Gone Camping

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Yup, we've fled the city and are camping in our favorite spot in North Carolina.  With summer coming to an end soon (John begins his last year of school in just a few weeks) we have decided it is imperative to run to the woods as much as possible between now and the first day of school.  Did you know that camping is romantic?

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Romance is such an interesting thing with each person defining it differently.  When I was younger, I defined romance only as flowers and dinners and sweet love letters. Now that I'm older (and wiser?) I recognize that romance can be seen in many different lights.  John and I recently discussed how camping has become romantic to us - oh the juxtaposition of romance and dirt, smoke, and bugs.

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I think it's the solitude, the common goals, the relaxation.  We don't worry about checking our emails, who did the dishes last, or what we want to watch on tv.  Instead, we let our guards down, take off the many masks we wear throughout the week, and reconnect with one another without any distraction.

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The simplicity of our camping activities allow us to easily fall into a rhythm of working side by side as we hike up a mountain, start a camp fire, gather firewood, and listen to the night sounds.

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Camping is more than taking a breather from life's responsibilities - it's falling in love all over again with the person we fell in love with four years ago. It's watching each other contribute to our survival in the wilderness. It's listening to the silence and knowing we wouldn't want to be listening with anyone else.  It's about letting go and relying on one another.

The Great Pillow Upcycle

I don't know about you, but when I buy new pillows I never seem to throw away the old ones. My excuses range from claiming they are guest pillows to worrying we'll hate the new pillows and want our old ones back.  So, when we cleaned out of storage closet a few weeks ago, we found four pillows in there that were not being used! Yikes! I knew that I needed to get rid of those pointless, hoarded pillows but I couldn't bring myself to throw them away....so I do what I always do in this situation.  I upcycled them!

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With camping season upon us, John and I are realizing we are getting older. No longer can we sleep on the ground with rocks and sticks poking us all night long without waking up too sore to move.  No longer can we simply roll up a sweatshirt and use it as a makeshift pillow without tossing and turning all night long unable to get comfortable.  We've turned into the luxury-craving campers that need pillows and an air mattress and other things we swore we'd never succumb to.

Enter the first pillow upcycle project.  I hated toting two full-sized pillows with us camping. Not only do they take up too much room, but they also announce to the world that we aren't rough and tough campers anymore. After seeing some small camping pillows at a sporting goods store (for $20 each, no less), I decided to make our own camping pillows.

After ripping out the seams of the pillow, I washed the fabric in bleach and cut it in half while the stuffing was sitting in the sun.  Using my awesome new sewing machine, I was able to quickly sew 3.5 sides on both pillows to create a pillow-like shape. Sorry I don't have pictures of the process...I was too excited to stop and look for the camera.  I tore apart the stuffing to fluff it up and divided it in half.  Stuffing it into the pillow, I then sewed up the final seam and voila!

The pillows are ridiculously misforned and lumpy, but they'll work better than a rolled up sweatshirt and will hopefully reform as we sleep on them.

 When I got my sewing machine back in February, a surprise package was sent to me by my grandmother with lots of scraps of fabric and sewing essentials. One fabric reminded me of wood and camping so I decided to use it as a pillow case for the pillows.

It was the perfect amount for two pillow cases - which are a must when camping.  Gotta wash all that smokey, camping smell off when you get home!

So, that is how I turned an old, hoarded pillow into two awesome camping pillows.  I'll let you know how they work later this week - we're heading camping for a few days and are eager to try them out.

Oh, and stay tuned for the other things I made with the extra pillows!

Weekend Review

This weekend John and I went on the first camping trip of the season.  We are describing it as simply "memorable."  It was one of those trips where everything that could go wrong does...right up to the point where we got home and discovered our kitchen sink was left running the entire weekend we were gone.  At least these pictures depict a good time.

Rain and 30 degrees the first night

This scene makes me smile

Beautiful view

Warming up to the idea of camping

Love

Woodsy stroll

Fish!

Layla discovered she enjoyed fish

Gourmet dinner

I'm spending the day recuperating and finishing up a couple almost completed projects. I can't wait to share what we've been working on the past couple weeks with you!