Who would have guessed we would ever experience a global pandemic in this day and age? Being in lockdown in the early part of 2020, gave me the opportunity to focus on family and friends we were not able to see and visit with in person. When it became evident this would not be a short lived thing, we began to look for different ways to stay connected.

Grandma Camp weighed heavily on my mind. My littles so wanted to get together, however we were not sure how and if that could even happen? I chose to have HOPE that it would, and began working in earnest on the BEST Grandma Camp ever!!! Amazon became my best resource as my crazy brain thought up numerous things to make and do.

I also went “shopping” down my own basement and found a treasure trove of things to use. An idea started to form to build a little individual tent for each of my littles. Ron is a master at outdoor sprinkler systems, and helped me design and construct the framework for each tent. We both spent hours and hours on the tents alone. As they came together, more ideas flowed, and the end result was even better than I had imagined they would be!! Someone had given me four very large lace curtain panels years ago. You know, the kind our grandmas used to use with the pinch pleats and the hooks that slipped into loops on a curtain rod so that you could pull a cord on one end, and the curtains would open and close? When I pulled them out of the large plastic bag, they were a bit dingy and smelled old and musty. I pulled all the metal hooks out of the pleats, unpicked all the sewing on each panel, and threw them in the washing machine. I didn’t have anything to lose because if they got ruined I wasn’t out anything. They washed up beautifully!!! And made the perfect covering for the tents!!!

I also found some Pareo sarong wraps that I had bought in Hawaii years ago, and threw a couple of them over the top of the lace panels already attached to the tent frame. It needed one more thing to totally cover the roof, and I went to Amazon and found some BoHo-Gypsy looking round tablecloths with the perfect prints to coordinate with the Pareo wraps.

I then ordered felt balls in the girl’s favorite colors and made short garlands for the opening of each tent, along with a small wreath made from a wooden embroidery hoop, with their names on a miniature banner, and some cute flowers.

I ordered twin size blow-up mattresses, soft cushy mattress pad covers, white sheets, soft snuggly blankets in their favorite colors, and cute BoHo pillows to make it more homey inside.

They seemed a little dark, so I pulled out my macramé skills from the 70’s and made a small chandelier using cotton cording, two wooden embroidery hoops, a small olive bucket from Hobby Lobby, and a strand of battery operated fairy lights inside the bucket. These could be turned on and off with a small remote control that came with each set of fairy lights.

The tents took the longest to put together . . . probably 3 months of work went into them, but because we were stuck at home, it was the perfect project!!! Without Covid, the tents would more than likely never have happened, and those lovely old drapes would still be down my basement, or even worse in the garbage can.

I also ordered some tiny pillow forms and made a pillow for each tent that said, “I Love You” and then each girl’s name. I printed these on muslin fabric ironed onto freezer paper on my computer printer. I used old bandannas for the back of the pillow and added yarn tassels to each corner. These were so much fun to make!!! And also helped personalize each tent and its owner.

I also found yards and yards of 50 year old white diaper flannel while “shopping” in the bins down my basement. I made each girl a white pillowcase with an inset of wide colored rickrack in their favorite color. This flannel was unlike anything you can find today!!! So nice, soft, thick and snuggly!!!

To contain all their treats and crafts I ordered plastic lap trays from Michael’s in each of their favorite colors.

I also ordered cute ombre mugs and personalized them on my Silhouette Cameo using vinyl.

I then began compiling things to make and do while they would be here.

One entire family had already had Covid, but we planned for June – with two weeks of quarantine after school let out just to be safe. Ron and I were both in the high risk group and were not even going to the grocery store. We were also taking care of Eileen, Ron’s 93 year old mother.

Next week’s post will pull it all together and show the final outcome!!! I am grateful for the opportunity to do fun and creative things with my grandkids!!! They bring so much light, joy, and happiness into my life!!! Kids have the ability to be resilient in the hardest of circumstances!!!

May we all seek for things that bring HOPE and LIGHT even during difficult and trying times? If we look for it, the LIGHT is ALWAYS there!!!

Love Ya, Les ☺

Family

Grandma Camp 2020 – Part One