Christmas With Your Vintage Trailer

Any time spent decorating a vintage travel trailer is fun--but at Christmas time, it's even better.

You get the perfect reason to go from 'excess in moderation' to 'excess in excess.' The more lights, the more baubles, the more trims and garlands, the better! (And if you happen to love red, you're automatically in business.)

Faux tabletop trees can go just about anywhere inside. For a different style of trailer than this one--more frilly or cottage, let's say, than Western--you could use feather trees, bottle-brush trees, tree-scented potpourii, a quilted tree...endless possibilities. (Tip: The small spaces inside a trailer are just right for smallish items that might seem lost inside your bigger house.)

Turn on the heater, put on some Christmas music, and entertain yourself by tucking favorite ornaments in amongst the pillows.

Layer on the lights and garlands, for the 'more is more' approach (favored at all times by some of us, not just during the holidays).

Shiny objects that reflect light are good, like these vintage round ornaments set into or next to glass, and LED tealights are handy as well (find them 3 to a package at Dollar Tree). For a Western or cowgirl trailer, jute rope makes a dandy garland, one that contrasts nicely with the all the shiny stuff.

Faux wreaths and greens have their place, and we use 'em, but it wouldn't seem right to decorate for Christmas without some real greenery, too. We popped a fresh 4-foot grand fir into an old washtub, and didn't even need to put it on a stand to make it stand upright--the branches hold it in, and we can pour water for the tree right into the tub.

Single-color ornaments give more visual 'pop' than a lot of mismatched ones, but if you love the mismatched ones--go for it!

For the greenery on the left side of the door, we simply turned a wooden stool upside down, set it on a chair, and filled the space between the legs with pine boughs and curly willow branches. Then we laced in a long red beaded garland.

And, for writing a cheery holiday message to would-be visitors, a chalkboard mixes in nicely--especially if it has a bright red frame!

We know that many of our Girl Camping friends have put their trailers into storage for the winter, and won't get a chance to trick them up for Christmas. This post lets these ladies live vicariously!

(And to all--a Merry Little Trailer Christmas from your friend, Girl Camping Girl.)

Camping It Up For Christmas Decor

For the trailer-obsessed (this is all of us, right?), the holidays are more fun than ever because we get a whole new reason to play with our trailer replicas.

Cookie jars, birdhouses, salt and pepper sets, favorite books, camping-theme ornaments...they all work just perfectly to put some whimsy into your holiday vignettes.

We love the tabletop easels that let you display a book, either closed or opened to a colorful spread. (This book, 'MaryJane's Outpost,' is by our friend MaryJane Butters and includes a number of photos taken at Girl Camp, plus a section on the 1929 camping trip taken by Girl Camping Girl's grandmother.)

You can even hang an ornament from the top of the easel, for that neat little trick of 'accessorizing the accessories.'

Anything you create on a tabletop will look even better with a little candlelight--this little rig gleams from a tealight in a holder that looks like a tiny crystal firepit.

As you pull out your regular Christmas items, like this ceramic cabin that lights up, your tiny trailers will inspire some new ideas. (This salt and pepper set has just-right dimensions for being parked in front of the cabin.)

You also could do an entire large tree in a Girl Camping theme. We're gonna give that a try this year and see how it turns out.

Maybe with a pink flamingo on top!