Wandawega Blog Archive
The crew @sanborncanoe are sportsmen in all weather. We are so excited to finally have the chance to collaborate with them! (More on that soonest) .#sanborncanoe .Photos by @sanborncanoe @theamericanswede @merrittogren
Staying Young.We thought this would be a flash in the pan. Just a single season collaboration. So when the line launched with Land of Nod, we stashed a second set of everything in the attic (in the hopes of gifting to future grand babies)We would never have believed then if someone had told us that so many years later, part of the line would still be alive and kicking (in stores, online, and still on Charlies short list to play with). And yet – somehow these little wooded forest friends, her favorite sleeping cabbie canoe (and sometimes dog bed) – her dollhouse, and hideout tent are still surprising us in our feed.I hope she never gets tired of playing with them, because then (as Peter Pan and Winnie the Poo have taught us) she will have grown out of them, grown up.So here we are with all of her cousins, back at the family farm – sucking up every last minute of her#StayLittle@CrateAndKids
TODAY WE ARE THANKFUL FORA few days off work to spend time with family exploring midwestern tourist stops, in often overlooked parts of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.The 99-year-old proprietor of the oldest souvenir shop in Mo. who shared her stockroom of deadstock with us.The proprietors of the Nauvoo Hotel for keeping it a time capsule you can sleep in.The extra whipped cream on the hot cocoa at the landmark Starved Rock Lodge.The owner of art/thrift resale shop shop that sold us an 1850s oil landscape (for less than the cost of a family dinner). Having our daughter explore the same caves that Samuel Langhorne Clemens did when he was her age.
Craft Cabin
We’ve always wanted one of these. (it only took us a decade to make it happen). Sneak peak of the newest little project we’ve been obsessing over: Every scout camp in America for the past century has a craft cabin… A right of passage for girls and boys, you would enter camp a novice, and leave an expert basket-making-loom-weaving-pottery-painting-jewelry-crafting scout ninja. So after many months of researching the most common crafts made at summer camps since 1920(The sign is from cover of a 1940s book of crafts) We started sourcing deadstock craft kits, custom made craft kits, and impossible-to-find craft…
If youre offended by animal trophies, Camp Wandawega is the very last place you will want to visit. Hunting trophies are part of Wisconsin tradition. Its part of every old school supper club & lodge. And part of us.We inherited some of ours when we bought this place, found some at flea markets from another century, and others were gifts from friends. We dont have time to hunt ourselves – but are grateful to friends who have gifted us pieces over the years:antler chandelier made as a wedding gift (each antler is signed by the friends who either found the shed or bagged the deer). The bear we got from a former priest who felt guilty owning it (a remnant of his younger days as a hunter). Every spring, Charlie collects feathers, turtle shells, antler sheds and birds nests from the woods – and finds an occasional birds skull or raccoon tooth (one of our former camp counselors who worked for the Field Museum taught her how to hunt the trails for her collection). .She says she wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up. Shes getting a good start… a few of camps furry friends shot by @matt.scheffer
In the 1960s and ’70s, the Latvian Catholic refugee community that occupied Camp Wandawega pronounced it “vohn-duh-vay-guh” and spelled it “Vandavega.”This shoebox footage we found several years ago shows an 8 year old David – along with his brother and cousins – proudly wearing their Camp Vandavega T’s. We had so many folks asking for one, we decided it was time to bring them back, thanks to our friends at @threadless.David’s parents found one of the originals in their attic – and now that Charlie is 8, she’s big enough to wear it). Today is the Latvians Centenary #latvia100 ON: wandawega.threadless.com
Has anyone ever tried to cut down a tree with a two-man saw? (cause we could use some lessons)When we bought camp, we found so many saws all over the property in every basement, crawlspace and attic.One was an epic rusty thing that we’re sure hadn’t been touched since the Hoover Administration- so we thought it would be fun to break it back in. (And naively thought would be easy to cut our own for the Christmas tree for the lodge.).After much flailing, we decided to resort back to the the gas-fueled version… and because every bride needs a good chainsaw, we still had the one Id registered for years ago (slightly less rusty) ..tb to when @DavidTsay came to shoot our wanda wisco winter: ice skating. ice fishing. snowmobiling. tree cutting for @betterhomesandgardens for friends with benefits – they model. the cook.they try to help us cut trees. They are the best : @cargo_north @mrbekker
The best thing to hold onto in life is each other- Aubrey Hepburn …@viorlandi (creative director) ties the knot with her true love David up in the wooded back acres of camp, covered in a blanket of stars and friends. / photos:@meganyanz
