Hair Bow Project For My Niece

It took me a while but I finally finished a set of monogrammed hair bows for my niece. Since I've been making hair bows for a LONG time, you would think this would be a easy for me. It was always easy for me to make bows out of double face satin ribbon but I was having a hard time getting my bows made with grosgrain ribbon to look perfect. After looking at online videos and talking to a friend of mine, I think I have mastered the technique. My friend, Beth, has always been very generous to share her wealth of information and you can find her great creations in her Etsy store here .

My niece loves her new hair bows. Hopefully, I can get her mom to send me a picture soon to post with my precious niece wearing one of her bows!

Appliqued Shirts

A few weeks ago I mentioned trying to applique on some shirts for my cute little grandson. They turned out great and I thought I would share them with you. I stitched on three shirts for him. Here they are:

The blue shirt has a cute cow face applique that I found at Planet Applique . Turned out cute, didn't it?

Max wore this cute pumpkin shirt a lot during the month of October. I would let me wear it during the month of November, also but that is up to his mama :). This applique design was found at Applique Cafe .

Max decided the spider shirt is his favorite. His dad has been teaching him "Itsy Bitsy Spider" so I knew Max would like this shirt. The applique design used for this shirt was also found at Applique Cafe . All fabrics used were just in my "stash" of fabric.

 This is what the inside of the shirts look like. The white fabric covering the design is called "comfort cover" and I purchase it at Sewing Machine.com . It is super soft and keeps the stitching from irritating the skin. The last picture shows a bloomer I stitched for a friend of mine as a surprise for her granddaughter. I hope you like it!

Leave a comment and let me know if you like the shirts and the bloomer. Have a great weekend!

Dawn

October 2012 Giveaway On Facebook

We now have over 300 Facebook fans so we decided to have a giveaway event to celebrate. Yea! There are two set of fabric bibs by 3 Marthas to be given away. One is a girl set and the other is a boy set. How to win:

1. Go toThe Polka Dot Store Facebook Page
2. Like AND share the picture of the set you would like to win on your home page.

The winner will be selected at 12 noon Eastern time tomorrow, Friday, October 19, 2012.
Good luck!

Recent Monograms

Happy Wednesday! I couple of days ago a customer emailed and asked me to send pictures of 3 Marthas Products that had been monogrammed. Thus, the idea for this blog post was formed. First, let me say I am blessed with wonderful customers. Yea! Second, let me share with you the view I get to look at every morning before I start work.

Pretty good way to start my morning, don't you think? The barn is not ours but the view is free. :)

O.K., on to the monograms. Really, I consider this personalized since they are not 3-Letter Monograms but does it really matter? Nah!

This is a group of 3 Marthas burp cloths each stitched with a different font. Pretty cute and good selections by my customer.

Next, is a group of 3 Marthas bibs. Two of them are Jolly Blue Giraffe stitched in orange thread. The third bib is Baseball stitched in red thread.

This sweet set is from the Jolly Pink Giraffe collection by 3 Marthas. The burp on the left is stitched in the Fishtail Monogram in medium pink thread and the burp on the right is stitched in font 23 in medium pink thread. I think they look adorable and so sweet for a newborn little girl.

In the next two pictures, you will see recent monogrammed items not from the 3 Marthas collection but I thought you might be interested in seeing them.

This is the Blue Lollipop Infant Hat by Little Giraffe monogrammed in the jester font in medium blue.

Some people call this a bodysuit, others call it a onesie, or creeper. Whatever you call it, it is really cute stitched in the Diamond Block font in light blue.

After a busy afternoon monogramming, I think I will take some time tonight to applique some shirts for my grandson. If  the pictures turn out well, that will be another blog post. Until then, I'll close with a pictures from a plant in our yard. There is no doubt I am not a professional photographer but these pictures makes my smile. I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Recently Added Monograms

Wow, it has taken me all day but I have finally successfully uploaded quite a few new monogram fonts choices. Take a look and let me know what you think. Are there any other choices you would like to see me offer? Here is the link to look at the fonts. The newer ones will be down toward the bottom of the page.

http://www.thepolkadotstore.com/monogram-fonts.html 

I love them all but I think this one will be the most popular. It is called Master Circle.

The Surprise

On Facebook this week I mentioned that I would be revealing a surprise. Here at The Polka Dot Store.com, monogrammed is not outsourced. It is done in-house. Last weekend my husband and I added a new piece of equipment to the store. We purchased a new 6 needle PR 650 Brother embroidery machine! It is incredible and I am having so much fun with it! Here is a picture of our new "baby"...........

New hoops should arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to play with them. The folks at www.sewingmachine.com are really great to work with.

Here is an order I personalized with the new machine..........

Doesn't it look great! The stitching looks so much better. I loved my other machines but I think I wore them out :).

New 3 Marthas Burps

Hi Everyone!

I have been busy taking and getting descriptions ready to add new products to the website. Below are three new burps we are adding from 3 Marthas.

Isn't the new angel design adorable! The elephant design is a favorite of mine and the gingham one is also available in pink. Here are the two new hippo designs we have already added:

The can be found here. Have a great Labor Day Weekend and happy shopping!

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!