, vintage aprons, and for table ware nothing but teal Texas Ware melamine would do!

I plan on packing a few vintage Samsonite suitcases full of arts and craft supplies, stationary, games, playing cards, dice, and anything I can think of that is small that will keep us entertained.

I am going to make a handmade journal that we can use to document every trip that we take with this camper. On the walls I incorporated vintage maps form Kansas, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma because these are the places we are most likely to be visiting and my idea is to place a pin in every place that we go.

Eventually I would like to paint the stripe down the outside of this camper turquoise instead of the olive green that is currently there.

This will be my home away from home and my playhouse when I am at home.

As a way to keep me motivated I found a small group of women who agreed to make something every single day with their very own hands. We are working Monday through Friday and are giving ourselves the weekends off. You can follow us on Twitter using the hashtag #onemonthtwohands


BEFORE: Oh so boring......

Day 1 Project Twilight Bungalow: Maps go up!


Day 2 Project Twilight Bungalow: Paint Goes on!


Day 3 Project Twilight Bungalow: New polka dotted fabric upholstery!