love for WHOLE LARDER LOVE...

DRINKING. SHOOTING. GRILLING.

Another great weekend at camp.

Thanks Rohan Anderson for coming,

and Max Wastler for bringing him to our neck of the woods!
& Michael Kiser for joining.

 Shots from Rohan: (he carved his initials into our camp bunk bed)

(His perspective from in the morning-  from the dock this morning)

 (Documenting mad max and the air rifle in the wee hours-- its hard hitting a tomato off of a PBR can)

 ...and- some shots from michael kiser's feed...

(michael- You always bring no shortage of beer. and we love you for it)

 rohan at work! He cooked up a feast of epic proportions. Steaks, asparagus with bacon, tomato salad, all manner of Wisconsin cheeses. Loads of wine and a hearty appetite made for a great evening.

Frankie- camp mascot. how we love thee... let us count the ways.

(kiser's view from the terraces yesterday)

And--

Some choice selects from max's instagram feed.

Fav shot? The PBR + trailer = country perfection.

Boy: we had a great time. Come back soon!

This Month's Country Living: camp lovin'

thanks, CL for the great story in the June issue!

REAL SIMPLE magazine

This was a fun interview we did for one of our favorite mags for their "Real life strategies" section.

All about entertaining. (Makes me want to throw another party.)

Sadly- it didn't run :(
So what the h*ll, might as well share it here :)
Makes me miss winter!!

WARM HANDS, WARM HEART.

For the ice rink parties that we host on our lake, I love greeting friends with a basket full of vintage hand knit mittens and scarves- folks relish the opportunity to  swap out the standard issue for something old and handmade and I always pair it with a toasty drink-  spiked hot cider and  Irish cream hot cocoa are crowd fav's. I also provide skates for friends who don't bring any (you can pick up at almost any thrift store) I buy off season to get them cheaper.

CHEERS!

Impromptu bars. I love 'pop up bars'.  Throwing a sheep skin on a dresser, top it off with wooden trays, layer it with bottles. they're easy to throw together in minutes -- one that I do every year is our 'tobaggan bar'-- a 1920s sled on saw horses, decked out to the max with all manner of retro glasses and liquor decanters.

DIY SMILE BOOTH

Rig up a vintage holiday tablecloth or fantastic old piece of retro christmas barkcloth - and set your digital camera up on a tripod. Voila! instant photobooth. To really get folks crazy into it, I set out a basket of props (vintage of course!) 

SHOTSKI

Nothing says holiday like spiced rum from a shotski. Our friends built a '7 seater'-- two vintage snow skis anchored together. I like to mix in 'surprise shots' so their like presents, folks don't know what they'll be drinking.

VINTAGE GEAR

At camp, we immerse our guests in all things retro. I spend the year stocking up on antique snowshoes, snow skis, vintage ice skates and hockey gear, piles of tartan wool blankets and stacks of vintage hand knit sweaters. We want friends to feel like they are stepping back in time- and using vintage gear (and donning that 1940's Pendleton wool pheasant coat) while drinking from a 1950's diner mug does the trick.

PARTING GIFT

Give them a memento to remember their visit. When we throw parties at camp, I like to send them home with a token themed from the parties. Sometimes it's a classic camp counselor whistle on a leather lanyard, or a slingshot. I try to make it something they don't have at home. (Side note: eventually, because we got so many requests for stuff like this, we opened wandawegacampstore.com) 

HGTV "Design Happens" loves camp

For those who believe Saturday mornings are meant for yard sales, not sleeping in…who re-sort their recyling for “upcycling” possibilities…who have a special place in their heart for old houses…and see rust marks as a sign of beauty, not deterioration…you’ll love our editors’ “What We’re Reading” design book picks for August.

check it out:

CAMP DOGS (you know your pup wants to come swimmin' in the lake)

We are fortunate enough to be able to share Camp Wandawega with many of our furry friends. Bountiful time to run and play and explore and dig.

Here are some of the furry friends that have visited lately and what they have been doing around camp!

Frankie

(photo by David Hernandez)

Jack

(photo by David Hernandez)

Lacie

(photo by Lori Loehr)

Huxley

(photo by Caitlin Kerr)

Penelope

(photo by Melissa Caringer)

WE BOUGHT A CAMP!

YAY!
It just hit the stands :)
Charlie as a brownie breaks my heart.
I mean, who knew they made baby moccasins that were this adorable??

Thanks to everybody who helped !!

Pick up the latest copy of MIDWEST LIVING magazine. or download it on zinio.

Midwest Living Magazine series 'on the road' - david!

Wandawega Lake Resort, Part 2: Camp History

Camp Wandawega co-owner David Hernandez provides a brief history of the resort and shares stories of his times as a youth at this rustic camp.

check it out HERE

Today's Front Page of Huffington Post: shout out to the treehouse creators!

Many thanks to the generous and talented team who donated their time and talents to creating a beautiful monument to a wonderful father: 

Tyler Peterson and Shaun Owens-Agase of stoneblitzer.com, 
Angela Finney Hoffman of post27store.com, 
Steven Teichelman at thisisthreefold.com, 
Bladonconner.com and friends like Aaron Pahmier and many more. 

Bless you all!!

check out the post here

HGTV shoots an episode of Camp Wanda

Last week the fine folks at Home and Garden television spent a weekend with us filming for a new show featuring homes with history. (And all we had to do was take them room by room and gab about finding flea market scores, and some of the secrets of the camp's history).

stay tuned for details & a clip from the show when it airs.