Thursday, December 20, 2012
Old Shutter Christmas Card Holder
Monday, December 10, 2012
Our Vintage Camper
I'm so tickled to have finally found an old camper to call my own :) :) :) I've been on the lookout for a vintage (such a better connotation than 'old' haha) camper for months and months, and my patience has paid off. He may not look like much now, but I have some big plans for "The Jones." I let my husband name him since he so very sweetly drove an hour to haul home a cute piece of "junk" that he can't even stand up in all the way because it's so short and he's 6'1. He chose to name it "The Jones" after George Jones because our little camper is old, beat all to hell, and can hold quite a few cold ones. hehe
This is a 1971 Aristocrat. It makes me smile to think about all of the joy it's given previous owners in the past 41 years. I have a lot of plans on how to fix it up, and I will share all of the before and after photos as I finish. My goal is to have it ready by our spring break (March!) so my honey and I can take off somewhere wonderful :)
Here is a mood board of what I have in mind for the inside:
If you are wondering how to begin the hunting process for a camper of your own, here is what I did.
1. Set a budget. I knew I didn't want to put more than $600 into a camper. Sure the new ones are nice, but for me, the pleasure I will get from fixing this one up is worth loads more. Plus I'm cheap.
2. Check Craigslist and your local newspaper....everyday
3. My husband will attest that I became obsessed. I checked listings every morning and night for about 5 months. But, this served two purposes....1. I would catch the good listings 2. Aaron knew this wasn't a "phase" I was in. He realized how much I really wanted one, so he gave in ;)
4. Search for the words "Vintage" "Older Camper" "Hunting Camper" "Aristocrat" "Scotty" "Shasta" "Airstream" as these will show up out of your regular local search.
5. Over the coarse of 5 months, I probably found about 15 campers that I thought fit what I was looking for. Out of those, only about 5 owners emailed or called me back. Out of those, we looked at 2. So, I guess this step is to be patient.
6. Take someone with you that will be the voice of reason. I wanted the very first one I saw. However, Aaron pointed out that the floor and ceiling were....umm....rotting out. He knew that would be too much for me to fix, so finally I agreed.
7. Always bring cash and talk them down. The man had this camper listed for $1000. I told him via email my budget ($500-600), and then Aaron was able to talk him down to $450 once we got there because we had cash to pay. Whoop!
Aaron laughed at our hoopty trailer all the way home, but haters gonna hate. lol He won't be laughing when he wakes up to biscuits in the tiny oven, a river rolling in the background and coffee by the fire this spring :)
This is a 1971 Aristocrat. It makes me smile to think about all of the joy it's given previous owners in the past 41 years. I have a lot of plans on how to fix it up, and I will share all of the before and after photos as I finish. My goal is to have it ready by our spring break (March!) so my honey and I can take off somewhere wonderful :)
Here is a mood board of what I have in mind for the inside:
1. Set a budget. I knew I didn't want to put more than $600 into a camper. Sure the new ones are nice, but for me, the pleasure I will get from fixing this one up is worth loads more. Plus I'm cheap.
2. Check Craigslist and your local newspaper....everyday
3. My husband will attest that I became obsessed. I checked listings every morning and night for about 5 months. But, this served two purposes....1. I would catch the good listings 2. Aaron knew this wasn't a "phase" I was in. He realized how much I really wanted one, so he gave in ;)
4. Search for the words "Vintage" "Older Camper" "Hunting Camper" "Aristocrat" "Scotty" "Shasta" "Airstream" as these will show up out of your regular local search.
5. Over the coarse of 5 months, I probably found about 15 campers that I thought fit what I was looking for. Out of those, only about 5 owners emailed or called me back. Out of those, we looked at 2. So, I guess this step is to be patient.
6. Take someone with you that will be the voice of reason. I wanted the very first one I saw. However, Aaron pointed out that the floor and ceiling were....umm....rotting out. He knew that would be too much for me to fix, so finally I agreed.
7. Always bring cash and talk them down. The man had this camper listed for $1000. I told him via email my budget ($500-600), and then Aaron was able to talk him down to $450 once we got there because we had cash to pay. Whoop!
Aaron laughed at our hoopty trailer all the way home, but haters gonna hate. lol He won't be laughing when he wakes up to biscuits in the tiny oven, a river rolling in the background and coffee by the fire this spring :)