Happy
Camper

Rolling Down the Road, Leaving All Their Troubles Behind

The Happy Camper Hallmark collection launched in 2014 with an ornament that immediately established its character: a large red retro travel van with a wreath on the front, a retractable green and white awning, "Happy Campers" painted along the side, and a Christmas tree — complete with gold star — poking out of the roof vent. The license plate is dated 2014. The van is rolling. It is, as the original description put it, "leaving all their troubles behind." Wheels turn. Artist Tom Best, 4½" × 2". Hallmark Gold Crown Exclusive.

The collection has grown intermittently since 2014, releasing new camping-themed entries across different formats — travel vans, teardrop trailers, lanterns, a retro camper — each one sharing the same cheerful outdoor spirit and the same insistence on bringing Christmas decorations into the wilderness. The 2022 teardrop trailer, co-sculpted by Tom Best and Matt Johnson, features a "giant, decorated Christmas tree shoved into the tiny camper." The 2025 vintage lantern, by Tammy Haddix, attaches to a light string for an optional lighting effect, its red lamp topped by a miniature red and green tent. The collection's consistent charm is its specificity about which outdoor lifestyle it celebrates: not extreme wilderness, not rugged survival, but the specific joy of the family camper — the RV trip, the campsite setup, the awning extended, the Christmas tree somehow finding its way into the rig.

The Christmas Tree in the Cargo Vent

The Happy Camper collection is built on a specific, funny, warm premise: what if you brought Christmas camping? Not hypothetically — specifically. The 2014 van has a Christmas tree in the roof vent. The 2022 teardrop trailer has a giant, decorated Christmas tree shoved inside — the trailer is too small for it, but there it is. The 2019 travel trailer has Christmas wreath detailing and holiday decorations. The 2025 lantern has a miniature tent on top that is red and green. Every entry in the collection is committed to the same cheerful insistence: you don't have to choose between camping and Christmas, and if your camper doesn't have room for the tree, you find a creative solution.

This is why the collection works as a gift. There is a large and devoted community of campers, RV travelers, and outdoor enthusiasts who also love Christmas — who spend their summers and falls on the road and their Decembers decorating the same way they decorate everything, with outdoor gear and campfire warmth. For that community, the Happy Camper ornament is the one that specifically and personally says "this is you." Not a generic outdoor ornament, not a scenic mountain landscape, but a camper van with a Christmas tree in the vent, rolling down the road, leaving all its troubles behind.

Eight ornaments since 2014. The collection is ongoing. The next campsite has not been announced. The road is still open.

Tips for the Collection

• 01
  The 2025 Happy Camper Lantern lights up when attached to a Christmas tree light string. The vintage lantern ornament by Tammy Haddix has an optional light-up feature — attach it to a standard mini light string and the red lamp glows. Position it on a lit tree near the lights for the full effect. It is the collection's most atmospheric entry when illuminated.
• 02
  This collection is the definitive gift for the camper or RV enthusiast. Unlike generic outdoor ornaments, the Happy Camper entries are specifically about the camping lifestyle — the retro van, the teardrop trailer, the camp lantern, the road trip. For anyone who owns an RV, has bought an RV this year, or dreams of an RV, any entry in this collection is a gift that lands with immediate personal recognition. Collectors confirm it: "Just bought a camper and the ornament is perfect for our tree."
• 03
  The 2022 teardrop trailer co-designed by Tom Best and Matt Johnson is the collection's funniest entry. The joke — a giant decorated Christmas tree shoved into a tiny teardrop trailer — is one that every camper who has ever tried to pack too much will recognize immediately. It is the Happy Camper collection at its most self-aware, and the most reliably laugh-generating ornament on any camping-themed tree.
• 04
  The 2014 founding van has working wheels — roll it before hanging. The detail that the wheels actually turn on the 2014 Happy Campers van is the kind of thing that gets rediscovered every December. Give it a roll before it goes on the branch. It has been road-ready since 2014.
• 05
  All 8 Happy Camper ornaments, 2014 through 2025, are at Already Christmas. The complete collection — the van that started it through the lantern that lights it up — is in the collection. The 9th campsite has not been announced. Camp on.