Sunday, December 16, 2012

Festively Ugly!

My co-workers had an Christmas party this weekend and we had a blast. I am proud to announce, I was the winner of the Ugly Sweater Competition, this lovely Goodwill find from 4-5 years ago has not let me down yet! 
Merry Christmas!!






Sunday, October 14, 2012

Camping Adventure!

We took a short trip to Loveland/Estes Park and surrounding areas at the end of September and it was a wonderful,  relaxed escape from our daily life. We had no itinerary, no plan, only that we wanted some alone time and test out the newly finished Jaywren travel trailer... aka "Carlos the Camper." 

Here are a few snap shots of our adventure, ENJOY!


First night in the camper = success!

Yum, pancakes and coffee!


I will admit, the outside really needs some work to match the inside. :/

relaxing.









As you can see we had a great time, we can't wait for our next camping adventure. Maybe by then we will have the outside of the camper spritzed up a little bit so we don't look like the young couple with the "crappy" camper!  :)

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Maiden Voyage is Upon Us

Ta Da! It is finally here... we have been working hard and I can finally see the light at the end of the "Carlos" tunnel. We are leaving this afternoon to take Carlos on our maiden voyage camping trip to Loveland, CO. I am so excited!


Now I can't say that the 1972 Jayco Jay Wren travel trailer is completely finished, but it is about 95% done and totally liveable at the moment (we are still sans drawers and front cabinets to the counter top--Ryan has been procrastinating from doing this part of the project as I am not sure he knows how to make a drawer fit properly! lol)

Nevertheless, take a peek at the "almost" finished project and let me know what you think!



Finished Dinette Area



Finished back corner where the bench folds out for a full bed.

HAPPY CAMPER!

I love my rooster!

No drawers yet... but we will get to that!


Chevron is my favorite. And I love the personal touch of our dinette table.

Kitchen Counter/Prep area


The back corner is the bathroom turned closet!

Thanks for looking! Now we need to start working on painting the exterior. Happy camping. I will post some pics of our camping trip when we get back!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Slower than a Snail's Pace.

I wish I could say that the 1972 Jayco Jaywren (aka Carlos) is finished and ready to make its way out the back yard (where it has sat for the past 10 months), but our "little project" seems to be taking its own sweet time with getting finished. However, now that it has actually cooled down a bit here in Kansas (no longer 105+ degrees every day of the week--for weeks on end), there might be hope in sight.

We actually got some rain yesterday (desperately needed as we are in severe drought conditions), which provided us with some interesting information that our camper still is NOT leak proof. We found some water leakage near the back of the trailer by where we installed the new window, so we are quickly trying to remedy that situation with some clear sealant around all the of the possible entry points. We will let you know how that turns out if we ever get any rain again!

Otherwise, here is just a little update/photos on a few of the finishing touches of the camper...




 Our new dinette table. The updating process included cutting thick MDF board to the correct size and spray painting it blue to give it some color. To add a personal touch to the space, added a Kansas map and some photos of me and Ryan from our previous camping expeditions.  To seal off the top of the table to protect the map and pictures, we added plexiglass screwed down with washers. We though about sealing it with an epoxy, however I wasn't thrilled about attempting it because I have heard it can be a big project/mess. Plus, the added flexibility of the plexiglass is that we can change map/photos as we please.

If you notice our little "late night" mess up with screwing the hardware to the bead board IN THE WRONG SPOT... I am currently trying to think of a little fix for that. Any ideas?


MEET GEOFFREY THE GIRAFFE... the newest and quirkiest addition to the camper. Found him at World Market for under $15 bucks. I am in love.

Now we have somewhere for Ryan to hang his hat!

Cute print that will be going on the way courtesy of Elisabeth on Etsy. Visit her shop here: Poppy and Pinecone.
I guess I am going to have to screw all the decorations/artwork on the walls. I originally used 3M sticky tabs, however I have found with the extreme heat/change in temperatures of Kansas, THEY DO NOT WORK to keep things on the walls of the camper.  Anyone have ideas to keep things up on the wall through the heat and bumping down the road when the camper is in commission?


I gave the awning a fresh coat of white paint and painted the Jayco logo by hand in a fun shade of blue!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Time flies when you are having fun!

One Wonderful Year!

Of course I have been pintresting lately and I saw the cutest idea. Find it here. The idea is to take yearly pictures to see yourself grow old together. Thus, I found the chalkboard tray that I DIYed awhile back and grabbed our trusty tripod to help capture our first year anniversary.  Here are our two favorites:





Personally, I like the fact that we were able to take these pictures ourselves. It definitely made for a cheap photo-shoot! If you are looking for a (free) site to help edit your own photo, check out Pixlr.

Have a safe and cool 4th of July!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Close only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand-grenades

Carlos (our 1972 Jayco Jaywren) is starting to look slightly glamporous...

This week Ryan got the cabinet closer to being finished. The supports when up and laminate counter-top (which we bought on the cheap at "Menards" for $16) was secured. Since all of that was in place... I finally got to do something fun... put up the back splash! It's not quite finished yet, but here is a sneak pic. 

Our new counter and counter-top



My handy work with our new aluminum back splash!


Not quite finished, but getting closer



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Progress Straight Ahead

The Saga continues.... 


           So we have worked on Carlos (1972 Jayco Jay Wren)  for about 1 week and half straight... and so far this is all the progress that has been made. It is pretty obvious that we are not very quick or efficient at getting this renovation completed and needless to say, the camper completion did not meet its deadline of being finished by Memorial Day weekend. But the world must of agreed that we shouldn't go camping this Memorial Day since it was 45-60mph winds and afternoon/evening severe thunderstorms all weekend. 

Nevertheless, here is what we have been working on this past week...

I went to town and ripped out the old, unstable cabinet with the rusted (non-functional) stove... I think it actually took me less than 2 minutes to rip this thing apart with my hammer and power drill! :) it was fun.

Ready for the new bench to be built....

Lola Mae hanging out in the shade being a good dog keeping me company while Ryan was a work...

Sadie Lou was being a little monster and not helping by chewing and destroying the lights of the camper...thus adding more work for my dearest husband. It took us almost a full day to figure out the weird lighting system and get it up and going properly. Ugh, that was annoying. Thanks Sadie... we really appreciate all of your help.

Ryan fixing the back brake/running lights... look at that look of determination on his face. Love it! :)

The Kansas sunset was pretty... if only the wind would have given up for the night.

What we think was the nasty sewer pipe that was hiding in the bumper that we didn't know was there... ewww.

I had Friday off from work, so I did some painting. I painted the overhead cabinets, the walls that were not being ripped out and the ceiling. The new coat of white paint really freshened up the place.

The yellow trim on the cabinet doors... that yellow circle is where the battery operated LED lights will be attached since the camper will no longer have electricity on the inside. Because let's face it, the best camping sites do not have electric hook-ups! :)


The "before"picture without the new back window. Note: The previous owners had put a window AC unit in that back window.
The "after" picture... our new back window.
Our new bench and wood supports, courtesy of Ryan's handy work. I cut all the insulation for the back corner... this picture actually makes it look like we have done something.

Another shot of the bench that will eventually fold out to make a bed.


YAY! It took some hard work, awkward position, arm pain, gloves and holding our breath. But finally the GROSS, smelly, and non-functioning Monomatic toilet is adiĆ³s. THANK GOD! We still need to built up the lower part and cover this with plywood to make it level, then add a shelf and this will become our new closet. We will not be replacing a toilet in this camper as we don't think we would ever use it.



Hope everyone enjoyed our latest update, keep an eye out for the next. Hopefully it will be the last and the camper will finally be finished and ready to be taken out for its maiden voyage!!!