Little Giraffe Promotion Extended

O.K., since some of you may have had a very busy weekend...........I am extending the Little Giraffe Personalized Blanket and Burp Give Away until Friday, July 27th, at midnight. Remember to "Like" us on facebook click here and also leave a comment on the Give Away post.

Little Giraffe Blanket & Burp Give Away!

I am so excited to announce our first Give Away! You will have a chance to win a Sand color blanket and burp by Little Giraffe including a three-letter monogram on both the blanket and burp in the font and thread color of your choice. Enter by "Liking" our facebook page here and leave a comment below telling me you have liked our page. The chance to win ends Sunday night at midnight EST and the winner will be announced Monday afternoon on our facebook page. Below is a picture of what you have a chance to win. Good luck everyone!

Going to Market!

I am so excited about going to Gift Market this weekend in Atlanta! Little Giraffe has a new catalog out with tons of new products. It's the one booth at market you have to go and just feeeeeel the samples.

Lollipop Layette Caps

Lollipop Layette Gowns

Little G Blanky

We recently got in The Lollipop Caps in blue and pink and the Lollipop Starter Sets in pink and blue. They will be up on the website soon! The Little G Blanky has been very popular and we intend to order more of them. Let us know if there are more products by Little Giraffe you would like to see on our website.

Move Is Complete!

Things have been crazy busy here at The Polka Dot Store since the end of May. As many of you know, The Polka Dot Store.com is run out of our home. Well..........we purchased a new home and have been in the process of moving over the month of June. At our previous house, we ran the store out of our tiny dining room and stored inventory in the garage and a trailer. With our move, my husband has gracious agreed to let me use a huge room in our new house for The Polka Dot Store. All my inventory is in this room and it is set up like a store. So I thought it would be cool to give you a peak into the store. Below, you will see photos of how the room is set up.

The two pictures above are the same display wall taken from different angles. Everykid Towels by 3 Marthas and Hoodie Towels by Maison Chic make an eye catching display on the left and burps, and gift sets by 3 Marthas as easy to see on the right.

Diaper Bags by Vive Le Fete, plush bunnies by Maison Chic, and blankets by Colorado Clothing are grouped together for a pink and blue display. On the bottom shelf, pack backs by Oak Patch Gifts and plush animals by Melissa & Doug hang out together.

Burps by Little Giraffe & Bearington Baby, crib sheets by Swaddle Design are easy to see.

Lovie's are just hanging around waiting to be purchased.

The White Tiger by Melissa & Doug keeps watch over the room.

This is the security blankets section.

I just couldn't resist taking a pic of some of the hooded towels.

 The burps by 3 Marthas look adorable grouped by boy and girl designs!

I couldn't get a decent picture of the left side of the room but there are shelves with blankets, day gowns, burp sets, and everything else. It is so nice to be able to see all of the inventory at once!

There is a work table in front of the windows and this is the view I have while I work. I love it!

Blog Signature

I don't know about you but I love reading blogs and have a list of posts that I read everyday. It's interesting to learn new things and read about what people think. Last night after reading this tutorial on How to Make a Blog Signature from  Sew May Ways , I decided to give it a try. Since I had never used PicMonkey before, I gave it a try and loved it! After selecting my font and typing my name, I inserted a pink daisy clip art to add a little punch to the signature. This was fun and easy!

Shower Gifts

Several weeks ago one of our fabulous customers ordered a set of burps, bibs, and hooded towels by 3 Marthas and Swaddle Designs. I have no idea if this was for a baby shower gift or not but I thought about what a great gift they would make and wanted to share the picture with you. Each item was personalized with a name. We sent this cute set in a clear bag tied with raffia. Included in the set were:

• Pink Jolly Giraffe Bibs by 3 Marthas
• Pink Jolly Gifaffe Burp by 3 Marthas
• Pink Little Lamb Burp and Everykid Towel by 3 Marthas
• Giraffe Burp by 3 Marthas
• Pink Puppy Burp and Everykid Towel by 3 Marthas
• Pastel Pink Dot Burpie Set by Swaddle Designs

Wow, what a great selection of products! I'm always amazed at what our customers put together for the perfect gift.

While my daughter was here last week for spring break, there was one thing we HAD to get done; make her son a liner for his Easter basket. This was his first Easter and Katy asked me if I had saved her Easter basket from when she was little (o.k., she only stopped using it for Easter treats two years ago!). Of course, I still had it.  She had seen a picture of a basket liner she liked on Pinterest.  Mama to the rescue!  She picked out fabric from my stash and we started our brains thinking about how to make a liner for a round basket with handles.  She found one video tutorial but it had too much math for me so I took out my trusty tape measure and started recording measurements.  Katy did the sewing and I applied the applique'. The pictures below show the finished product and Max with his Easter basket on Easter Sunday.

Wow, the Easter Bunny sure was good to him!

Handsome Little Boy!

The finished product.

I think we did a fabulous job.  What do you think? I am very proud of my daughter's sewing skills.

2012 Color Trends

This year's color trends are tangerine tango and gray and chevrons, lots of chevrons..  These are fun colors that can be found across the board from  home decor, to fashion, and even in baby decor and baby wear. We kept this in mind when we are ordering at market in January.  I think we found some fun examples of this year's trends.  Tell us what you think!

Blue ZigZag Burp can be found on the Burp page.

Sterling and Pink Dots Stroller Blanket can be found on the Blankets page.

Crab Burp Cloth can be found on the Burp page.

Grabby Crabby Backpack can be found on the Backpacks page.

Puurdy Penny Snuggle Duffle Bag can be found on the Backpacks page.

Silver Burpie Set can be found on the Burps page.

Look for these fashion trend colors all around you and have fun with them!

Really Cute Gift Basket Using Blue Monkey Everykid Towel

Happy Weekend Everyone!

It is pouring down rain here in south Georgia today!  I hope you are having better weather than we are.  This week a customer sent a picture of an adorable gift basket she made to use as a center piece at a baby shower.  I think she had such a good idea and did an excellent job! The picture is below:

She used a personalized Blue Monkey Everykid Towel by 3 Marthas in the center of the basket.  I love the name letters she tied to the front of the basket.  So Cute!

Monogrammed Bloomers

Let's talk about bloomers (diaper covers) for little girls.  Nothing is more precious than seeing a photograph of a little girl in a pair of monogrammed bloomers!  Little girls should have bloomers or diaper covers to go with every outfits.  You can pair them with a dress, onesie, tutu outfit, or just worn alone in the summer time.  Below are a few pics of some of the ones I have done recently.

Dotty Alphabet Panty

Monogram Diaper Cover with Fancy Monogram Font

Personalized Double Ruffle Diaper Cover with Curlz Font

Ladybug Diaper Cover

We have several new styles that will be up on the website soon but I'll give you a sneak peak at them now.

Ruffle Knit Bloomer

Light Pink Personalized Double Ruffle Diaper Cover

Our bloomers/diaper covers can be found on the Accessories page of the website. The Polka Dot Store Accessories Page

New Products from 3 Marthas

Emily and I have been busy taking and editing photos to upload to the website.  Here are some pics of the cute new products we have:

We fell in love with the new owl character towels when we saw them at market.  3 Marthas does a great job of keeping their line of products fresh and exciting!  I am getting them up on the website as soon as possible.  So much to do and so little time.........Find these products and more at our website.

Gift Market 2012

Good Morning All!  A ton of people ask me where we go to buy our products and when I answer "Market in Atlanta", they want to know what "market" is all about.  Since the girls and I attended a market several weeks ago, I thought it might be fun to take you through a day at market.  We go to market about twice a year but there are lots of other markets during the year and also markets in other cities. Market in Atlanta, Georgia means lots of walking!  There are three high rise buildings, yes, I said high rise!  They are named Building 1 (Merchandise), Building 2 (Gift), and Building 3 (Apparel).  Here is a picture of Building 2:

Building 2 Gift

This is a wholesale market so when we get there, we have to check in and get our name badges. If we're smart, we have a plan mapped out for what we need to accomplish the first day, (we are usually there for 3 days). After having coffee, a muffin, and going over our plan, 

off we go to visit the showrooms. We usually start in Building 3 at the top and work our way down the floors.

I love seeing all the new products and how they are displayed!  The wheels in my mind start turning and I get so excited! Look at this gorgeous view from inside one of the buildings!

Whoo Hoo, there are things to explore! There are bridges that link the buildings together so you can cross from one building to the other.

  As you can see my bag on wheels follows me everywhere to carry all our needed items for the day .  It has a squeaky wheel that keeps us entertained and gives us something to laugh about! Hum, maybe we should name the bag, what do you  think?

Market is not all work, they have interesting seminars and demonstrations we can go to.  Here we are getting to see Bobby and Jamie Deen do a cooking demonstration.  They are a lot of fun.

  We were in the back you will just have to take our word for who is in the picture. :)

 After eating and talking about what we saw that day we go back to our hotel room and plan the next day.  Sleep is the next thing on the agenda!  Trust me when I say we have walked miles that day and our bodies and minds are worn out. 

I love going to market to find fun new products and reorder favorites to place in the store for you, the customer, to order.  But, the best part is spending a fun weekend laughing and having a good time with my daughters and friends. What a great way to combine work and fun!

Christmas is over and I've been thinking about which direction to take The Polka Dot Store in 2012. I want to continue to carry the highest quality baby gifts and accessories. If you have suggestions for great products you would like to see at The Polka Dot Store, please sent us your comments.  I would also like to receive comments about great products you think we already have available. I look forward to hearing from you!

Little Giraffe Blanket

This little guy loves his White Chenille Blanket by Little Giraffe!  It is the perfect size for his daily stroll.

Product Reviews

We have a new baby in The Polka Dot Store family.  Little Max is 2 1/2 weeks old and is getting lots of use out of his gifts purchased at The Polka Dot Store.  When we go on a buying trip to market, we try to find the highest quality products to sell in our store.  Three of our products we have used over and over the past two weeks are listed below with a brief review of the product.

Giraffe Everykid Towel by 3 Marthas:  This towel has been fabulous at bathtime.  It is large enough to keep Max warm so he won't get chilled while getting his sponge bath.  After taking the towel out of the dryer today I was amazed at how soft the towel was.  It washes great and honestly gets softer with each wash!

BabyLegs Newborn Leg Warmers:  Max has three pair of newborn leg warmers.  My daughter likes one design so much, she asked for two pair.  They seem to go with most of Max's outfits.  Since the weather is still warm here in the south, I didn't think we would need leg warmers here until after Christmas!  Boy was I wrong.  Max's pediatrician prefers for him to sleep with the thermostat at 70 degrees.  The leg warmers have been a perfect choice to keep his little legs from getting cold.  He wears them with his gowns, onesies, and sleep sacs.

Little Giraffe Luxe Burpy:  Max has this burpy in blue and it is awesome.  I could carry this burpy around all the time!  It is so soft and comes out of the dryer so soft it is hard to fold and put away.  You want to use it all the time!  Max has several styles of burpies from Little Giraffe and they all come out of the washer and dryer looking like new each time.

As time goes on and we get more use out of Max's gifts, we will keep you posted with our reviews.

Recent Monograms

Hi All,

I thought I would take the time tonight to post some of the recent monograms we have done.

I love seeing the font choices my customers select.  The results are always so cute!

A new selection of plush animals has arrived from Melissa & Doug.  I grouped them all for a picture and added a new plush Squirrel from Bearington Baby.

The faces and details are really great.  I just love the white Tiger.  There is also a wonderful 4ft. Giraffe, not shown, which can be ordered.  He is adorable!