Tea Towels and the Open Road

There's a lot going on with this post, so I hope it doesn't end up too all over the place. First off I'd like to introduce The Duck. We recently purchased this pop-up tent trailer second hand off craigslist (so that's kinda like thrifted, right?) with visions of road-tripping and comfort-camping. Our dream trailer probably would have been something more along the lines of this for just under $50,000 but hey, for $1900, you get The Duck... and we're happy with that for now :)

These pictures were taken at a campground in a local park (it felt a bit silly being literally 5 minutes from home) where we did a two night trial-run to get the hang of towing, parking, and setting up the thing (that's what Lucas is doing in the first shot), as well as just seeing how camping with lil' Clover would go. Luckily, it all went off without a hitch, unless you count the shiny new one we just had put on the Subie for towing purposes ;)

Inside it has a small sink and mini-fridge, a gas stove, and a booth table which seats four. It actually feels pretty roomy inside and the two screened beds that stick out from each end beat a therma rest on hard ground any day!

Me and Clover gettin' cozy in The Duck. While it's great functionally, aesthetically, The Duck still leaves a little to be desired in the charm department. So, in an effort to spruce things up a bit, I of course... went a' thriftin'!


In preparation for The Duck's maiden voyage which will soon involve some comfort camping along the California coast, I went in search of some sheets to brighten up the cozy bed nooks. I was so happy to find this lovely mismatchy assortment of vintage sheets at the Goodwill.

The flowery one in the first pic on the bottom right was exactly what I had in mind. I'm planning to pair it with the butterfly fitted sheet on the top left. I also fell in love with the delicate fern print on the two Vera sheets! I'll be pairing one with the bottom left fitted sheet (also a very cool plant and animal print) for the other bed nook and the second Vera will be for our bed at home.


While I'm on the subject of thrifted linens, I found these two lovelies on my last trip to the flea market. I love the embroidered butterflies on the top one and how perfect is that lil' vintage clover hankie?!

My other flea market score was two adorable vintage tea towels with a monkey embroidered on one and duckies on the other. I think they'll be perfect for the tiny kitchenette in The Duck :D

I was excited to find them, having been inspired by these gorgeous pictures from a wonderful article on vintage dish towel collecting. The article was in one of the old Martha Stewart magazines I got last month at the garage sale. Some purty pics from the June 2001 issue:

Oooh, I love this one!

Speaking of things I love, I've been pining for one of these funky floral vintage suitcases FOREVER and would let out a sigh every time I came came across something like this in the Nifty Thrift pool. Sigh no more, I found this beauty for $3 at a little thrift called Angels' Attic downtown. Angels indeed... vintage travel bag angels! I can't wait to pack it for our trip :D

It seems I'm not the only one excited about the prospect of hitting the open road and the bag can also double as a play pen of sorts in a pinch to keep Clover out of the dirt... yeah right.


The patchwork tin was another Angels' Attic find and the Holly Hobby style bonnet was salvaged from an old box of toys at grandma's house, we've been using it as Clover's summer sun hat :)

Last, but certainly not least, I'd like to welcome to the world my brand new niece Riley. This shot was taken Wednesday morning at the hospital when she was only 8 hours old! Can you believe my sister was already up and about like a champ?! Congratulations Val and Kevin, she's so beautiful and precious!