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Hello, Happy Monday Morning to y’all! Today it’s my turn for the Riley Blake Fabric Designer Blog Hop! If you came here from the previous stop, Lori Whitlock‘s blog welcome! I thought that I’d start by introducing myself. My name is Melissa Mortenson, I live in the Louisville Kentucky area with my husband and 2…
Who says gingerbread men have to only be made from gingerbread? Use your Cricut machine, chipboard, and craft supplies to create this cute Gingerbread Garland Craft kit! Keep one for yourself, or give it as a gift to your neighbors this year. I love coming up with ideas for creative gifts for my friends and…
Today, I’m going to share with you how to make an Ariel Costume and ideas for what to wear to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. If you like this post, you may also like this tutorial showing you how to make Harry Potter Quidditch Robes. Our favorite time to visit Disney World is during…
Are you looking for an easy last-minute Halloween costume for a teen or kid? Then you may want to consider this super simple DIY Mad Scientist Costume. It’s no-sew and can easily be thrown together at the last minute! As much as I love sharing sewing tutorials and ideas with you here, I admit that…
I love to create crafts for Halloween! I feel like you can never have too many Halloween decorations! This year I decided to make a fun DIY Halloween Candy bowl inspired by a favorite Halloween saying. A big thanks to Cricut for sponsoring this post by providing me with the machine to make this project! Halloween…
My youngest daughter got her first sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago. Unlike her older sister, she took to sewing right away and even exclaimed after Sewing Camp last summer that “Sewing is soo awesome!”. I admit that I don’t take as much time as I should teaching her how to sew. In my…
Thanks to Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores for providing the supplies for today’s tutorial. After a few weeks of feeling like I’m interrupted every 5 minutes while I’m trying to work, I have decided to take an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” stance on Summer and am enlisting the help of my kids…
Well I think it’s time for another Saturday Snapshots post… I always mean to share these once a week but never seem to prioritize the time to sit down and write up the post. This week it really started to feel like Summer… I was sewing the other afternoon and thought “hurry up, you have…
This is the second part of my quilt market fabrics recap to see part one click here.. to see my quilt market recap click here. Okay, I’ve got lots yummy fabric for you to ogle at today. At market after the stress of the Cotton and Steel booth sample spree, I was a little bit…
(photo from Carolyn Friedlander’s booth) Those of you that follow me on Instagram may have been wondering what was causing the major IG overload last weekend! I attended my very first quilt market. If you don’t know (don’t feel bad if you don’t, cause I didn’t) – Quilt Market is a trade show that is…
This post is sponsored, which means that Lifestyle Crafts supplied the products for today’s project! /// I don’t know about you but I am absolutely addicted to Instagram! I love to flip though my feed a few times a day and see what all of my friends both near and far are up to. Yes…
I never seem to have enough time to finish all of my Christmas gift-sewing projects. I start with grand ideas, then cut back the close it gets to Christmas. If it’s a few days or weeks to Christmas, you find yourself short on time. Here are 25 last-minute gifts to sew! Yes! You do still…
You may be wondering to yourself “whats with the big W”? (btw… can anyone name that movie…. the one where they all try to find the big W?). Well you see I decided to make a Washi Tape Craft to make some decor for my Sewing Room…. and W is the last letter in… sew!…
This post first appeared on 30 Handmade Days // Labor Day is over and so is summer. So for my last official act of summer, I am sharing an idea for these fun Pretty Preppy Bracelets. Today I’m going to be showing you how to make these fun preppy summer bracelets! They are super…
Seashell crafts are a great activity for a rainy day at the beach or as a way to bring a little sunshine into a winter day! This free tutorial teaches how to paint seashells and turn them into fun accessories. What better way to bring a touch of the beach into your home than by…
Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this post// Today I’m going to share with you a bit about how I approach Project Life. For those of you that don’t know, Project Life is a system of scrapbooking that incorporates the use of divided page protectors and focuses more on capturing…
Summer is one of my favorite times of year to tackle smaller sewing and DIY projects. The longer days and more relaxed schedule make it the perfect season to pull out your fabric scraps, try a new technique, or finally sew something just for fun. If you’re looking for a fun summer DIY project to…
Create a simple fascinator perfect for an “at home” or kids Derby party with our step by step Paper Flower Fascinator Tutorial. Okay, file this one under GO BIG OR GO HOME! I LOVE a cool Kentucky Derby Fascinator! Every year at the Kentucky Derby, the hats are the show’s stars, second only to the…
Joann’s Fabric & Crafts emailed me with a challenge. Make a video to demonstrate a simple and easy craft that would inspire others to want to create! It’s part of their Creativity Made Simple campaign and I just LOVE the idea behind it. It’s all about inspiring others to carve out time in their…
How to Make a Witch’s Hat Fascinator is perfect for a Halloween costume or a Halloween party. One year, my family went to Disneyworld and went to the Not So Scary Halloween party. My girls and I dressed up like witches, but my oldest (16) decided she was too “cool” for a normal witch hat. So, we…
Do you love to collect Disney Trading Pins as much as we do? Get those pins out of a box and onto your walls with this fun DIY Disney Trading Pins display idea! When we first went to Disneyworld several years ago, I kept wondering what all those pin trading stands were. You see them…
I’m Melissa Mortenson! Hello, I’m Melissa Mortenson, a “creative mama,” published Author, Content Creator, Licensed Fabric Designer, and the Polka Dot Chair blog founder. The Polka Dot Chair is a place for Creative Moms and Families to find simple and inspiring DIY projects for their homes, sewing projects, Holiday crafts, and family recipes. Its mission is…
The Polka Dot Chair was founded in 2008 and is run by Melissa Mortenson of Louisville, Kentucky. It is a place for Makers to find simple and inspiring DIY projects for their homes, sewing projects, Holiday crafts, and family recipes. Its mission is to make its readers want to create. Who are our Readers? Our readers…
When we host Derby parties in our home we love to invite everyone in the family! If you’d like to host a kid-friendly Derby party, I’m sharing all of my best Derby Party ideas with you today! Living in Louisville, Kentucky one thing is for sure, you celebrate the Kentucky Derby every year like it’s…
For several years in a row, I had the privilege of chairing our Church’s Festival of Nativities. It was a lot of work, but the end result was totally worth it. I know that many of you are planning similar Nativity Festivals (or Creche Festivals) and maybe looking for ideas for your event. Here are…
This weekend we all took a little trip to Wonderland in honor of my daughter’s 9th Birthday. Come take a peek at our Alice in Wonderland Tea Party. If you’d like to recreate her party to throw one of your own, here are all of the details from her “Mad Tea Party” Alice in Wonderland…
If you’re looking for ideas to help you celebrate and appreciate Thanksgiving this year, I’ve rounded up a bunch for you. These Thanksgiving countdown calendar activity ideas range from simple to more complex. Just pick the ones that work best for your family. The Thanksgiving countdown calendar was one of the first projects I ever…