Sand, Elves & Telephone Tuesday!

Our new Thanksgiving Tradition? We leave our family, who all live in the same city as we do, and head over to the beach for a weekend of Forced Family Fun! This was taken from our balcony- not the beach in background, but still pretty to wake up to. We had a nice week. No housework. No cooking. Lots of goofing.

Back in the Polka Dot Press Studio, we are very busy!!! I had to call in all available elves....thank you girls for helping me so much!


THIS elf.....was getting a little out of hand.

And announcing Telephone Tuesday! The LAST day to order Polka Dot Press for Christmas delivery is this Tuesday, December 8th! If you'd rather order over the phone than online, OPERATORS WILL BE STANDING BY!

Locally, call Kim at 273-9161 or Nancy at 510-0435.
Outside Tallahassee, call 1-800-764-5290

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone! I am so thankful for a healthy, happy family, so many great friends, and loyal customers who make my business a success! Enjoy this day with those you are thankful for!

It's Beginning to Look alot like Christmas....

It's been crazy "can't sleep at night because I have so many things on my brain" busy around here, BUT I am trying to keep things in perspective and remember what's important....

Here's a few photos to catch you up:

We participated in our last BIG show of the fall season last weekend, The Jingle Jubilee. It was a great show and we got to see/meet lots of great people. This is "Fancy Nancy", modeling her polka dot apron.....

We decorated our house this weekend for the holidays....Some people may think it's too early, but I would have done it weeks ago if I had made the time. We have not done the outside yet (who I am kidding? HUBBY has not done the outside yet), but the inside is pretty festive with a few finishing touches to be done.

These little beauties may look familiar...they were some of the holiday decor at my neighborhood Starbucks last year...I asked for them after Christmas and they gave them to me! I baked them a cake as a thank you. I think they are so fun in my entry way!!! And they were going to throw them away!!!

Now, some of you may recall the discussion about the "switching of the themes" this year...I was toying with an "all-monogram" tree instead of our traditional Snowman theme. Well, due to time and budgetary (?is that a word?) constraints, the Snowman theme remains and the monogram tree is a MINI tree in my studio. Which, by the way, makes total sense because I personalize everything! There are still a few opportunities with this one, but you get the idea.

I found this sign at TJ Maxx several months ago and had forgotten about it...I think it's fun and it matches our home.....

The kitchen tree remains the same...a "Candyland" theme....lots of gingerbread men, etc. The topping is new...not a very good shot, but it's floofy and sparkly...fun!

I am very sad that our "Elf on the Shelf" will not be moving around this year, but he still looks cute above the cookbook rack. I love the sign that hubby got me a couple of years ago.

The snowman couple survived another hot summer in the attic......and they look very happy to be OUT!

And the main tree got a new topper this year as well. This top hot is PERFECT for my snowman tree! And now you see why the monogram tree will be a work in progress- it takes YEARS to a acquire this many ornaments!!!!

My brother came over from Jacksonville this weekend to visit...We celebrated Mom's birthday with a "Thanksgiving/Birthday" Dinner....YUM! We were all too full to eat dessert, if that says anything.....

....a relaxed photo of Mike...can you tell that he is on vacation all next week???

Remember to enjoy the little things.....

Congratulations to Leah......

She has won a set of 12 cocoa packets!!!! Thanks for playing along!

The Recipe

By popular demand, here's the recipe for the fabulous Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies. (photo below) It's published in the new Junior League of Tallahassee Cookbook, A Thyme to Celebrate, and is available here as well as many local retailers. The book is beautiful and I've made two other recipes so far- both delicious.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup butter (3 sticks), softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Creame the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture gradually, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 8 1/2 dozen cookies

Busy, Busy, Busy. And a giveaway.

I thrive on busy, which is good, I suppose, since I have my share of it this time of year!
Here are a few things going on this week:

I made these this past weekend...Pumpkin Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies. Don't even get me started on how many of these I ate before I started giving them away!

Just added these to the website: Personalized Hot Cocoa Packets.

They are super-cute for classmates, co-workers, neighbors, family & friends!
Wouldn't they be fun to pass out at your holiday party?
Leave a comment on the blog and you'll be entered to win a dozen of these FREE!

Ordered these for our Christmas Tree. I'm changing our "theme" this year...all initials and monograms. I've had a snowman/snowflake themed tree for about 10 years now and while still so cute, I am ready for a change. It'll be a work in progress as I cannot afford to replace an entire tree's worth of ornaments, but I'm going to try and do some creative things myself. In my spare time. ha!

Getting ready for this event, this weekend...
If you are in the Tallahassee area, stop by and see us!

Dog Days

We found Addison's "dog" the other day. He was a gift before he was even born and he is the one that "stuck".

Dog went everywhere with us when Addison was a little guy.
And he is a little worn...

a missing nose that was sewn on many times but now gone.

Floppy feet with fabric so thin you can see through it.

He still creates this sense of calm in my son that he would never admit.

So, I have been posing Dog after Addison leaves for school and I make his bed....Dog has been very busy!


Reading up on Archery. I told him "no arrows in the house".

surfing the net. good thing we have parental controls on there.

playing football. at least he wears his helmet.


playing Xbox. not on school nights.


worn out from all that fun, Dog takes a nap.