Discovering the #rvstickerclub might be one of the best things that happened to us while camping through the pandemic.
I dove headfirst into this warm, welcoming community and quickly realized I needed a way to display all the creative stickers we were receiving each week. After debating the pros and cons of various ways to show off these beauties, we finally decided to make our own #rvstickerclub display board out of pvc pipe and plexiglass.
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What is the #rvstickerclub?
The short answer is that the RV Sticker Club is a way for those who enjoy the traveling lifestyle to share experiences and swap stickers.
The longer answer is that the RV Sticker Club is a way for us to connect with other like-minded souls who enjoy camping. That it brings together people of all types regardless of age, gender, location, and stage of life as long as they also have a home on wheels.
It provides a reason to go check the mailbox with anticipation and glee rather than boredom or dread. (We also use it for some geography lessons here in our household!)
It is well-documented that connecting with other people is essential to our well-being and connecting with others through the RV Sticker Club has helped us feel less isolated throughout our times of quarantine.
Who can join the #rvstickerclub?
Anyone who wants to join. We welcome RV campers, those who indulge in the Van Life, Skoolie fans, 5th wheels, travel trailers, pop-ups, anyone who has a home on wheels is welcome. It doesn’t even have to be your full-time (or part-time) home. Ours is a weekender lifestyle currently in a Class C RV, a Thor Chateau.
How did the #rvstickerclub get started?
I’m not sure which platform came first, I have seen examples of RV sticker trades on YouTube, FaceBook and Instagram. I do know that Instagram is the one that comes up first when I search on Google and that the official account @rvstickerclub was begun by Ashley and Morgan from @theflyingham who are great at promoting the club, welcoming new members, and keeping us all inspired. However, they did not start the hashtag.
They really started promoting the trades in January 2020, but I see trades through most of 2019 by some other familiar names such as @MyRVTherapy, @ratrodsam, @rv_travel_adventures, and @hubbardsonthehitch, plus some others who I don’t see around now but were instrumental in the beginning like @bonnefires.
Side Note on The Flying Ham:
@theflyingham is local to us and before we got our own Class C RV we seriously considered renting one of theirs but we were never organized enough to book one when we also had a campsite reservation. Seriously though I’m still trying to figure out a reason to reserve one, maybe for my birthday?
So how did you build that #rvstickerclub display board?
We are so glad you asked! We spent quite a bit of time debating our options and drew up multiple ideas before settling on our actual build. In fact, we had roughly 75 trades in hand before the build began. But here is how we built our #rvstickerclub display board from pvc pipe and plexiglass.
Visual of the Plan:
We used the following lengths to have the height no more than two times the length of the base following standard building practice.
Supply List for the #rvstickerclub display board:
- 3 pieces 10-foot 1 inch diameter pvc pipe
- 6 1-inch PVC ELs
- 6 1-inch PVC TEEs
- 8 S hooks
- 8 Eyebolts with Nut
- 2 .093 by 20 by 32 sheets of plexiglass
Tools:
- PVC cutter
- Drill with step bits
- Painter’s tape
- Cooking oil
Steps to Build the #rvstickerclub display board:
- Cut pvc pipe into the following lengths:
- 5 lengths of 35 inches
- 4 lengths of 24 inches
- 4 lengths of 15 inches
- 2 lengths of 12 inches
- Prime and paint your pieces of pvc pipe. We did one coat of primer and two coats of paint allowing them to dry between each coat. Scratches are going to appear unless you are super careful on how you store them. We are okay with this.
- Measure 6 ¾ inches in from both ends on three pieces of 35-inch pipes and mark them.
- Drill holes into those three pieces of 35-inch pipes and insert your Eyebolt with Nuts. We used a ¼ inch drill bit for this as it is the same size as our Eyebolt with Nuts. These will hold the S hooks that will hold the plexiglass sheets.
- Measure 5 ¼ inches in from both long ends of the plexiglass sheets, top and bottom, and mark them. We again drilled a ¼ inch hole so technically these are between the 5 ¼ and the 5 ½ inch mark. Note: we are only attaching at the top for now but wanted the option to attach at the bottom as well so went ahead and marked for holes on all four corners.
- Drill ¼ inch holes into your plexiglass sheets on all four corners. See below for notes on how to safely drill holes into the plexiglass. We did crack our first sheet by being impatient. Luckily, we had a use for it even after it cracked.
Steps to Setup the #rvstickerclub display board at the Campsite:
- Build your base by using four of your El connectors and two of your Tee connectors along with two of the 35-inch pieces and your four 15-inch pieces.
- Next, snap in your two 12-inch pieces to the Tee connectors. Add Tee connectors to the tops of these. Use a 35-inch piece along the cross piece and insert two 24-inch pieces going up.
- Add Tee connectors to the tops of the 24-inch pieces and repeat your 35-inch cross piece and two 24-inch pieces going up.
- Finish by adding your last two EL connectors and your last 35-inch pipe.
- Insert your S hooks into the plexiglass and then the eyebolts.
- Stand back and admire your work.
How to safely drill holes into plexiglass without cracking it:
- Keep the film on the plexiglass.
- Place painter’s tape over the area in which you plan to drill.
- Mark your spot for your holes.
- Place a small amount of cooking oil over the spot for drilling.
- Use a step bit for drilling.
- Move slowly.
Other FAQs about the RV Sticker Club:
How do I get a logo?
You can design your own or hire someone to develop a logo for you. If you choose to design your own, any graphics program on your computer should work. However, that is not one of our strengths. We chose to hire a graphic designer to do ours. After checking out several recommended designers on Instagram, we ended going with Green Bow Editing as she had a website which allowed us to view her portfolio and see reviews of her work. We loved the design she developed for us.
Where do I get my stickers?
There are so many places to print stickers these days. Commonly mentioned ones in the community include Sticker Giant, Sticker App, Sticker You, or print their own at home.
What size and shape should I make my sticker?
A popular size is roughly 3 inches by 3 inches. Die cut stickers are extremely popular. However, we are happy to trade with just about anyone who is part of the RV Sticker Club regardless of the size and shape of their sticker.
How many stickers should I order to begin with?
We were going to just order 100 to begin with however realized that if we ordered 120, we would get some added bonuses like a free bottle of hot sauce. What can I say? We love hot sauce! All that to say, we suggest ordering between 100 and 200…however many it takes to get free shipping or a good price.
How does one go about trading on Instagram?
First you will want to be on Instagram and follow both @rvstickerclub and #rvstickerclub. Start connecting with the community by liking, following, and commenting on the trades. Share your sticker when it is available, making sure to tag @rvstickerclub and using a variety of hashtags. We use #rvstickerclub, #rvstickerswap, and #rvstickertrade. Then start sending DMs to other accounts that you know have stickers for trade asking if they would like to trade with you. This is a friendly group, and you will be told yes most of the time. The times we have been told no were because someone was on the road with no current address. Which makes sense they aren’t trading currently and will need to tell you no.
How do you keep track of your trades?
Different folks keep track of their trades in a variety of ways. I’m a spreadsheet nerd so I keep up with all my trades (and asks) on a spreadsheet. It has columns for the Date I reached out, their Instagram handle, Name, Address, Date I sent a sticker out, Date I received their sticker, Date I thanked them via a post on Instagram, Date they told me they received my sticker, and I recently added three new columns: Date returned, New Address, and Sent 2.0 (because I have had some returned as the address was no longer current but I still want them to get their stickers!).
Some people will find this many fields to be complete overkill and that’s fine. The important point is for you to keep track of your trades in whatever way makes the most sense to you. We just recommend you do keep track somehow because it is easy to lose track otherwise!
What supplies do you keep on hand for trades?
In addition to a good supply of stickers, I also keep on hand note cards, envelopes, stamps (both domestic and international), and I love to seal our envelopes with a frog sticker. We are so not the coolest kids on the block here. Stickers arrive here with small gifts, on beautiful custom notecards, or with custom bingo games. Envelopes might be handmade or addressed with stamps or stickers that include the logo. I am constantly telling my family that we need to up our game! We just haven’t gotten there yet.
How do you thank your trading partners?
Again, I’m going to focus on the Instagram crowd as that is where we are at. Many people create Stories for their thank yous and then save them in their Highlights. I didn’t understand any of that when we started (honestly, I started the whole Instagram account just for the sticker trades so I didn’t know anything about Instagram at the time 😊) so we do a weekly post each Sunday showing the trades we received the previous week and thanking those who traded with us.
What else can you do with your stickers?
If you don’t want to build a #rvstickerclub display board like ours here are some of the other ways we’ve seen sticker trades being displayed: covering a cooler, physically on the RV/Travel Trailer/Tow Vehicle, framed boards, or even a traditional sticker notebook.
I don’t have a sticker. Will you still send me one?
While the point of the #rvstickerclub is not to collect free stickers but rather to connect with other camping people we understand that not everyone is at a place in life where they can create and purchase their own stickers. We love the way @myrvtherapy handles these requests and are modeling our own off of hers. If you would like one of our stickers but don’t have your own to trade, DM us for a list of charities we support, use a pay app to send a donation to one of them, screenshot the receipt to us, and we will gladly mail you a sticker. Our number one choice currently is @bentwhiskerranch.
How many trades have you done?
As of the posting of this article we have sent out 215 and received 180. Our collection includes stickers from 39 states, and we have participated in 14 international trades.
What did you do with your cracked sheet of plexiglass?
We used it as a board for displaying stickers we have collected from the various campgrounds we have visited and attached it to one of our storage doors with command strips.
We love the #rvstickerclub trading community!
Seriously folks, if you haven’t traded with us yet, please do so. We love to collect stickers from all over and are always happy to send ours out. And, if you build our #rvstickerclub display board or have a different way to display your stickers, please tag us on Instagram @campinganswer so we can see your collection!