5 Travel Makeup Essentials

 

Makeup Essentials for Life on the Road: Staying Glam in an RV

Hey beauties!

Amanda here, your Craftin’ Wife, ready to talk about one of my favorite topics — makeup — but with a twist. Living in an RV means limited space, limited water, and limited time sometimes, but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your beauty routine. With a little smart planning, you can keep your glam game strong on the road.

Here’s my list of makeup essentials that fit perfectly into RV life — compact, versatile, and totally effective:

1. Multi-Use Products

Look for products that do double (or triple) duty — think a tinted moisturizer with SPF, a blush that can double as lip color, or an eyeshadow palette that can create multiple looks without taking up space.

2. Compact, Travel-Friendly Packaging

I prefer smaller palettes and stick-form products because they’re easy to stash in limited storage and less likely to spill or break during travel.

3. Quality Tools in Mini Sizes

A few good brushes and tools go a long way. I keep a small brush roll with essentials like a blending brush, a flat eyeshadow brush, and a travel-sized beauty blender.

4. Makeup Remover Wipes

Water is precious on the road, so makeup remover wipes are a lifesaver for quick and gentle cleansing at the end of the day.

5. Setting Spray and Primer

Both are compact, travel-friendly, and make your makeup last longer even when the weather or your schedule gets unpredictable.

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Living in an RV doesn’t mean you have to compromise your self-care or style. With the right essentials, your makeup routine can be just as enjoyable and effective as it is at home.

What’s your must-have makeup product when traveling? I’d love to hear your favorites!

Stay glowing,
Amanda, The Craftin’ Wife 💖

Upcoming Travel Plans

 Hey Y'all!

It's that time again... checkups & scans. We'll be gone from the 10th -17th, traveling to TN and attending all the appointments, then back here to NW IN. The owners here have been fantastic about our needing time off for this. We couldn't ask for better 'bosses'.

We will travel out of our way to avoid Indianapolis. We all have a city we hate to travel through, and that's ours. We also prefer anything but interstate, there's really nothing to see, but it's faster in times like this. This rough plan is a good mix of both. It says almost 10hrs, so we figure 12. 6hr days are about our limit now, so we'll stop at the half way point, or a little further and either parking lot it or get a cheap site, then we'll finish getting there the next day. Same thing but reverse for the return trip. I haven't booked anything, I usually do that last minute and haven't had any real problems yet.

My appointments are the 12th x2, 13th, and 15th. 

When not doing that we need to get an oil change, swap some things at the storage unit, and take care of other business. So it's appointments and errands all week!

Safe travels, and perfect weather to us & good scan vibes for me!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Traveling Day

 Hey Y'all!

I failed a bit at picking up the camera on our travel day, but we didn't do much.

I spent the morning searching for showers, and was unsuccessful. So, we decided to just give that up and travel on. We hopped on state and US highways, and traveled through many small towns, and several blink and you've missed it spots. The running joke is that OH is flat (lies!) however we did find a pretty flat spot in NW OH off 224 West. The road is pretty good through Ohio but gets rather bumpy and significantly narrower in IN.

We stayed in a hotel through the storms, it really worked out but being on the third floor through the winds was scary. We just couldn't find a campground that was open,  and/or with water on. 

We stopped a few times to stretch, but outside of winter fields and a few wind turbines there wasn't much site seeing happening. We do enjoy driving thru the small towns though, and promise a dash cam video on Outland Adventures YouTube soon!

We've now stopped in Decatur, IN and today- during a break in the rains, we explored the downtown area, including the sculpture walk, library, an antique store and a few other buildings.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Ask Me Anything

 Hey Y'all!

This past week I made a post on social media asking for your questions, I got a couple so I'll answer them here.

1)

Small town America, we've really enjoyed traveling, and find there's so much to see and do in all the little towns across each state. Some of our favorites have been Athens, AL, and Orangeburg, SC.

2)

Pretty much any vinyl craft, I really like all the different types of vinyl (especially glow in the dark, or color changing) and all the projects you can do with them. Decals for cars, walls, notebooks, cups, computers, etc. HTV? Canvas, shirts, shoes, jackets, bags, etc. The possibilities are endless!

That was all the questions I got this time, be sure to leave your questions for next time in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin; Wife

A Year FT Van Living! This Year's Travel Bucket List

 Hey Y'all!

Last Year when we started living full time in Brunilda, our 1991 Chevy G20 Conversion Van, we came up with a bucket list for the year. We never shared it with anyone, so we're doing that now.

We liked the idea, and it gave us a bit of a travel goal for the year, so we decided to do it again this year.

Without further ado here's what we accomplished from last year:

We had a lot on our list, and we're grateful to have accomplished most of it!

Here's a list of what we did:

See the eclipse (from Oakridge Campground in Rockport, IN)

Alabama!

Another state- South Carolina

5 State Parks; Warriors Path, Cedars of Lebanon, Harrison Bay, David Crockett Birthplace, all in TN. Santee in SC. 

2 National Parks; Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (KY/VA/TN) and Cuyahoga Valley National Park (OH)

A National Wildlife Refuge/ Nature Preserve; Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (AL) Hatcher Gardens, Edisto Memorial Gardens, Glendale Preserve & Waterfall (all SC) 

(Amanda) Read 52 Books!

Walk A Mile A Day (Average)

7 "Mom & Pop" Campgrounds (our goal was 10); Oakridge Campground (IN) Oh Kentucky! (KY) Cowford Campground (AL) Mammoth Ridge (TN)  Woodsmoke Family Campground (SC) Pine Ridge Campground (SC) Outside Inn (SC) 

15 Free Overnights (outside of family); Planet Fitness (2) Walmart (2) Lowe's (1) Cracker Barrel (9 for sure, maybe more) Tamarack (1) 

Movie Night/Date Night

Any Amusement Park; Kokomo Beach (IN)

Beach Trip! (We didn't make it to the ocean, but we still played on a lot of beaches.)

Day On The Water

2 State Parks Outside of TN (Goal was 5); Fort Boonesborough (KY) Santee (SC)

A Trip With No Interstates; Kokomo, IN to Owensboro, KY

5 Visitors Centers was the goal; We love a visitor center! Richmond, and Berea KY, as well as Welcome to KY Visitors Center, OH Welcome Center, IN Welcome Center, as well as Rockport Visitor Center, Alabama Welcome Center, Athens and Scottsboro Visitors Centers, TN Welcome Center (3) as well as Greeneville and Jonesborough Visitors Centers, NC Welcome Center, SC Visitor Center as well as Spartanburg Visitors Center. (17?)

Our goal was 100 subscribers on YouTube, we've surpassed it now- but at the end of 2024 we sat at 95!

Try a new food monthly! This was easy, and fun to accomplish. From fresh sea food in AL, to the best Brazilian cuisine in SC, and a little Cajun place in IN we had some great meals in 2024! 

4 Lakes (Goal was 5); Wheeler Lake, Chickamauga Lake, Lake Reba, Cherokee Lake

4 Rivers (Goal was 5); TN River, Ohio River, KY River, Holston River

What didn't we do?

Grow Social Media (much)

Eat out 2x max per week

500 Followers/Subscribers

As we said, we're pretty happy with what we did get accomplish! I'm sure there are things we forgot, which is why we're gearing up to track things better this year.

So, what's on the list this year?

3 New States

A Day On The Water

4 New State Parks

Amusement/Waterpark Day

5 Visitor's Centers

Post to Social Media Daily

2 Wildlife/Nature Preserves

100 Subs on  Outland Adventures YouTube- WE DID IT! Currently at 106!

Then 500 Subs on YouTube

Travel By Train/Train Ride

Ghost Tour (Anywhere) - We did one in 2024 in Franklin, and it was okay, we've done them in the past and really had a lot of fun. The one in Chattanooga just was too large and moved too fast.

10 "small" campgrounds (not franchise, or state parks)

20 Free Spots

(Amanda) Read 52 Books!

Get the Drone out 2x month

Hit the beach, look for shells

Another National Park

Try local foods 1x mo

Visit with a fellow nomad

50 Followers on TikTok

50 Followers on Facebook- WE DID IT! Went from 40 something to 165 in January!

Then 100 Followers each!

Collab with a brand

Enjoy Fall Foliage for as long as possible

Camp in 2 new State Parks (Too bad I made this goal for a new one, we've done Warriors' already!)

Ride bikes

Tour a Small Town, See the Goofy Stuff

Visit a Nature Center/Zoo- We did Cleveland Metroparks Zoo last year, and really enjoyed the Rainforest.

Find a cool rock- leave it behind

Make a new recipe monthly

4 Museums (any kind)- We didn't get to many last year- AL Veteran's Museum, and Spartanburg Railroad Museum, Greeneville Museum, Jonesborough Museum, KY Hall of Fame & Museum (Okay maybe we did more than I thought...)

5 Tours, of any kind- Last year we did Mayfield, Ghost Tour, Carnton, Carter House, BMW, Walnut Grove Plantation, Greeneville Car Museum/Tour

Visit Local Libraries (Goal of 10?)

As you can see we have already accomplished some of our Social Media list, YAY! As soon as radiation finishes for me we'll begin our travels again!

What's on your travel list this year? Share in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

What's In My Makeup Case?

 Hey Y'all!

What's currently traveling with? 

Too much, but I really wanted to bring all my new Wet 'n Wild from Christmas...

But first here's the last Makeup Case blog:

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2024/11/makeup-swap-out-it-was-past-time-for.html

So, for now I have two cases with me...

The large green case I started with, and the cosmetics bag from the Scooby Doo Collection.

All of both collections does fit in the Scooby case... it's too much to keep traveling with...

I don't plan to take anything out as of now though.

Video of each product, not in depth, just a quick "all this fit in there?" video:

The big case:

All back in, it fit better this time!

Both cases:

Let's see your collection! Tag me on social media! @craftinwife on most platforms or you can find me here:

https://linktr.ee/craftinwife

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Some of Our Favorite, and Least Favorite Experiences in October

 Hey Y'all!

We were fortunate to do/see a lot of different places this past month. We traveled from NE Ohio, through OH and KY, where we spent a day in Corbin, and then onto NE Tennessee, we took a few days in Bristol, VA, and spent a week in the great outdoors at the quiet, serene Mammoth Ridge near Greeneville. In-between trips in TN we stayed at my mom's and did the whole doctors appointments and scans thing, again.

PLACE-

While in Ohio we really had a blast, and there's so much to share there it'll be a couple of videos, very soon. Our favorites were the haunted attractions, and getting to cross another National Park off our list with Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Brandywine Falls

History runs deep in the valley, with over 12,000 years of human occupation. From the unwritten stories of pre-contact peoples to the environmental disasters and comebacks of modern times, humans have left an impact on the valley. Here along the Cuyahoga River, humans have used, shaped, and been shaped by the landscape. Culture and nature interplay here, with each having its impact on the other.

The story of Cuyahoga Valley National Park's establishment highlights the impact local citizens and political leaders can have when they work together with passion and common purpose to protect aspects of America's heritage.

This story is rooted in the environmental and social movements of the 1900s. It is about the desire to have scenic open spaces near to home, especially for recreation. It is about not only saving significant features but restoring a landscape to be culturally vibrant, less polluted, a better home for wildlife, and a model for sustainable living.

We will definitely be returning to explore more of this park, and the surrounding areas, as well as take the TWO HOUR train ride! The areas of the park we explored were stunning, especially with the leaves just beginning to change. 

EXPERIENCE-

The Haunted House Restaurant, an absolute blast.

More pictures, and details can be found in this Outland Adventures blog!

THING-

Our new dresser, cabinet, counter space. 

It doesn't look exactly like this one, and we'll be doing a van updated tour in the near future, but it's very similar to this infant dresser I found online.

It's amazing how a larger piece can take up less room overall. This definitely feels more "home" and finished than the plastic drawer system. 

PERSON-

Y'all I know it wasn't part of this blog, but look at her. How could we not mention our great niece LPP!

 

Overall our October was pretty great, but we do have a few MEH experiences to share:

1) Replacing the belt...again. 

The new one, to bypass the smog delete, lasted less than a day (drive time). We then had to replace it with the old one, thankfully Chris thought to keep it. We had that most of the way back on, when we got kicked out of that parking lot, and had to remove it, put away the tools, limp it across the street, and get 'er done in a Lions Den parking lot. It only took about 30min from there, and thankfully it was a beautiful day. We're never in a rush, but it was annoying.

2) Sugar Hollow Park Campground Bristol, VA

This is a first come, first serve park. (No big deal, we've done that before- with Cowford Campground in AL.) So, I called- nicest lady ever on the phone, said only 3 spots were taken so we should not have any issue later in the day. 

We travel the 2ish hours out there, and get up to the campground and are blocked (via golf cart) by the ranger (?) on duty. No admittance, unless it's a factory built camper. Ok great, then the website should state that, it only says no tents. While we maneuvered to turn around, made more difficult by his incessant cart blocking, another van (Sprinter, not an RV version) went on up, and our assumption is they were let in- we never saw them come back down, and we were in the parks parking lot awhile trying to come up with a plan B. We eventually figured out a plan B, ended up staying in Bristol 2 days and actually spent a bit of time in this park. Their trails are very nice.

3) NORM Trolly Rides Seville, OH

This was in September, but it was bad enough it deserved mention. Also October was pretty great, so...

I felt especially bad that this sucked, because it was my idea. We got up & out early, had breakfast at a cute little diner in town, then drove out to the railyard. We paid our $5 each, and went ahead and boarded the train/trolly a few minutes early, all excited for this "20 minute train ride". As we waited on this gorgeous day, the car got totally full, and excitement grew as we left the "station". We chug a lugged about 1000 ft, and stopped. Ok, maybe they needed to switch the track, maybe there were technical difficulties... we weren't sure. The conductor said a few things, but being a car full of people, you couldn't really hear him. After about 5min we headed back- very confused. Once we got off the train we found someone to ask what was going on, and were told that was the train ride. My issues were that was no where near 20min, and they were advertising this event as such. They also were giving directions from Ohio's large cities to here. If we'd have traveled several hours for this I'd have cried, and I'm an adult. Maybe the museum inside a rail car was awesome, we didn't stick around to find out.

Have you ever gone some place and thought That was it?! Where was it? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

First Day Of SUMMER... Travel Plans?

 Hey Y'all!

So, Summer travel plans? What are they?

https://perchance.org/ai-photo-generator

I think we're pretty decided on (our 2 weeks in TN, then) Ohio, then PA...

However beyond that, we've got nothing solid yet.

But I did a bit of research today, starting with just "western PA things to do" since from Ohio, you come to western PA first. Immediately a reddit post came up for Oil Creek & Titusville Railroad. That looked like something we'd be interested in, and it's in our price range for activities.

After checking that out, I searched things nearby, and came up with quite a bit in just a quick search-

After seeing how much there is to see and do nearby, I started looking for places to camp, these were the most promising-

This option was the closest to my search of Oil City, and one of the cheapest on this app.

The abandoned school looks like Chris' thing, and I'm totally up for a night or 2 out there.

 

Oil Creek Family Campground had a lot of amenities, and activities in the park, for a decent price.

There's also a decent amount of Forest Land, some free, some fee, and various amenities among them.

That's also a solid option.

In my search I also found there are several state parks within an hour or so. Always a good option for the day, or a stay:

Oil Creek (Primitive, Hike-in Camping)

Chapman {May have to visit this one, since it's Amanda's maiden name.}

Cook Forest

Clear Creek

Pymatuning

Maurice K Goddard (No Camping)

So we've pretty much decided where we're going after Ohio, we just don't have dates nailed down quite yet. Early to mid August until ????

In Ohio we'll be visiting family, and hanging around there. Maybe we'll go to a few more parks, have a cookout, just hang out. Plans there are loose, but I grew up there, and we lived there for several years together, so we know of a lot of activities we could do (and it's been awhile since we've done most of them).

After Western PA, either further east, or further up.

Erie seems cool, and it's not far from there to NY.

But the big cities in PA, and the coastal towns have a lot to offer too...

Looking at the map:

I think maybe Oil City-ish, to Erie, north to around Rochester, NY across and down towards Hershey seems like a decent plan...

Do you have any ideas? Any thing we must see? Let us know in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

My Least Favorite Things (Currently)

 Hey Y'all!

Since I did my Top 3 Favorites, I figured a bottom three in the same categories may be interesting.

TOP 3:

 https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2024/06/my-favorite-things-currently.html

Bottom 3:

In no particular order, one craft item, one beauty item, and one random item. 

1) 

Mini Electric Iron from Dollar Tree~ I have no "craft in progress" pics for this because it didn't work. 

To clarify it did get warm, but definitely not hot enough to adhere HTV to any surface. I tried both cloth, and wood. It was a big no go. It didn't even work well for ironing the wrinkle out of the fabric during preheat. It may work for something like perler beads, but I'd just buy a regular iron for that. Doesn't even come close to comparing to the Cricut Easy Press Mini. Would NOT recommend! They can't all be winners.

*Couldn't find a link, but the website is not exactly user friendly.

2)

 Pacifica Pineapple Bubbles Clarifying Mask~

It seems like this may have been discontinued (I can see why.) as I can't find it online. (I got mine from TJ Maxx.)

Pacifica site:  https://www.pacificabeauty.com/collections/skincare

I never could get this to work right. Maybe it was user error, but it didn't bubble, but also didn't feel like a mask (or a cleanser). I gave it several tries, and it never "worked". It also didn't do anything for my skin, it felt and looked the same before & after. The scent was okay, but fairly overpowering. I've not tried anything else from the brand, am I missing something? Let me know in the comments.

3)

Picture Credit: https://www.aldireviewer.com/little-salad-bar-farmhouse-potato-salad-steakhouse-potato-salad/

Aldi Steakhouse Potato Salad~

We all tried this, and none of us liked it much. (5 adults, 3 kids) It seemed sweet, but also kinda like a loaded potato salad. The flavors just didn't combine well for our taste. We all prefer a mustard potato salad, and knew going in this was different, it's just not for us. If you like a semi sweet potato salad you may love this.

What are some of your least favorite things? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Where are the Makeup Looks?!?!

 Hey Y'all!

So, where are the makeup looks??!

They're back, just not near as large as before. 

I missed doing makeup, but still don't do it more than once or twice a week currently. Sometimes because we aren't doing anything, sometimes because what were doing makeup makes no sense, and some days I'm just too lazy to drag it all out.

Here's the few looks I've done recently:

1) Fresh haircut too... not exactly what I was going for (never is) but this should grow out better, if I choose to go that route.

2) Blue hair, semi permanent (Pretty much gone already). 

3) 

4) Photographing in the campground winds at 9am proved difficult.

5) In the van = better pics, who knew?

Once or twice a week seems like a good goal for now. See ya in June!

What are your predictions for how many June looks I do? Let me know in the comments below.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife