Clyde’s Wishlist

As you have probably gathered, Clyde needs a few things. Okay, a lot of things. A whole, whole, whole lot of things. From exterior camper siding to a refrigerator to curtain rods. Yes, Clyde needs STUFF. So, to keep it straight in my head, I’m going to make a list, add to it, remove things from it and update it periodically. Some of these are necessities, many are just “wants”. It’s just fun to make my dream list. So, here’s what I have right now.

Outside

(this will be a very short list, because I am completely unaware of what all the outside needs. This is Chad’s department. These are the things I know of.

• All new lights (tail lights, marker lights and a “porch” light)
• An awning
• One of those spiffy outdoor rugs they have at Camping World Got one at Lowe’s! 
• A couple of fancy-pants camping chairs (the foldy kind)
• Perhaps a cute table of some sort on which to put a grill
• A grill. I’m thinking one of those awesome hibachi grills they have at the Lodge Factory Outlet
• A paint job (cheap, cream color). We will add the avocado stripe and other cute stuff later on ourselves. It’ll be a cheeeap paint job, ’cause you can’t justify a $1000 paint job on a $600 camper. New siding is already painted, don’t have to get it painted! 
• Box. Some kind of box to go where the battery box used to be. We’ll use it to hold stuff like the anti-sway bars and jack-stands when not in use. I’m thinking either a diamond-plate tool box kind of thing, or maybe even making one out of reclaimed wood (palette wood, maybe).
• Wiring. Lots of wiring. 12 volt for the lights. Whatever kind of wire operates the electric brakes
• Plastic of some sort to replace the moldy-looking panels in the rock guard that goes over the front window to prevent rocks from the road bashing out your window. I have a SWEET decal to go in the middle (no, you can’t see it, it’s a surprise when he gets all big and grown up and ready to hit the road) panel, so something that the decal can go on smoothly. Using leftover siding, so it’ll all match!
• trim pieces to cover the seams. We have some we can reuse, but we will have to replace some
• Camper-siding. To cover all the holes left by the appliances, heating, etc.  Got NEW siding for the whole camper at Lyon’s Metal Roofing!
• Bondo. To smooth the transitions between patch jobs and existing siding
• chocks or whatever you call the little angled, plastic things you wedge under the tires to keep the camper from rolling away
• jack stands. Our camper is so little that we are thinking about going to a junkyard and getting some of the little crank-up jacks that are in the spare tire compartments. No one ever wants those from wrecked cars, they’re light and don’t take up much room. So, perfect! Chad got them at $10 for a set of 2 at the junk yard!

Inside

• Foam Rubber. Yeah, it’s not very exciting, but it’s something I need to make the cushions for the front dinette and some pillow/bolster/cushion kinda things around the back bed. Did you know you can cut foam rubber with an electric carving knife? I am very excited to get to try that.
• Sheets. Yes, I bought some. On sale for $7!!! A beautiful chocolate brown in full size. One small problemo. It’s not gonna work to have a full bed. Figured that out today. So, I’m thinking we will repurpose those cute sheets into curtains. Or pillows. Or a tablecloth. Regardless of what they become, I now need sheets. In a size twin. Sigh. Brown? Owls? Brown owls? Avocado? Who knows. Any 1970’s looking colors will do! Turns out we are going to have room for a full size bed, so get to use the ones I already bought!
• Curtain rings with little clippy things. Much easier than sewing the stupid rod pocket into them. Cut fabric pretty, clip onto rings, pull rings onto curtain rod. Ta-da!
• A chenille bedspread with pompoms. I don’t want it for the bed, since I already ordered one for that. I’d like to cut this one up and use it as curtains. Ya know, with the pompoms dangling down. Either white or Avocado or yellow. If I can’t find that, I’ll use the above-referenced brown sheets to make curtains and maybe just buy some pompom trim and put them on the bottom. Wouldn’t chocolate brown with avocado pompoms be cute??? A friend is making us a quilt!
• Full mattress (for the back bed)
• Dorm Fridge with freezer. I’m holding out for the kind that has a separate exterior door for the freezer. You can’t make a decent martini without ice to shake it with, right?!  OK, who am I kidding, it’s for ice cream.  Got one at Target for $130. Had been $160. Was FREE because my Dad got it for me for my Christmas present (that was due in December and I got it in August… that is how my family rolls)
• Paneling. White beadboard, to be exact. Wide boards for the bottom, narrow for the top. And, a narrow band of white trim to go between the two.
• Counter tops. I have no idea what kind. I’ve looked everywhere and they’re all very boring. I’d love to find some fabulous retro looking counter tops. But, so far, no joy.
• Cabinet “guts”. This would be the little white, wire shelf-type units that have slidey drawers in them. Weight is of the utmost importance in a camper, so we’re going to build the cabinet “shell” out of 1×1 and 1×2 lumber and then “skin” it with the beadboard. To prevent having the weight of particle board shelving (which is CRAZY heavy), we are hunting some of the two-tiered slide-drawer sets that kitchen-maid used to make. Not sure if they still make them, but I’m gonna cruise craigslist and yard sales until I find them!!
• Flooring. Currently, we’re planning on using the vinyl strips that look like lumber. Found some really pretty ones tonight at Lowe’s that look like distressed wood in a pretty, caramel color. $30 a box. But, gonna look at the whole-sale places (like Big John’s closeout) just in case they have it cheaper.
• about 3 sheets of 1/4″ plywood to cover the floor, so the vinyl flooring will stick
• Bondo. Yeah, the kind you use on cars. We’ve had to replace several areas of subfloor due to rot. So, we have gaps. You fill those in with bondo, sand them down and put the plywood on over it. Smooth and easy!
• fake leather. Not sure what color yet. This will cover the shelf above the front dinette. A friend is going to custom make us a cool cabinet to go there instead!!!
• Upholstery or fabric to cover the foam rubber cushions on the dinette. Can’t have too much texture, because the dinette folds down makes another bed. So, don’t want it too lumpy.
• White paint- to cover all the bed and dinette wood. We’re hand building those. I’d list what we’ll use to make those, but I honestly don’t know yet. I’ll update that some day soon.
• Toaster oven. I’ve already got a 2 burner hotplate (thanks, Bev), a microwave (thanks, Craiglist $10), and pots ‘n’ pans, but if we decide to make some toast or bake a cheap pizza, we got no oven. A real oven is expensive. Toaster ovens are cheap. So, toaster oven.
• Romex (this is electrical wiring)
• light switches (do they make skinny ones? Or, maybe just install the lights with the cords that have the little roller things that turn them off and on)
• electrical outlets and the guts within them
• electrical strip (I have no idea what these are called, but it’s a single, long strip of outlets that are hard-wired into the regular wiring, not the kind you plug in, like a surge protector). 3 of these. One for above each set of cabinets and one for the shelf over top of the dinette. 24/7 on-call dictates keeping my phone charged, so want to be sure to have one beside each sleeping surface, and then I’ll need to plug in the small appliances.
• faucet. We salvaged the original sink, but the faucet was trashed.
• Hot water on-demand tap. We don’t have a bathroom, so no bathroom sink or shower to need hot water. So, a water heater is just way too heavy and too much money. So, they make these nifty-little systems that work on regular household current and heat small amounts of water. Pretty much like a baby waterheater. At $144, they’re a bargain and perfect for what we need.
• 1/2″ finish grade plywood. To make cabinet doors and a table top
• cheap iPod speakers  found ’em!!
• eventually, a very small, flat screen TV. Right now we have a 13″ TV with a VCR under it that my parents had forever. it’ll do, but a flat screen would take up less room, mount on the wall over the back bed and just be cooler. This is VERY FAR DOWN on my list of priorities.Oh, and add to the list: something to mount said TV to the walldecided to just use netflix on the laptop!
• grippy drawer liner to put on the shelves so everything doesn’t go sailing when we are on-the-move
• Wallpaper for the ceiling. Yes, I realize that makes me sound like a total nut-job. The ceiling is intact with no leaks, but scarred up. They make paintable wallpaper that looks like the old pressed-tin ceiling tiles. I’d like to get that and paint it up to look like an old ceiling. Cheaper and lighter than putting another layer of paneling or something up there.
• Tupperware. The vintage, 1970’s harvest colors. I’d like the tumblers, the mugs, the plates and the groovy stacking spice shakers. They have them on eBay. I am currently stalking them. I quit stalking and bought them. So awesome!
• Cheesy 1970’s owl art for the walls. preferably some little framed pictures. I am guessing it’ll be one of those “I’ll know it when I see it” things.
• linens for the dinette bed. I’m thinking we’ll have to make do with flat sheets and tuck them in, as it’ll be a non-standard size. I’ll try to get some sort of thin, yet warm blanket for it. I’ll have to stow all the linens when we have the dinette “up” and not in the bed position

Now, reading over this huge list, I realize one thing clearly. I am gonna have to hit the lottery sometime very soon. And, I’m going to be in a lot of thrift stores in the very near future!