I’ve been working all summer to spruce up my vintage camper getting it ready for the next big adventure. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I am adding fun decor pieces and these mini faux succulent planters were the perfect addition!
I posted on Instagram last April when my hubby and I headed over the mountains to eastern Washington to pick up this beauty of a vintage camper for my birthday. It is a 1971 Shasta Compact and it was in pretty good condition for its age.
My husband will tell you that I am obsessed with painting things, but honestly paint can transform a space like nothing else, and is probably the most cost-effective makeover on the face of the planet. So of course the first thing I did was paint the whole inside. I used Behr’s Permafrost for the walls, and Light Drizzle for the undersides of the cabinets and bunk bed. These two colors are very similar, in fact my husband didn’t realize they were different at all until I pointed it out. However, I can see the difference and that’s all that matters!
Once the inside was painted and ready to go, and the new floors were in, it was time to start thinking about adding some personal touches, some quirky decor, and a little but of my style. I started by adding a fun mirror and some beautiful art prints to the piece of the bunk that folds up vertically above the couch area.
Now this baby is a pretty tiny ride, in fact in comes in at about 13′ long and only 6’6″ wide. There is not a lot about it that doesn’t double for something else. The couch pulls out into a bed. the bedding storage in the closet doubles as a clothes closet when we take her out. In fact the “free” wall space is pretty minimal. However, there are a few nooks and crannies that provide a little room for adding decorative touches.
One of those spots is the couch side wall of the closet. When we are using the couch for eating dinner or playing cards someone’s head (my incredibly tall husband) is right there so whatever I put there has to be up high enough so they don’t hit their head on it.
I’ve really enjoyed adding a lot of plants into our home this past year, but I am not silly enough to think that real plants could survive being neglected in the camper, so it was fake succulents to the rescue. Because the camper is mobile traditional vases and flower pots are out of the question.
This led me to think about ways I could mount them to the wall. I decided to create some faux concrete planters using foam and DecoArt’s MagiKote.
I simply cut three foam rectangles and then covered them in 3 coats of the MagiKote. This was by far the most frustrating part, because you have to let the stuff really dry in between coats. So, needless to say this was a lesson in patience, and probably the reason this project took 2 weeks instead of 2 hours!
Once I had all the layers on MagiKote on and dried completely I painted over it using a mixture of the Americana Multi-Surface Satin Acrylics in Steel Grey mixed with Dazzling Metallics in Zinc. Then, once that was dry, I stuck in some of my favorite faux succulents into the top.
Now because weight is an issue when hauling anything (hence the reason I used faux concrete instead of real) as well as maintaining stability during travel, I opted to mount them to the wall using command strips. I simply stuck one side to the faux concrete block and then stuck them directly on the wall. I made sure the hold them up there with plenty of pressure for a full minute, just to make sure they would stick. Then, I stood back, well actually sat back, and made googly eyes at their beauty.
