Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Tool Time Tuesday...Polka Dots

Happy Tuesday everyone!! People often ask me where I come up with my ideas for Tuesdays. Well, some ideas come from walking the aisles of a lot of different stores and really looking at something for that "hmmm moment"....when I say "hmmm what else can I do with this?"

Other times the ideas come out of necessity...not wanting to go to the store for something or paying money for it. What can I use that I already have.

Here is one such idea...polka dots. I LOVE them!! They are all over my sewing room. These bowls came with their dots, but the rest of the dots in all these projects below came from the office supply store.



Adhesive dots come in so many different colors and sizes.


Lots of ideas just waiting for these dots...


The first project is to use the dots to label your scissors and rotary cutters.


Red dots on little key ring tags.


Red dots in my house means FABRIC cutting only. Especially since I just had my Fiskars just professionally sharpened. Woo Wee, they cut like butter...or should I say buttah.


My husband and I take pills daily and use those little pill boxes that hold the daily dose, but when the girls have a prescription once in a while for something, I put a sticker on the top of the bottle so it's easily identifiable for them. They each know their color.


We all have iPhones and share an iPad...they all have the same charger. To avoid the "that's my charger", I mark it with a dot. I know the dot can be removed or switched, but the girls really don't think like that. Our daughters are 18 months apart and in college. For most of their lives, they've been color coded...toys, book bags, lunch boxes etc. They always wanted the same exact thing in the same exact color, so labels really helped.


These little white rings are the reinforcing labels you put on 3 ring binder paper so it doesn't rip.


This jar is a really cute Yankee candle glass jar that I cleaned out. It has a great lid that has a nice tight fit. I keep my pins in this.


Even cuter with dots all over it!!


This square glass vase came from the florist when an arrangement was delivered. You know we all save those vases, but this was such a unique shape.

This vase, plus the blue dots equals...


A Yahtzee game holder!! I think this one is my favorite.










String and multicolored dots makes a very cute mini garland.


Place one dot colored side down and place the string across the middle...


Now place a matching dot on top of that and press over the string.


A little dot/string sandwich.


So cute...


For a mini party...
  • mini garland
  • mini cupcakes with dot sprinkles
  • decorate white paper lunch bags with the dots for the favor bags
  • use the dots to decorate a table cloth to match the party colors.
  • "stick the dot on something" game


If you don't have dots at home, but have label material, you can use a hole punch in different sizes to make your own dots.


A little tedious, but cheap!


Other ideas for dots...
  • Stick them on pumpkins or gourds for fall decorating
  • place the dots on something before painting and they act like stencils for the perfect painted circles
  • stick them on plain Christmas ornaments to jazz them up
  • use the tiny dots to decorate Easter eggs...you can leave them on or use them before you dip them into the dye.

Hope you enjoyed the post...I, myself, am seeing dots every where!!
~Karen~

26 comments:

  1. The yahtzee is my fave and then the garland of dots:)

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  2. Karen you never cease to amaze me!! Another great post chalk full of ideas!!
    Paulette

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  3. Oh you know I'm going to love this one!!!! I will be using the rings with dots to mark my sewing stuff at retreat this weekend!

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  4. Love all the dots...I am polka dot crazy, so those are right up my alley! The Yahtzee one has to be my favorite too!!

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  5. You have such clever ideas!!!!! I love it!!!

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  6. Polka dots are so cheerful! Love your ideas! You always inspire me...

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  7. What fantastic ideas!! I'm going to go "dot" stuff today with my kiddos! =)

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  8. Great ideas! Love the Yahtzee holder! Always look forward to tool Tim Tuesday with you.

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  9. what a great idea,so clever

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  10. I love anything polka-dotty.....those vases are IT.....Yay!

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  11. Love your Yahtzee game holder! I am going to have to make one for my Gram :)

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  12. You are awesome!! I love your ideas. You have helped me to look at things differently. I love the Yahtzee idea also!

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  13. You are amazing and very clever!

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  14. Karen--you just have the cutest ideas. Thank you so much!

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  15. ho-ho! i haven't thought about yahtze in 30-35 years or so! i do like your dot markers .... will get my dots out and copy some of your ideas. [my dots were leftovers from when i used to do bazaars .... to mark the prices, umpty jillion years ago]

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  16. Love this one! Wow, so many possibilities. I love the polka dot garland idea and thought it would also be a great way to decorate plain gift wrap. Instead of doubling up the dots, use them to adhere the garland to the package like tape. My co-worker even suggested using the dots instead of tape (or to cover up the scotch tape). How fun!!! :)

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  17. Hi, Karen. I always look forward to Tool Time Tuesday and this is a great one! If I ever come across a square vase, I know what I'm going to do with it...thanks so much for your nifty ideas!!

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  18. Glad to see I am not the only one up at all hours of the night looking for inspiration. Found your blog and love it. I had been searching for creative pattern storage ideas. . . well I kinda got sidetracked. You have some awesome ideas and I am also glad to know that I am not the only one who's mind is always going. I am looking forward to following your blog and starting one of my own. In the meantime I do need a cute and creative way to store over 100 clothing patterns such as McCalls, Simplicity, etc. Thanks again for sharing.

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  19. What a great idea! I would have never come up with putting them on empty containers. I have several Yankee Candle jars. Thank you!

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  20. I really think the Yahtzee container is neat!

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  21. 1st, totally wanting your red polka dot bowls! 2nd, totally L-O-V-E the Yahtzee holder! The idea of color-coding med.s is great. I need to color code the diff. types I take. Will be really useful for the middle of the night ones, which right now have a big C, etc. written on the label with a marker. THANKS!

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  22. Reading your ideas always brings a smile on my face! Thank you again for sharing...

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!

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