Tiny House, Vintage Camper and the Front Door

Sometimes you just don't want a big big big Xmas tree. Sometimes you want a tiny one. Sometimes you want something made of reclaimed pallet wood and a bit of burlap.
Have I got a thing for you! yes yes yes.

Burlap and old wood is always a favorite combination of mine. The Winnie has burlap curtains... and old wood. Yeah.
Back in the mid-70s, my house on Dry Creek Road had a boring wall behind the wood stove so I thought that would be the perfect place to put a covering of old barn boards. We lived in the country and old barn wood was not a problem. to find.
So I cajoled the old ex into seeing my vision (a common occurence), and saw and nail we did.
Recently, I was staring at the pile of coffee burlap bags in a downtown coffee shop, and staring at the huge coffee burlap bag I use to set up my pictures with, and staring at the tall stack of pallets we collected.
Oh no. Oh yes.

Of course our steps are pallets and we love them!

A small sample of the pile of pallet wood.
 

And burlap curtains in the Winnie.

So, I designed a small tree, a Christmas tree if you wish, but you can put it on the wall all year long, or on the front door.
You can decorate it. or not.
I painted it rustic white and added burlap.
And if that wasn't clever enough, I designed it to fold up for storage.
Yes! I include a strip of vintage cotton muslin to tie a bow and to make a bow on the treetop if you wish. Feast your eyes.
Yes, a copyright design, from your pals, funkomavintage.
You can buy it at the website, or from the Etsy store.

You can decorate it, or put tiny LED lights around it, or leave it up all year for some rustic cheer, just plain and simple. Suitable for inside or out, but protect it from rain, snow and sunshine.

Winnebago Kitchen...and now the dishes

and now ....the dishes .....
The Food Delivery System Accessories.

These are the wonderful dishes! ooooo pretty gray, deep coral, dark green and chartreuse....
Years ago, I had 44 million pieces of Melmac...all colors, all shapes, all eras, all brands, and I used to set them up in the Cutest displays....I was sure Melmac, in the 80s and 90s, was destined to become the Next Fiesta Ware. I was ... a bit ahead of the times.
Now, Melmac is really making a retro comeback, like all vintage is suddenly very mainstream. This makes me very happy. I look like far less of a weirdo. I still am a weirdo...just less of a lonely one!  ;-)





This is one of my favorite Melmac patterns, colorways.... Nice weight, roomy finger holes in the coffee cups. Great colors !!
"Watertown Lifetime Ware
Made in U.S.A.
Heavy-duty Melamine Tableware
Molded to Meet CS 173-50 of Industry"
Here is a great website that will inform you of everything you need to know about Melmac! 

here's the set we ordered from an etsy seller........and I won't tell you WHO it was because I am not happy with my purchase. The small pieces are OK, but the dinner plates (the most important pieces) were scratched and ruined beyond use, because of years of cutting MEAT!
Those won't be used because bacteria can hide in the deep scratches. Beware of sellers who don't know ass from elbow.  Now, I have to find some nice plates.

****************************************************

Melamine resin dishes, most often called Melmac, are always in bright cheery colors!
They are almost unbreakable and are very lightweight.
But......they aren't for the Microwave or the Oven or the Stove top......don't even. 
They are  thermoset so melamine resin cannot be melted but that makes them hard to recycle. Well to melt them down or shred and recycle like we do with other plastic.
So, I'll do something cute and practical with the scratched dishes I have.

Here's a few pics of the new curtains.......
with the burlap sheers......

I also changed the light switch cover......so glam!

here's a little cowgirl touch........a 50s leather fringe pillow......so rumpus room!

oo oo oo, looking out my back door........and a nice pic of the big rick-rack I glued to the shade....matches the window over the sink.......

Kitchen ...

The coffee can makes me happy for these reasons:

I love this coffee! Cafe Du Monde, the original coffee served in French New Orleans....... It has chicory, which mellows the taste. And....as a container for my tools, it was Free!
I used a big magnet on the inside to make it stick to my stove...and not slide around while driving.
That is something you always have to think about with anything that goes in an RV or trailer, or a boat.

hippie dippie cleaning products to protect the vintage plumbing and make sure the right kind of bacteria can thrive....in the gray water and black water tanks.......

Winnebago stuff, Gunne Sax, Burlap definitions

well my little gas guzzler Home is now sporting some fine curtains....Burlap and vintage fabric (of course)....

 I made undercurtains of burlap! Burlap! I love burlap!! see below to see more Burlap ! I think they're the perfect textury touch and they are Burlap !
and we ate dinner at the dinette the other evening....
The tree curtains are made of a 70s acrylic momie...a rather lightweight barkcloth, that was most often used for dresses, men's shirts, and halter tops...It's bright! and it's tree trunks and branches....in oh so 70s brown and orange and green....

mmmm....dinner !  organic broccoli, vegetarian corn dogs, garden salad, baked potatoes....and a martini to wash it down....

When the nasty nasty mini blinds were still up, I clothespinned the fabric in place to see if  I really liked the fabric, and the colors....and I do!

I used the selvage of the burlap panels to sew stretch wide lace to make a top casing. I also sewed a line around 3 edges to I could fringe the sides and hem....I love burlap fringe !!  I hung them up and they were too stiff........so I washed them. Warning !!! They Shed fibers!!
Oh well.  I hung them up again, fringed the edges, and bingo!! I really love them. This is about the 5th time I've made curtains of burlap.....

Look at that!
Trees!
I bought it about a year ago, and I had no idea what I was gonna do with it......because the rule is "The lady with the most fabric when she dies, wins!"

It could have become a ...tote bag, skirt, pillow.....but curtains for the Winnie is the right choice.
(If you want to see the beginnings of the re-do of my Winnebago, click the ----> Winnebago posts.)
This is what I mean, when I say "the recycled life". Winnie is recycled, and so much of what is here is re-used...thrift store, yard sales and stuff I've had for decades....

 I look at this fabric and I am reminded of the deep redwood forests of Northern California. That totally suits me fine.
Like I said,"When decorating, I'm trying to make Ralph Lauren cry.....
 and referencing a California cabin in the woods on the Marin coast, and a bit of classic 70s stuff....the kind of things I had when my kids were little...."

I've noticed looking around the blogosphere that birch trees and birch tree wallpaper is very popular right now....and I love love love birch ...it's on my Top Ten Trees I Love....but I adore this ...and you know me, I like to do my own thing, and not follow fads.


this neat vintage  fabric is from etsy seller vintagesistersoup

I also made little valances....one over the sink.....and one over the door....(pictures coming soon)

....the other thing I've noticed when I go looking for RV related topics is that many folks are painting their  trailer and RV interiors white........so, I get it. It can be dark and claustrophobic in there, but I adore the faux bois, so I won't be painting it white. I am thinking of doing something with the refrigerator door......but we'll see.

This is a sweet cottage style RV....lots of fabrics, lots of white paint, and so very cute....

Here's the original source, an RV blog that needs translation !


and now ....BURLAP. Burlap is bur·lap/ˈbərlap/ Noun: Coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp, or a similar fiber, used esp. for sacking. Lighter material of a similar kind used in dressmaking and furnishing. Synonyms: sackcloth - sacking - bagging.

 Origin: 1685–95; earlier borelap, equivalent to bore ( l ) coarse cloth. from Old French burel (see bureau ) + lap. burlap 1690s, probably from M.E. borel "coarse cloth," from O.Fr. burel ; or Du. boeren "coarse," perhaps confused with boer "peasant." The second element, -lap, meant "piece of cloth." Definition of Bureau: Origin: 1710–20; < French: desk, office, originally a kind of cloth (used to cover desks, etc.), Anglo-French, Old French burel, equivalent to bur- (probably < *būra, variant of Late Latin burra wool, fluff; compare bourrée ) + -el noun suffix. More info »Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster - The Free Dictionary

 ...and also see Hessian cloth at wikipedia.
So,yeah, fabric used to cover a chest or desk, from Middle English and Old French. Coarse cloth. And yes it is! That's what I like about it...simple and basic. also let us not forget gunny sack. From which I am sure, Jessica McClintock took the name Gunne Sax.
Just after The First Depression, and WWII, after 16 loooong years of poverty and make do.....folks had been mighty accustomed to making clothes from that which was discarded...you know recycled and repurposed.......such as flour sacks and gunny sacks....such as this....

 Hi Marilyn! Nice dress made from a very itchy gunny sack!



here's a gal who made her own burlap curtains.....her inspiration was Ballard Designs....here's her tutorial....Way Cool....

here's one of my favorite things of all time....a 70s vintage jacket made from....burlap. yup. I wear this all the time.

made by Campus Casuals, of California....
of course, and I do love the rips in the jacket....
I blogged about this jacket before......go here to read all about why burlap was used, and who might have bought this jacket originally........

Bike and burlap pin I made and a burlap heart with custom calligraphy.....

so not only do I make lots of things from burlap.....I also use a huge coffee bean sack for the rug in my photo area....

you've seen this a billion times....

this 60s dress is available here.....

moving the stuff around....

 
so much to do in July....all the things I wanted to do in January, February, March, April and so...get crammed into July....Stupid snow/rain...so many things I would have done, but snow/rain got in my way........
reorganizing. mowing the lawn. having morning coffee outside. watching the scrub jays in the morn, and the swallows in the evening.
and the beach. always at the beach. soon my skin will have the patina and texture of a pair of old work boots.

continuing along the theme of wrinkled and old.....as in burlap sack. My mom was from Idaho. and there's an old joke......Twin Falls Idaho, where the women are scarce, and the sheep are nervous.

 
Right now, I'm designing jewelry, clothes and other cute things for late summer, fall, autumn, halloween, holidays, christmas, winter....
Inspiration.......

these 2 pictures are from Desire to Inspire. If I had log cabin walls, I might paint them white too. I don't think I'd hang a dead moose head over the couch tho....and I bet it's fun to watch people knock the yellow lamps with their heads....WTH is going on with that design decision ?

I like the little gray dining room below, because it uses simple things, sparingly and artfully. Good style does not require a lot of money. Everything in the picture could have come from the thrift store. By sticking to one color, with white, and one accent color, it can be the formula to good functional style. 
There's no doubt this room cost a pretty penny...but it didn't have to. 
The  "I'm broke and using junk" decorating style is in my DNA and I can do this in my sleep.

I ride my bike....

Long ago my bike's name was Elvis. She, (I know, but my bike was a girl) was repainted a frosty green, had a big metal wire basket, fat tires and wide fenders....and Elvis handpainted in man-handwriting on the front fender.

This 1930s model was my bike for awhile, but it sold. ugh. I have the pictures tho! So like a heartsick soldier pining for his girl back home, I carry this picture around, and made it my funkomavintage logo.

I also figured out how to print it myself...For this project, a tiny print of my bike, a miniature  Schwinn with a big metal basket, fat tires, wide fenders, cruiser handlebars, and a kickstand on the back tire became my  first project with the old girl....

The first pins I made....are appliqued on some vintage cabin design outdoorsy cotton...and as a cameo on some sweeter girly calico and chintz.

Pinned to a Betsey Johnson Spring floral jacket.....

But always toggling back and forth from fancy to rustic, I combined coffee bag burlap, vintage ultrasuede, wool tweed, and a coffee-dyed picture made into 1.5" x 3"  pins for the lapel, the fedora or summer straw hat,or, in the case of Mark's sartorial choices....pinned to the lapel of his WWll pea coat.
We went to a real fun party in Seattle a couple of weeks ago, and 4 people ordered a Coffee burlap and Bike pin...I just finished a small batch, and they're ready to ride on your location of choice.