Preparation for Sugar Plum's birthday party is in full swing y'all. We LOVE parties. I mean, seriously, this kiddo would call for me in the night when she woke or couldn't sleep and say, "Mama, let's talk about birthdays". She was TWO. 

We think parties are fun- we love themes, we love food, we love it when our favorite people surround us. We love crafting up the details, planning the party favors, thinking up crazy ideas that are wayyyy too elaborate- and then scaling them to fit reality. We love talking anticipating it, and yes, "talking about birthdays."

So, you can imagine how excited I was to find this amazing printable camper favor box. It's a $5 download and then you print, cut and glue and make up a whole fleet. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Cheap therapy, y'all. 

What's that? You want a different color? Like, pink? Boom! Prefer yellow? Green? Boom, boom! 

Alas, no silver! But I still think they are fabulous... And I think one with a gift card inside for Vintage Trailer Supply or Amazon or a State Park Pass would be an amazing gift. 

Check out the artist, Claudine Hellmuth, and her wonderful shop on Etsy. 

I have always considered myself lucky in that, as an "original owner", my trailer had never been plucked of all it's little cool tidbits. I have all the original shower stuff, like towel bar and little wire soap basket. I have the original porch light and lighting throughout. And, I have all the original cabinet hardware. But now that we are putting Humpty Dumpty back together again, I found myself in need of a few extra drawer pulls. (mmmmm....new trash/recycling cabinet...mmmmm)

Ahh, the magic of the internet. It is especially strong for those who need weird, obscure, 60 year old parts. I went back to the Etsy shop, Vintage Trailer Shop, where I had bought the red glass beehive taillights, and lucked right out. I happily snapped up a set of 5 of pulls. Only guess what? I opened the box when it arrived and out popped a lagniappe- pull no 6! Lucky dice! 

While I think I have wiped out the stock at the above site, never fear in case you or a loved one needs some of these fab chrome pulls. I'm not just bragging- I have a resource for you: I found another great shop on Etsy, Not So Hardware who has the most elusive of vintage goodies: Old Store Stock. Of these exact handles!! That's like finding a unicorn! So, if you have a spartan, or a vintage trailer you want to trick out in original 50's style, I suggest you pick up a few. (BTW, the shipping is for as many handles as fit in a small flat-rate box, so LOAD UP.)

The world is SO full of interesting people, doing interesting things. Pretty awesome, yes? 

(Ya'll know what a lagniappe is? Mark Twain once called it "a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get". And, I'm just giving it to you! You're welcome. Regional words for the win!) 

Kids, we are starting to look like an actual trailer again. The wood is roughed in, and I have to say: I'm VERY happy with the 1/8 inch natural birch. I think the curves look fantastic, the grain in nicely visible even unstained, and it feels good in there. 

So, here is the timetable: 
Next visit- 1/25. Between now and then the cabinets will be refitted, repaired and rebuilt. They will be sanded down and all the wood will be unfinished and  freshly refinished so we get a matching stain. 
I have decided to go very original with the layout, with minor changes. The original Dixie stove is out (safety/ practicality). The range will be built in where the Dixie was, so the galley counter will have a little "L" countertop added to drop the range and a cabinet built underneath. 
One other minor change, the non-working gas heater by the front door has been removed. This should add enough space to add in a cabinet with a pull-out trash/ recycling bin to the kitchen. It will be small, but this is a very practical move. Even with such a big trailer, it is not fun to have a trash can/ bag of garbage floating around getting in the way. 

At the 1/25 visit we should be down to details. The idea is that the following Sunday- 2/2- Tiffany and I will show up and liberate the trailer!! It's unbelievable, really... 

...and I still have to finalize where I'm going to put it as Nichole's property is on the market and it can't go home to that field. I think I have found a storage place not too far from me to take it. BUT...

...On the week-end of 2/14 we are going to take her out for Sugar Plum's Birthday. This is trickier than it seems... want to have a crowd for cookout and party, so needs to be close enough to town for guests. State parks (I LOVE State Parks!) are all at least an hour away. RV parks, well, let's just say I'm sure there is a special little park somewhere that isn't a concrete Hell and that thinks a Vintage trailer party for 9-year olds is fun, but I ain't found it yet. Sigh. That is a whole other rant, consider yourself spared. 

And finally- do you know how much stuff you can fit in a 33 foot trailer? John told me he had put the contents in storage, and silly me- I did not ask any questions. So, I picked up a huge jumble of garbage bags full of musty and worse for the wear stuff. So, now I am in the process of loading those bags up and seeing what can be salvaged and cleaned so I can magically pull it together to go out in the trailer on 2/14. See tuckered out lil' doggie in back seat crammed with misc stuff. 

But... I'd be lying if I did not say I'm looking forward to playing house, so BRING IT ON! Finally, something I'm good and and understand!!!

Here is the fridge I'm probably going to go with. $250 bucks, free shipping, Thank You Amazon. It gets pretty good reviews, and a surprising number of them are from RV/ Camper/ Boat owners, which makes me think it might be more durable than the garden-variety type I could get cheaper at a Wal-mart type store. I can also purchase a 3 year warranty (+$35), which is not my usual MO but might be worth it in this case as, you know, fridges probably are not at their best on bumpy roads and enduring the power turned on & off repeatedly. 
I like the 2 door aspect of this, and since I can build in some ventilation/ space this seems the best choice. 
Actual RV fridges suffer from severe ugliness and cost 2X. Not impressed. 

Here is the VERY BEAUTIFUL fridge I would put in were money no object. Ironically, it costs 4X to 8x more (depending on size), and gets absolutely DREADFUL reviews. My favorite review is actually titled "Fur Coat no knickers" on the UK site ReviewCentre where 59 reviewers have given it a whopping 1.1 stars out of 5 stars.  It's a Smeg, and Google it yourself if you want to know the gory details;)

P.S. "Fur coat no knickers" is now my favorite response and I am hoping to drop it into as many conversations as possible, context irrelevant.