SPACEBALLS THE MOTORHOME: COMPLETED

Spaceballs is D-O-N-E. This renovation was the hardest project we have ever completed. It was three solid months of Logan working on the camper every weekend and until 2am on many week nights and me watching our kids by myself while sewing curtains, working with talented individuals to get parts of the camper done that we felt we could not DIY, and working with wonderful sponsors to get this project completed. Let’s just say we love it, it is OUR hard work, we learned a heck of a lot about old vehicles, and we are OH SO HAPPY it is done. ;)

When we first bought Spaceballs, we knew it would be a job to renovate her, but we didn’t really understand how big of a job it would actually be. So, if you are thinking about doing something like this, let me tell you – it isn’t easy. At least it wasn’t for us. Spaceballs is 43 years old and every time you are working on something that old, you are going to run into issues. As soon as you start peeling back the layers, you find more and more work that needs to be done. I am not going to lie, there were times when we wanted to set her on fire, throw in the towel, and just be done. I am so incredibly proud of Logan for sticking to it. We are both relatively handy, but know little about trucks or campers. Let’s just say there was a whole lot of googling, youtube video watching, a few life-lines to more experienced individuals, and swearing along the way. ;)

But, WE DID IT and we are so excited for the memories we are going to create in it with our family. We had a neighborhood camping trip planned for the end of July and we really wanted to use it. Looking back now, I am so happy we had a deadline because I am pretty sure we would still be working on her if it weren’t for that. At the time of the camping trip she was about 95% done and since then, we have completely finished her up. The camping trip was so much fun and everything on the camper worked! I remember pulling away from our house, kids all bucked in the dinette seat thinking, “I can’t believe we did it and it is actually working!” Since then Logan has taken it four hours up north on an ATV trip and it ran great. (Thank God!)

So here it is! Make sure to look back at the BEFORE pictures. It is so fun to see how it has changed.

The bed is stored tight to the ceiling when driving and then lowers down when it needs to be used.

LINKS:

FLOORING: Sawcut Colorado Resilient Vinyl PlankFlooring - We debated on what flooring to use and finally landed on this stuff. It is relatively easy to install, super durable, and waterproof. 

PAINT: Behr Marquee Exterior Paint – We had to use exterior paint since it will stored in an unheated storage shed in cold Wisconsin winters. 

HARDWARE (handles and pulls): eBay - No longer available.

HINGES AND MAGNETIC DOOR LATCHES for all drawers and cabinets (eliminates noise and movement of the drawers and cabinets while moving)

BODY REPAIR: We used Marine Tex Mighty Repair Kit to repair parts of the fiberglass body around the stairs.

BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTERTOP - Wood from Menards - Made and installed by Logan and our awesome neighbor, Kevin.    

DINETTE TABLE TOP -  Map for the tabletop - I edited the map file in photoshop and altered the ocean color to perfectly match the dinette cushion upholstery. I LOVE it so much. The Funks Sign Company in Dodgeville, WI turned it into a vinyl sticker and coated it to be food safe. We had the dinnete table remade out of better wood (it was cheap particle board) by a local woodworker and we got the metal edging from Heffrons. Heffrons is THE place to go for all things retro. They have this amazing retro boomerang laminate that I would love to someday put in a kitchen!

DINETTE CUSHIONS: Cindy's Custom Interiors - Cindy is AMAZING to work with. I came into her shop with a vision and she made the cushions exactly how I had envisioned them. It was so much fun! See more about the making of the cushions HERE. 

CURTAINS: Fabric - JoAnn Fabrics / Teal Ric Rac - Simply Love Fabrics Etsy Shop 

WALLPAPER: Custom made by Livettes. I took a picture of the ceiling design and she matched the olive green. It i basically like sticking a giant sticker to your wall. 

LET'S GO ON AN ADVENTURE CROSS STITCH

RECLAIMED WOOD SHELF in entrance: Refurbarista

BUNK BED: Through Facebook, we found a family in Northern Wisconsin that has a 1974 Starcraft Starcruiser. They had different plans for theirs that involved removing the back bunk to create a different sleeping arrangement and ours was missing the bunk. They were going through Madison on their way to see family and stopped by our house so we could trade their bunk bed for our rear couch cushions. The original design of our model was to have bench seating in the back that then pulled out into a bed. We decided to put in a double mattress to create a permanent sleeping area, so we no longer needed the cushions. They used the vinyl from our old cushions to patch areas of vinyl in their camper. It all worked out great!
* The bed is stored tight to the ceiling when driving and then lowers down when it needs to be used.

The bunk was not a standard size, so finding a mattress and sheets for it was a bit of a challenge. We finally found what we needed on Amazon. Mattress / Sheets 

ENGINE COVER: We hired a local woodworker to remake the engine cover. It used to just be a plywood hump covered with carpet. We had him remake it to match the butcher block countertop and include two cup holders. It might as well be functional, right?! We used Noise and Heat Resistant Insulation Padding to line the Engine Cover.

CRAFTING: DIY SNOW GLOBE SHOT GLASS ORNAMENTS

Yeah,  I know... Christmas is over. I had fully intended on getting this post out the door BEFORE Christmas arrived. Heck, I even intended to get it posted a good week or so BEFORE the big day b/c well, that would make sense now, wouldn't it? Well, let's just chalk that up as a fail. Looking on the bright side, they are cute, fun, and better late than never. Right? RIGHT!

PIN IT and put it on the crafting board for next Christmas! ;)

Things you MIGHT need (depending on what you decide to do) - let me stress MIGHT. You do not need all these things to make an ornament.

1. (pearl shimmer metallic cardstock)  //  2. (buttons)  //  3. (hot glue gun)  //  4. (plastic shot glasses)

5. (baker's twine)  //  6. (Elmer's glue)  //  7. (2" hole punch)  //  8. (silver spray paint)

9. (mini pink or white bottle brush trees)  //  10. (silver pipe cleaners)  //  11. (chunky glitter)

12. (mini frosted dollhouse trees)  //  13. (craft paint)  //  14. (white polymer clay)

15. (penguin trinkets)  //  16. (black sharpie)

And here is a little diagram on how you put them together. Attaching the base to the shot glass is the tricky part. Make sure to seal your ornament shut with mod modge.

1. Punch out two circles with your 2" hole punch. One out of the white metallic cardstock and one out of some other type of card stock - a cereal box, an old greeting card, etc. Mod podge them together to make a thick circle that will be the platform of your globe. The white metallic cardstock should be what is facing up in the globe so it blends in with the glitter.

2. Glue your trinket in the center of your circle onto the white metallic side. You can put all kinds of different things in your snow globe as long as they fit. I used little dollhouse trees, silver spray painted plastic penguins and a house and snowman that I made out of white polymer clay. I got my trees from Hobby Lobby - four for $1.99. They were too tall, so I clipped them with a wire cutter and then reattached them to the base with hot glue to make them shorter.

3. Fill your shot glass with glitter - just enough to cover the base when flipped over. make sure to use chunky glitter. It looks more like snow and the super fine stuff will cling to the sides of your shot glass.

4. Take your Elmer's glue and make a thin line of glue all around the edge of your cardstock circle on the white metallic side. Please it on top of your shot glass and place something like a glass on top to weigh it down and hold it together. Let it sit for a few hours until the glue is dry.

5. Seal the ornament by putting a coat of mod podge around where the shot glass meets the cardstock. Let it dry for an hour or so. It dries much faster than the Elmer's glue.

6. Using hot glue, glue a pipe cleaner around the base of your ornament. It will cover up any imperfections of gluing the shot glass to the base.

7. String your baker's twine through your buttons and tie a know. Attach it to the top of the ornament with hot glue.

DIY BATH PAINTS KIDS GIFT

A few weeks ago I picked up a couple tubes of bath paint in the dollar section at Target and Ellis loved it! Being two, Ellis has a super short attention span, so the fact that she actually sat and painted in the bathtub for an extended period of time made me happy!

I am one of those people who looks at things and almost always thinks to myself  - I can totally make that! It is a blessing and a curse all at the same time. One 'I can totally make that' idea leads to several hours of mass producing bath paints in my kitchen. 

It is simple, cheap, super easy and fast.... unless you decide to make 24 bottles of it as presents for all your nieces and nephews. :)

When I made these, I didn't really use specific measurements. I dumped a box of corn starch in a mixing bowl, squeezed in what I thought looked like an equal amount of hand soap and mixed it with a whisk. I then added some water (one tablespoon at a time) until it was the consistency I wanted. I then added some gel food coloring. I always use gel vs. liquid b/c it gives whatever you are trying to color a more vibrant color. 

I got the soap at Costco - TWO (80 fl oz.) containers of hand soap for $8!!! I only ended up using one of the containers of soap and three boxes of corn starch (about $1 a box) to make 24 (4 oz) bottles. That's about 29 cents a bottle! You DO have to buy the bottles though. I got my 4 oz bottles off ebay for about 70 cents a bottle (after S&H) but I wouldn't recommend them. If you screw the tops on too tight, the tops bust. :( Hobby Lobby has some much better ones or you could just buy travel shampoo and conditioner bottles at Target! 

I got these fun brushes from brushes from Consumer Crafts ($5.97) 

and the Magic Grow Bath Capsules from Amazon (12 packs for $13.93). 

Gift tags (free printable) HERE.

TIPS & TRICKS:

And just b/c they are too cute not to share, I am giving my littlest niece and nephew these adorable 'career' olliblocks from Caravan Shoppe. 

Also, do not forget to enter to win $100 to Consumer Crafts. Enter HERE.

UNICORN COSTUME TUTORIAL

I will always be the mom who bakes and decorates my children's birthday cakes and crafts them homemade Halloween costumes because I.LOVE.IT. These are the things that I was so excited about while I was pregnant. I couldn't wait for all of the holidays with her and I CANNOT wait for her to really understand Christmas and get excited about Santa! We are going to do it all --- the cookies for Santa, the reindeer food, Elf on the Shelf, cookie baking, etc. Oh boy! Just writing this makes me excited for Christmas! I am that person who listens to Christmas music from the moment is starts and legitimately gets upset when Christmas is over and it stops. I have been known to play the Glee holiday CD in my car on repeat for an extended period of time and even bring it out once in a while off season. :)

Anyways, let's hit the breaks b/c it's not Christmas yet. It's Halloween! Plan #1 for E's costume was Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty. My friend gave me this ADORABLE little vintage camo jacket and pants suit, but it ended up being way too big for her. I plan on using it next year possibly. It is seriously wayyy to cute to not use it at some point. So then I was on to plan B. I literally thought up this costume in my head on the way to Hobby Lobby last Friday. I seriously had so much fun making it that I have started to think of all the different costumes I could make in the future! Oh the possibilities are endless. Really, anything flies and they do not have to be fancy. I still remember the picture my mom has of my brother on Halloween when we were little. She must have been scrambling for a last minute costume b/c she put a brown sheet over him with a brown beanie hat and attached a sign that said snickers to the front of him. :) It may not have been fancy, but it is the one that I remember!

So here is what I came up with - Ellis the unicorn!
I made this costume one afternoon and it only took me a few hours.

Everything listed below (except the sweat suit) you can find at your local craft store.  The costume was pretty basic. The only two parts I included a tutorial on are the horn and ears. Beside that, I basically super glued or sewed things to the sweat suit. 

I sewed the cone onto the top of the hood with embroidery thread and then covered the bottom of the cone with the mane to hide the stitches. 

To create the mane, I braided several strands of the yarn together and hot glued it around the horn, onto the hood and down the back of the sweatshirt. 

I attached the tassel to the arms and legs with hot glue. Easy peasy! 

For the tail, I opened the seam in the back of the pants and inserted strands of tulle just like I attached the ears to the hood. (see tutorial below)

To finish off the look, I attached a piece of purple ribbon to the zipper as a pull and tacked on two ribbons for strings with my sewing machine. I wanted to be able to tie the hood tighter around her head in hopes that the cone would stand up straight and she wouldn't be able to pull off the hood.  

Did you craft an awesome homemade Halloween costume this year? If so, send me a picture of it!! I am thinking about doing Halloween wrap up post of DIY Halloween costumes and I would love to share all of your costumes!

Also, I am selling this costume after Halloween. Do you have a little one that is going to be 18-24 months next Halloween? This sweat suit is a 24 month size.

Email me at katieannebuell@gmail.com to send me your pictures or inquire about buying the costume!