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You’ve
been in the HFS for awhile and you realized that your encampment doesn’t quite
look right. The feeling of being transported into a fantasy realm just isn’t
easy when surrounded by so many mundanities. If you would really like your
encampment or presence at an event to look more “period” and you’re wondering
what you could do to make it look better, there are inexpensive ways to start!.
Like most of us, you can’t afford to spend a big chunk of cash on a custom made
pavilion, furniture, etc. In truth, you don’t need to. You really can make your
modern gear look better with a little effort and with just a little more work
can make you own accoutrements and equipment that has the right flavor.
The obvious first step for making your encampment look more period is to make
it look less modern. Get rid of anything modern - easy to say, harder to do.
Get rid of or hide your soft drink cans, plastic bags, Rubbermaid
containers, those folding nylon camping chairs, your tennis shoes or any item
that looks like it’s made of modern materials.
How do you hide it all? Easy, make it look like something else!
For example, you can’t really afford any new camp furniture, but you’ve already
got folding card tables and nylon camp chairs, make fabric covers to go over
them. This is a great opportunity to display your device. Find appropriate
patterned fabric and cover your tables, coolers, or anything that has a modern
appearance to it. The richer the texture the better, tapestry style materials
look fantastic.
Pavilions and Tents
A real pavilion is a wonderful thing, it looks great, you feel like you are
really there, but a new pavilion can be very expensive. However, you can
change the appearance of your tent or hide it in a number of ways.
Using sheets or fabric panels suspended from poles and crossbars make walls
that surround your tent. These can be painted with scenes from your favorite
medieval manuscripts or treat them like tapestries. This will give some
additional privacy and if you create a second roof, may even aid with some
climate control in your tent.
Try building a simple PVC snap together frame that will encompass your tent and
drape the sheets or fabric panels on it.
It is lightweight and inexpensive.
Failing that inexpensive pop-up 10’ x 10’ sun flies ($30-90) are
available. Make fabric covers and sides for these, add dags, paint them
to add color. Cover your existing tent with this or if you are feeling
adventurous, camp in this.
A relatively easy medieval tent is the
Viking style tent, similar to an inverted V (Δ) in shape, they give you
opportunity for decoration with the ease of setup and dismantle. This can also create storage space around
your modern tent for all those mundanities you want to hide from public view.
Furniture
You can
really make your campsite look very period with some additions of furniture, a
couple nice wooden chairs, a table, A wooden cover for your ice chest, storage
chests, and other elements.
Beds
At some point you really get tired of sleeping directly on the ground, but you
don’t want to bring a whole bed. An easy and inexpensive way
of making a bed platform is to use milk crates as supports and two pieces of
plywood approximately as planks on them. The crates can be still used as
storage bins and tuck out of the way when not being accessed. Then cover the
whole thing with a cloth. Use an air
mattress, futon or a couple of sleeping bags as padding and cover with more.
Chairs
Modern camp stools and directors chairs can be painted with scenes from
manuscripts or with your personal or group heraldry. Directors chairs, nylon folding chairs and folding wooden chairs
can be covered with “cozys” as a way to hide their modern look. Decorate these
covers with painting or appliqué.
Tables
Hide your modern folding tables under $1.00 yard fabric tablecloths.
Make a trestle table with sawhorses and planks or pieces of plywood with
benches for seating.
Storage
Traditionally,
barrels and wooden boxes, trunks or baskets would have been the containers of
choice, but these aren’t always convenient to build, store and transport.
A multitude of modern sins can be hidden out of sight, such as clothing,
feastgear, foodstuffs, kitchen equipment and loose camp junk.
Boxes and chests are probably the easiest to make or modify. IKEA sells a toy
chest for about $15.00, which can be modified by painting with scenes from
manuscripts or with your personal or group heraldry and adding rustic metal
hardware.
The larger chests also make great chairs and benches. Another great way of
hiding your ice chest is to make a chest that goes around it. Make a circular
cooler cover by gluing wood veneer to cloth and closing it around your “barrel”
with hooks and eyes.
Baskets, especially covered ones are an excellent way to hide small
things in your pavilion, they add to the overall look of your area.
Floor coverings
Look for Oriental or Middle Eastern rugs at rummage sales and the discount
stores. Preferably, use rugs made with synthetic fibers, you don’t want to have
your nice real wool Persian ruined in the next downpour. For an extra bit
of protection, put down a plastic tarp first before setting your pavilion up,
then place your carpets and rugs, this will keep them cleaner and in better
condition.
Lighting
Keep your
fluorescent camping lamp hidden in your tent or encased in a painted acrylic
tube of “stained glass”. Lanterns with glass faces or stamped metal lanterns
are a wonderful source of light and look quit good inside and hung outside the
pavilion. Be very careful with open flame from candles and oil based lamps.
A huge variety of “rustic” lanterns are available. Lanterns can be placed
inside the pavilion or hung outside on the iron crooks available from most
discount and dollar stores.
Decorations
Decorate your encampment with pennons and banners. Show off your personal arms,
your company device , or your household’s heraldry. Use the banner poles
to define the boundaries of your encampment.
Feast gear, drinking vessels, plates, pitchers, eating and cooking utensils
Glass, ceramic or metal is appropriate. Look for handmade goblets, plates and
serving ware. Some of the brightly colored Mexican and Italian ceramic ware has
very a appropriate look. Metal plates,
chargers and drinking vessels should be either tinned, silver plated or
lead-free pewter since brass and copper can react with the contents and make
you sick.
been in the HFS for awhile and you realized that your encampment doesn’t quite
look right. The feeling of being transported into a fantasy realm just isn’t
easy when surrounded by so many mundanities. If you would really like your
encampment or presence at an event to look more “period” and you’re wondering
what you could do to make it look better, there are inexpensive ways to start!.
Like most of us, you can’t afford to spend a big chunk of cash on a custom made
pavilion, furniture, etc. In truth, you don’t need to. You really can make your
modern gear look better with a little effort and with just a little more work
can make you own accoutrements and equipment that has the right flavor.
The obvious first step for making your encampment look more period is to make
it look less modern. Get rid of anything modern - easy to say, harder to do.
Get rid of or hide your soft drink cans, plastic bags, Rubbermaid
containers, those folding nylon camping chairs, your tennis shoes or any item
that looks like it’s made of modern materials.
How do you hide it all? Easy, make it look like something else!
For example, you can’t really afford any new camp furniture, but you’ve already
got folding card tables and nylon camp chairs, make fabric covers to go over
them. This is a great opportunity to display your device. Find appropriate
patterned fabric and cover your tables, coolers, or anything that has a modern
appearance to it. The richer the texture the better, tapestry style materials
look fantastic.
Pavilions and Tents
A real pavilion is a wonderful thing, it looks great, you feel like you are
really there, but a new pavilion can be very expensive. However, you can
change the appearance of your tent or hide it in a number of ways.
Using sheets or fabric panels suspended from poles and crossbars make walls
that surround your tent. These can be painted with scenes from your favorite
medieval manuscripts or treat them like tapestries. This will give some
additional privacy and if you create a second roof, may even aid with some
climate control in your tent.
Try building a simple PVC snap together frame that will encompass your tent and
drape the sheets or fabric panels on it.
It is lightweight and inexpensive.
Failing that inexpensive pop-up 10’ x 10’ sun flies ($30-90) are
available. Make fabric covers and sides for these, add dags, paint them
to add color. Cover your existing tent with this or if you are feeling
adventurous, camp in this.
A relatively easy medieval tent is the
Viking style tent, similar to an inverted V (Δ) in shape, they give you
opportunity for decoration with the ease of setup and dismantle. This can also create storage space around
your modern tent for all those mundanities you want to hide from public view.
Furniture
You can
really make your campsite look very period with some additions of furniture, a
couple nice wooden chairs, a table, A wooden cover for your ice chest, storage
chests, and other elements.
Beds
At some point you really get tired of sleeping directly on the ground, but you
don’t want to bring a whole bed. An easy and inexpensive way
of making a bed platform is to use milk crates as supports and two pieces of
plywood approximately as planks on them. The crates can be still used as
storage bins and tuck out of the way when not being accessed. Then cover the
whole thing with a cloth. Use an air
mattress, futon or a couple of sleeping bags as padding and cover with more.
Chairs
Modern camp stools and directors chairs can be painted with scenes from
manuscripts or with your personal or group heraldry. Directors chairs, nylon folding chairs and folding wooden chairs
can be covered with “cozys” as a way to hide their modern look. Decorate these
covers with painting or appliqué.
Tables
Hide your modern folding tables under $1.00 yard fabric tablecloths.
Make a trestle table with sawhorses and planks or pieces of plywood with
benches for seating.
Storage
Traditionally,
barrels and wooden boxes, trunks or baskets would have been the containers of
choice, but these aren’t always convenient to build, store and transport.
A multitude of modern sins can be hidden out of sight, such as clothing,
feastgear, foodstuffs, kitchen equipment and loose camp junk.
Boxes and chests are probably the easiest to make or modify. IKEA sells a toy
chest for about $15.00, which can be modified by painting with scenes from
manuscripts or with your personal or group heraldry and adding rustic metal
hardware.
The larger chests also make great chairs and benches. Another great way of
hiding your ice chest is to make a chest that goes around it. Make a circular
cooler cover by gluing wood veneer to cloth and closing it around your “barrel”
with hooks and eyes.
Baskets, especially covered ones are an excellent way to hide small
things in your pavilion, they add to the overall look of your area.
Floor coverings
Look for Oriental or Middle Eastern rugs at rummage sales and the discount
stores. Preferably, use rugs made with synthetic fibers, you don’t want to have
your nice real wool Persian ruined in the next downpour. For an extra bit
of protection, put down a plastic tarp first before setting your pavilion up,
then place your carpets and rugs, this will keep them cleaner and in better
condition.
Lighting
Keep your
fluorescent camping lamp hidden in your tent or encased in a painted acrylic
tube of “stained glass”. Lanterns with glass faces or stamped metal lanterns
are a wonderful source of light and look quit good inside and hung outside the
pavilion. Be very careful with open flame from candles and oil based lamps.
A huge variety of “rustic” lanterns are available. Lanterns can be placed
inside the pavilion or hung outside on the iron crooks available from most
discount and dollar stores.
Decorations
Decorate your encampment with pennons and banners. Show off your personal arms,
your company device , or your household’s heraldry. Use the banner poles
to define the boundaries of your encampment.
Feast gear, drinking vessels, plates, pitchers, eating and cooking utensils
Glass, ceramic or metal is appropriate. Look for handmade goblets, plates and
serving ware. Some of the brightly colored Mexican and Italian ceramic ware has
very a appropriate look. Metal plates,
chargers and drinking vessels should be either tinned, silver plated or
lead-free pewter since brass and copper can react with the contents and make
you sick.