Summer = Camping - 8 Ways to Improve your Camper or RV

It's time to start thinking about what you and your family are doing for summer vacation! Going out of town? Planning to log some miles with your camper? And if you are, are you trying to clean up that camper so you can have it clean in the nick of time for that annual family camping trip? Here are a few ways you can clean it up and also show some style at the same time!

1. Still pondering your camping trip? Take a road trip and go to one of our 401 national parks! Find what kind of campground suits you first and go from there! I can personally recommend the Grand Canyon National Park. It's fantastic! Words really can't describe how magnificent it really is!


2. Check out your local chamber of commerce to see where the nearest national park is and head out! There are plenty of family friendly campgrounds too!

3. Does the entire camper need to be cleaned? This blog has great tips on cleaning it from inside out! Like making sure the roof is in good condition, to the brakes and even tips on the refrigerator! And if you don't need to do the whole fifth wheel, scroll down to the section on cleaning the interior.

4. This Pinterest page has great ideas on how to utilize the small space of a 5th wheel!

5. Simply adding a wall decals sticker to the interior of your camper can jazz it up! It brings texture and dimension to what would normally be a non-usable space!

6. Don't like the inside of your camper anymore? Renovate it! The way this couple redid their 5th wheel was astounding! It also looks fabulous which is key to renovating.

7. If you like tenting it better than using the camper, find out what places are best for tents and venture out! Make it an adventure for the kids or just for yourself! Grab some friends and go!


8. Just for fun, here is a list of 25 things that will make life more fun and relaxed while camping!

Don't forget to have s'mores around the campfire while telling stories. Catch some fish or some rays of sunshine. Go on a hike. Take plenty of pictures. Create memories. This is what camping is really about. So, pitch a tent or park that camper and get out and enjoy your summer!!

Summer Time - We Have 8 Activities for You!

Are you looking to get your kids more active this summer? Try some of these fun summer ideas!!

Sports, like baseball, soccer or softball, are wonderful outdoor activities! If your child enjoys any sport in particular, enroll your child in a week long summer camp or program and they'll create life long memories!

Sports summer camp is a great option for kids who need to stay active! It's fun and also educational at the same time, although most kids wouldn't look at it that way. Look into local YMCA programs or if your school has any summer programs.

Better yet, find a free summer program! Save some money and try out some of the awesome ideas this blog has!

    Redecorate their room! Now is a great time to get rid of all that junk the kids seem to have accumulated during school! If you're on a budget, try sprucing up the room with some wall decals!

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Go swimming! If you don't have a pool, find a friend who does or take a trip to a local community center with one!

There are loads of summer activities for the kids! Try some hands on projects like gardening or painting. Decorate a flower pot

Head out to the beach!! Put their little toes in the sand and let them play in the sunshine! Then get some ice cream and settle down to watch a beautiful sunset!

Just for fun! Your kids will love helping you make some of these projects and then playing with them later!

There are so many things to do in the summertime! Don't let your kids become bored! Make them use their imaginations! Have them pick a few projects that sound fun and do one a week!

Enjoy, and I hope a few of these summer activities will be helpful for you and your family!

Its All About Sorting It Out - Life and Laundry

So, spring has arrived. And with it comes MUD!!  Lots of it here in South Dakota right now - but we are thankful for the wonderful moisture for the land!

Need some inspiration to help you keep the laundry done? Check out these 5 wall decals!

1. Department of Missing Socks - Help those poor socks to find a partner..even if it is slightly mismatched!

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2. Add scrabble tiles for a fun and creative look in your laundry room!

3. Try some of these tips to make doing laundry a little easier!

 

4. Check Your Pockets! The rule that I grew up with, was if Mom ever found something in our pockets, it was hers to keep. Finders keepers and all that...

5. Don't forget to be thankful for all the dirty laundry, because it will be gone before you know it!

 6. And have fun with the laundry! Life is too short to be annoyed by the piles that build up!

7. So wash today, sort tomorrow and fold eventually! Have a good day, folks!

8. Make laundry easier on yourself and sort it out before hand!  

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Have a good day everyone, and an even better summer!

Project How-To - Grandchildren Brag Board with Clothespins

Grandma, we know you LOVE showing off your grandchildren!  We have a project to share with that is PERFECT for this!   Daughters, you may want to follow along as this makes a great Mother's Day gift!  It's a Grandchildren Brag Board!

 

We tested out the use of a grandchildren wall decal that has been packaged for over a year to see if the wrinkles are any issue.  We found, when applying to this glossy painted smooth board, it was no issue at all.  We did have the wall sticker lying as shown above for about a week before we did the application.  This is something I recommend for all wall decals that come packaged in a roll.

 Here we show the beginning of application of the wall decal... where you use the hinge-method to apply a small part first.

 

 The Grandchildren board after we have the sticker applied.  

I am totally going to stock on more of this type of paint!  We had been using an acrylic craft paint previously .. but this paint made application of the wall decal SO much easier.  Plus we did not waste a foam brush nor did we have to come back the next day and apply a 2nd coat.  To get a good covering, we just sprayed a 2nd layer about 10 minutes after the first.

   

Here's where my manager was handy to have around.  I was struggling to get the clothespin nailed on properly.  She suggested flipping the top part off to the side - WooLaa - easy as pie now!

 I added wood glue under the clothespin along with nailing to keep it sturdier.

 AND... the finished project.. Grandchildren Brag Board!!  It just needs a couple grandkid pictures to display!

Clear Coat Sealant Over Decals - Should You Do It?

From time to time we have customers ask about applying a sealant or clear coat polyurethane over their decals.  Quite often they are applying decals to a board or tile and want to make it last for many years.

Here we have a little info about decal stickers and polurethane.

If you are ordering a wall decal, it is likely a matte finish and the adhesive is not super strong (this feature makes it more suitable for painted Home Decor walls).  Here is a picture of what can happen if you apply a thick coat of polyurethane over a matte finish wall decal sticker.

 

Polyurethane can seep under the edge of the wall decal sticker and can cause the edges of the decal to curl. Now I am not saying you CANNOT seal your decal sticker.... we have had customers tell us they have done it without any problems.

Keep this in mind:

If you have a Wall Decal (matte finish and not super-strong adhesive), use a VERY light coat of polyurethane.  

Mod Podge is another product that I have heard customers state they have used over their wall decal stickers. The polyurethane tends to curl the edges of a vinyl sticker and with the lighter adhesive, the strength of the adhesive can break down.... on a Wall Decal Sticker. 

 

Another factor on the above board might have been the seams of the wood - this allowed the polyurethane to seep under the decal sticker just a bit and this reacted adversely with the adhesive on the decal sticker.

When our customer sent us this photo with "Help!" as the subject line, we suggested we get her another decal (we generally offer a mess-up decal replacement at half price).  The second decal sticker would be made with the GLOSSY OUTDOOR grade material, though.  

The glossy was not a factor seeing the polyurethane she added made the decal glossy-looking anyway.  And our outdoor grade material has a MUCH stronger adhesive... once that sticker sticks to a spot, there is very little chance you have to pick it up and move it to a correct spot!  So the stronger adhesive of our Glossy vinyl material was a much better fit for this project. The strength of the adhesive allowed for a strong application to the wood and therefore wouldn't curl the edges of the decal when a light coat of polyurethane was applied.

Generally a seal is not needed for a vinyl decal made with our Glossy outdoor grade material.  If you want to feel safer, go ahead and apply a coat over your decal, but, please, make it a LIGHT coat! The beanbag toss board picture below is an example of using a light sealant coat over top the decal stickers.

Looking for a personalized or customized Wall Decal design?  Visit our website and use the Contact Us form.

Its Spring - Decorate your Office with Wall Decals!

Seeing as it is actually SPRING already, it was a given that the winter decor needed to come down in the office!  I chose these gorgeous Decorative Flower Decals to brighten up my office window glass.

Want to create the same trailing flowers layout?  Follow these steps:

My first step (after choosing my colors: Lilac, Plum and Soft Pink) was cutting apart the flower wall decals.   Flower Wall Decals will come on 1 full decal sheet.

Cutting apart the flower decals allows me to arrange them in anyway that fits my needs. 

The type of wall decals where you can cut apart and re-arrange them gives the most "bang for your buck". We, as a wall decal manufacturer, can make the wall decals in the most economical way and you, the customer, can arrange the wall decals to fit your available space.

Moving on to arranging the flower wall decals.... I like the flowing look.  I was aiming for the flower decals to appear floating around the edge of my office window.

So I started with taping up the largest flower decals; spacing the various colors out. 
You can do this with painter's tape, if you want to re-arrange first.  Or you can do as I did and peeled the backing off and stuck the flower decal right on immediately.
I had to take the tape layer off  of these right away because I was anxious to see how it was shaping up!

After that I added the next largest size and did this down to the littlest flower decals.

The tiny flower wall decals were used to fill, more or less and add tails to the floating design.

Looks nice and "Springy" right?!

Wall Sticker Stripes - An Easy Wall Border

Hello everyone! Are you wanting to revitalize your walls? Well, we decided to revitalize the wall in our shop with some stripes! And we figured we would elaborate in this blog how we did those stripes!

Make sure to measure your space to see how many wall sticker stripes to order! Ours sets usually include 8-10 pieces. They are about 2 feet long and depending on which one you order 1, 2, 4 or 6 inches high.

Once you receive your stripes, follow these steps.

1. As with any other wall decal, you want to make sure your surface is clean. Just a damp cloth will clean the surface just fine!

2. Make sure to have all the necessary items ready! You might need a level, if you don't want to eyeball how straight the stripes are. (And believe me it is hard!).

3. Peel and stick. Yup, it's that simple. Watch our tutorial to see just how easy it is!

Our walls look so lovely! I think that's my favorite part about them. They make our entryway to the shop very warm and inviting!

I hope this tutorial helps you decide to add some pizazz to your walls! It's so easy and looks awesome!

Go and Decorate TODAY!