Sass and Belle Easter Decorations

With just a couple of weeks to go until Easter, I've actively started shopping for new decorations for the occasion.

I'm not religious- in fact I'm about the furthest thing from it, even though I was raised catholic and went to a catholic primary school- but I do love Easter, and I want to start making a bigger deal out of it at home. We already give each other Easter eggs, have an Easter meal together, and usually have Spring flowers like daffodils and tulips filling the house, but I want to decorate the house with lots more lovely decorations, do more Easter baking, and even do some crafting this year, too.

Basically, I want to do Easter like Steel Magnolias.

Just maybe without the bleeding armadillo groom's cake. 

And the bad hair.

I've already picked up a few decorations from Sass and Belle this month, after stumbling up on their Easter range, and I thought you guys might like to see them.

I couldn't resist picking up the Spring Bunny Happy Easter plaque, which was on sale for just £1.50, down from £4. It's a lovely cream-painted wooden plaque, with a cut out of bunnies and flowers, a green wire handle decorated with wooden flowers and leaves, and 'Happy Easter' painted across it in a modern pink font. I think it's such a sweet decoration, and the quality is really good for the price.

The Easter Bunny Family Pastel Hanging Decoration (£4) follows a similar style to the Spring Bunny plaque, being a painted wooden plaque with bunnies cut out of wood to sit on top and a wire loop, but this one features a family of bunnies each with a pastel bow decorating their little necks. The main body of the plaque is painted with pretty pastel tulips and flowers, which I found too cute to resist, and underneath hang single pastel letters fixed in to the word by wire, spelling out the word 'Easter'. It even has a twine bow embellished with a wooden flower and beads to hang it from. It's ridiculously cute, and is going to look adorable hanging by a vase full of yellow daffodils.

My favourite of the three decorations I bought has to be the Shabby Chic Easter Bunny Heart Hanging Decoration, which I got for the bargain price of £1, down from £2. It's a cute double-sided painted metal heart with the same design on each side: two white bunnies that look like they're fist-bumping, yellow flowers, and a little heart design in the centre of another heart, with scalloped edging. It's very twee, but in a good way; I personally think it's adorable. I only wish I'd bought a couple more.

I also bought a pack of Decoris pastel-coloured paper bunny bunting from a Dobbies garden centre last weekend, which you can see in the photos, although I can't find a stockist for it online.

I'm sure that these won't be the last of the Easter decorations I pick up this year, but I like to think my search for new Easter decs is off to a good start.

Do you decorate your home for Easter?

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots Turns Five!

Five years ago today, I decided to start a blog. I signed up to Blogger, created a quick generic blog design, and put together my first blog post- an outfit post with a grainy, headless mirror-shot of me wearing a black polka dot dress, and a couple of paragraphs introducing myself to my zero followers. I clicked 'publish', and nervously sent that first post in to the void, putting myself out there on the Internet. Polka Spots and Freckle Dots was born, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now my little space on the Internet has turned five years old, and I'm here reminiscing like a proud parent. My little blog is all grown up!

I honestly can't believe I'm here marking five whole years of blogging on my little blog already. Where has the time gone?

When I published that first post, I would never have imagined that five years later I would still be here, blogging regularly, and still enjoying it. I guess I assumed that it would hold my interest for a couple of months before I got bored, lost interest, cast it aside, and moved on to the next venture, like I had with other sites like Livejournal and an old Tumblr blog. Sure, the frequency and content I've posted has declined somewhat over the last two or three years, because as my chronic pain has worsened it's become increasingly difficult for me to stand long enough to arrange my flatlays / displays, and take photos- which frustrates the hell out of me- but I still blog multiple times a week, and am always busy working away behind the scenes. I don't think I've ever dedicated so much time and effort in to any other project or hobby in my life; I've never even kept a journal for more than a few weeks! I'm amazed and proud of myself for committing myself to my blog for so long, and for all the time and effort I've devoted to it over the years. I've poured my heart and soul in to this blog and I count it as a great achievement.

Creating Polka Spots turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever could have made, although I never could have imagined the impact it was going to have on my life over the next five years.

When I created my blog, I had no long term plan; I had no vision, no expectations, no goals I wanted to strive for, and no dreams of achieving stardom and success. (To be honest, I didn't even expect to get a single reader. I thought I'd just end up writing for myself like I had on Livejournal). I simply wanted a place where I could share my outfits and my love for fashion and beauty, with the vague thought of working towards body positivity as I went along, and showing other plus size women what fashion was available to them. 

Mostly, I was just looking for something new to do to keep me busy while I was on sick leave from my job in visual merchandising with severe chronic back pain I then only knew to be "disc injuries". After six months of bed rest and living life on hiatus, I was becoming increasingly bored and restless, and needed some new ways to fill the time in my Groundhog Day life. There was only so much reading, watching TV, and mindlessly surfing the net I could do each day before I lost the will to live.

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots has helped me achieve most of those things at different times in my blogging journey. 

All of the years I spent regularly blogging my outfits increased both my body confidence and self-confidence enormously, helping me to accept myself for who I am on the inside and outside. I haven't quite found total body confidence yet, but I'm further along that yellow brick road of body positivity than I ever could have imagined I'd reach. Before this blog, I was the girl who'd spent a life time hating her body, hiding away when the cameras came out, and untagging herself from Facebook photos, and I'd still be that person if it wasn't for this blog, my lovely readers, and the plus size fashion / body positivity communities. Thankfully, I'm not that girl anymore because of blogging. (I haven't been well enough to blog regular outfits in quite a long time, but it is something I'm hoping to get back in to again when my heart rate gets back to normal. I miss it). 

My blog has given me something to do every single day over the past five years, and has kept me occupied during tens of thousands of hours of bed rest, probably more than every other means of escape I enjoy combined. Amazingly, thanks to this blog, I've rarely been bored or short of things to do since I began blogging- which is pretty miraculous considering I've spent the best part of the last five years confined to bed alone, with nothing but a laptop, TV, and a pile of books for company. If anything, there have never been enough hours in the day! You'd think every day would drag on like a prison sentence, but they always pass so far with this blog to keep me busy. There's always something to do when you run a blog!

Polka Spots hasn't just provided me with a bit of fun and entertainment over the  years, it's provided me with an outlet to help me deal with all the struggles and challenges of living with chronic pain and chronic illness on a daily basis, the changes to my life, my body and my abilities, and the difficult and frustrating health care experiences I've faced. It's offered a massive distraction from the pain when it's been raging so overwhelmingly I've been close to giving up. It's given me a place where I've been able to let out my honest thoughts, feelings, and frustrations during these experiences without judgement, and somewhere I've been able to turn to when I've felt alone and isolated. It's always been there for me, long after the people I once considered friends stopped calling. 

I don't know how I would have gotten through the past five years without this blog to keep me going, but I'm certain it would have been far harder and mind-numbingly boring without it. It's been a real life line to me, and far that I owe it so much.

I know I'm not the best blogger. I'm not the best writer or photographer, and the content I produce isn't as good or as exciting as what many other bloggers create. However, I've always put 110% in to every post, and worked hard to create the best content I can. I think the quality of my posts has improved over the years, and my photography has become a little better, and it's something I'm constantly trying to improve.

I'm never going to be a famous blogger with millions of followers, but I'm not sure I'd want to be, either. I may not have a huge following, but I'm grateful for my small following, and it means the world to me. I'm grateful for each and every one of you who takes the time to read along, comment on my posts, follow me on social media, and message me, even though I may take a while to reply these days. I'm ashamed of myself for that, and intend to get my act together from now on and reply quickly again. Even when your comments go unanswered for a while, I do appreciate every one, and they mean so much to me. I definitely don't deserve you guys!

Through blogging, I've made some great friends I would never have 'met' without it,and become part of an awesome community of people I'm proud to know and be a part of.

I've had some amazing experiences and have been able to work with some fantastic brands over the years. I've learnt skills I never would have attempted or mastered, improved on so many different existing ones, and learnt so much along the way. 

All these years of blogging have brought so much to my life, and it's been a fun and exciting journey that I'll never regret having made. It's without a doubt one of the best decisions I've ever gone with. It's not just a hobby, but a way of life now.

I may have been blogging for a full five years, but I have no intention of giving it up any time soon. I still enjoy blogging here, and have so much I want to blog about in the future. I really want to work on bringing back more fashion and beauty posts to the blog, posting outfits again, and blogging about more of the things that matter to me. I need to find a way to make photography easier for me so I can blog regularly again and become much more productive, and I definitely need to give the blog a long over due make over and re-brand ASAP. I still have so much I want to do here, and I can't see you getting rid of me that easily! I'm here to stay.

Here's to what I hope will be another five years of blogging, and plenty of fun, adventures, experiences, and friendships along the way! Another five years of fashion, beauty, Wednesday Wish Lists, Sunday Favourites, outfits, book reviews, craft projects, novelty handbags, colourful eye make up, adventures, shopping hauls, product reviews, home decor, colour, polka dots, and so much more.

Thank you for supporting Polka Spots and Freckle Dots over the past five years from the bottom of my heart! You guys are awesome!

Wednesday Wish List

I'm sorry that this week's Wednesday Wish List is coming to you much later than usual.

My heart has been racing uncontrollably all day again, and has been since the weekend, and it's making it pretty difficult to attach myself to a computer for any length of time. I honestly have no idea what's happening to me anymore. 

I've been determined to put this post together anyway, though, but I've had to do it in stages, and it's taken me all day to finish it. I wasn't able to include everything I wanted to feature this week, but there are still plenty of gorgeous clothes and accessories I'm sure you're going to love as much as I do.

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I'm in love with Collectif's collection of summery novelty brooches, and lemon wedge novelty bag. They'd be perfect for accessorising all of my Summer outfits.

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Collectif also have some gorgeous dresses in their latest collection. I'm particularly smitten with the amazing Mainline Jade Watermelon swing dress. Isn't it fantastic?!

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These floral Collectif Vintage Jessie cropped cardigans are so pretty.

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Lady Vintage have some seriously stunning dresses at the moment, and these two flamingo print numbers from the Lady Voluptuous plus size collection, which goes up to a size 30/32, are my idea of perfection. I can never resist a flamingo print, and I doubt that'll ever change; I can't get enough of them!

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I'm quite taken with all of the new classic 1950s swing dresses from Lady V, too. The prints are all fantastic, especially the flamingos, lemons, bird city (which has flamingos, toucans, macaws, cockatoos, and cockatiels on it), and macaw prints. The dresses even have pockets and built in petticoats!

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And last but not least, these patterned A-line dresses from Modcloth are seriously cute. They look like the perfect casual day dresses, with plenty of personality. I think the green dinosaur and purple cacti designs are my favourites.

If you'd like to see more of the fashion pieces on my wish list each week, check out my style wish list boards on Pinterest. 

You can also find all previous Wednesday Wish List posts here.

What's on your wish list this week?

Wednesday Wish List

It feels like forever since I last blogged a Wednesday Wish List post, although in reality it's only been about a month. I think it's about time things got back to normal around here, so I'm here to bring you a fresh and long over-due new wish list this morning.

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I adore Skinny Dip's new peach collection, especially the novelty bag and enamel pin. The range is so summery and lovely.

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This collection of Disney-themed novelty bags from Disney by Danielle Nicole is amazing. I need that Cogsworth bag in my life! The bags are from the American brand Macy's, but they ship worldwide, and they're also advertising a 30% off code on the collection.

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These Altruism glittery heart flats from Irregular Choice are so gorgeous.



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I'm totally smitten with these new lace top chiffon dresses from Scarlett & Jo. They look absolutely perfect. My only problem is, I can't decide which colour I love best. (It also comes in black). Perhaps I just need all five?

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Erstwilder's 'I'm With The Band' collection, with jewellery featuring cats dressed like iconic musicians, is amazing. I particularly love the Prince and Michael Jackson designs.

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How incredible are these necklaces from La Vidriola?! The Wildlife Statement Necklace (#5) is especially phenomenal, and might just be the most amazing piece of jewellery I've ever seen. I wish I could afford to snap one up.

 Cath Kidston Duck Brooch

Cath Kidston's new duck brooch is adorable. I wish they would release more than one or two brooches a season, because they make some of the best novelty jewellery on the high street.

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And last but not least, I'm loving these seahorse and flamingo flats from ASOS. The seahorse pair are wide fit, which pleases me greatly. 

If you'd like to see more of the fashion pieces on my wish list, check out my style wish list boards on Pinterest. You can also find all past Wednesday Wish Lists here.

What's on your wish list this week?

Hobbycraft Flamingo Cross Stitch Hoop Kit

Earlier in the year, I finished a flamingo cross stitch hoop sampler I've began working on in January, and I'm really pleased with the end result, so I thought I'd give you guys a peek at it.

I bought the kit in Hobbycraft in January as I loved the flamingo design, and it looked like it would be a fun, quick project I could stitch together in a week or so before moving on to something else. It was only a fiver (full price, although it's since increased to £6) so I wasn't expecting a high level of quality from it, but I wasn't really expecting any problems, either.

It turns out, there were many.

Firstly, the aida (fabric) was warped, with diagonal lines, so it was totally unusable. I had to use a spare piece I had lying around in my stash.

The embroidery hoop that was included in the kit, gave me several painful splinters when I first began using it. Although, I have to say, as embroidery hoops go,it's not bad- it's sturdy, and holds tension really well. It just needs sanding down a little.

The front of the packet claimed to have easy instructions suitable for beginners, but they definitely weren't the easiest to decipher at first, and a beginner would have difficulty with them.

My main problem with the instructions was that the pattern included quarter stitches as well as cross stitches, and in the key, they were shown in the same colours and symbols as each other because the same colour threads were needed. The lines on the chart were all different widths and heights, with no rhyme or reason, so I couldn't make sense of which were which, even after photocopying and enlarging the instruction chart to A2. (The chart included is quite small). It took me days to finally spot the tiny quarter stitches- they were all hiding on the face of the flamingo. After that, the pattern made complete sense and I was able to start sewing... but I still had the difficult task of identifying the threads.

And that was a nightmare.

The threads weren't pre-sorted and with five similar shades of pink and four orange, I had real difficulty trying to match most of them to the correct symbols. I had to just guess and hope for the best. When I first began stitching the flamingo, the main colour of the body I'd confidently matched up was this horrible dark terracotta colour, and it looked awful, and unlike any flamingo I've ever seen, so I ended up unpicking it, and from there I decided to wing it and give it my own spin. I chose most of the colours as I went along, using some from the kit, and many from my own stash, unpicking and restitching with different colours multiple times until I was satisfied with how it looked. I also did this with the back-stitching; the entire design was supposed to be out-lined in black, but I didn't like how that looked, and chose to use a darker shade of colour to compliment each area instead. I personally think it looks so much better without the harshness of the black,

While I was going rogue, I also changed the colours of the French knots on the flowers, opting for yellow and dark pink instead of black. I'd never attempted a French knot stitch before, and the instructions included weren't helpful, so I had to Google for a tutorial to make sense of it. While the stitch is pretty straight-forward, I found it tricky to get right at first, and it took a bit of practise, but after multiple failed attempts and realising keeping the thread tight is the trick, I got there in the end. They're not perfect, but they're the best I could do, and I'm satisfied with the end result. To be honest, I had to stop there before I pulled all my hair out.

Hobbycraft advertises this kit as being suitable for beginners, but I personally don't agree. I've been stitching for years and I was pulling my hair out from start to finish. The majority of beginners will have trouble understanding the instructions, and difficulty learning the different stitches from them unless they think to Google a tutorial or ask a more experienced cross-stitcher for help. I also think any beginner who starts cross stitching with this kit is going to be put off from the craft for life. Don't begin with this kit if you're new to cross stitching. I don't recommend it.

The pattern is straight forward and would have been quick and easy if the chart was clear from the start, the threads were recognisable, and the supplies were adequate, but it just ended up being one massive headache. It was far from the quick, easy project I'd expected it to be, and it just stressed me out on a daily basis.

If you've got the knowledge, skill, and supplies to give it your own spin, you can get great results from the pattern. It's a lovely design over all, and I love how mine turned out in the end, but I won't lie- it was one of the most stressful cross stitch projects I've ever worked on. It was worth all the hassle, and I'm glad I persevered, but I'm not in a hurry to pick up another design from the range any time soon. I don't have the strength.

If my review hasn't put you off and you still want to give this kit a go, you can find it on the Hobbycraft website here.

Have you made anything lately? Do you cross stitch?

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One Year With Rosie

Last Wednesday, we marked a whole year since Rosie, our Tibetan terrier pup, joined our family.



I can't get my head around how it's already been an entire year! I'd swear it was only five minutes ago that we brought that little black and white bundle of fur and teeth home from the breeders, and began our adventure as first time dog owners. The year's passed by soooo fast.

It's passed by in a blur of puppy cuddles, tummy rubs (and lots of them- she's a tummy rub whore), cheeky antics, amazement and disbelief at said antics, comedy moments, knitwear and hosiery theft attempts, daily training for the canine vocal Olympics, hyper bursts of puppy energy, mountain goat impersonations, training, learning, trial and error, play, companionship, excitement, exhaustion, despair, destruction, but still plenty of love and patience (at least from me), and lots of fun and laughter. It's been a fun and rewarding year.

I've gained an awesome little companion, and someone who encourages me to push through the pain and spend more time out of bed, which is good for my mental and physical health. I have had trouble keeping up with her at times, and I may not be able to do the fun dog owner stuff like taking her for walks to pretty places in the countryside right now- which I wish I could as I'd really love that kind of life- but I love spending time with her, teaching her new things, playing with her, and just watching her enjoying life. The puppy cuddles are always appreciated, too.

I admit she has been hard work at times- it turns out Tibetan terrier puppies are like springer spaniels on crack- but the good definitely out-weighs the bad, and I wouldn't change her for the world. She's brought so much to my life over the last year. She's given my life purpose again.

Rosie never stops making me laugh. She has the funniest little mannerisms, makes the funniest noises, and gets up to so much mischief, which is usually more hilarious than frustrating. For me, the most memorable were the times she stole apples from the tree in the garden, ran off with a newly laid patch of turf, and somehow managed to jump over the top of her crate and on to the kitchen island to steal a pair of clean socks that had been left there, late last Summer. Luckily for her she's cute and it's impossible to stay mad at her for long. I was going to say she's far better behaved now, but she tarnished that image by giving my camera a quality check with her teeth last week. It failed.

What I love about Rosie is that she has soooo much character; I've never known another dog like her. She's so sassy and confident, and full of personality. She never stops talking, whether it's barking, yapping, chattering, whining, howling, muttering, grumbling, growing (at cats), or just murmuring while she gnaws on your fingers. Not in a problematic, out-of-control dog kind of way, just that she loves to talk. Tibetan terriers are the Siamese cats of the canine world; so chatty.  The noises she comes out with leave us in hysterics on a daily basis.

Excuse the state of the patio in this photo; the weeding got a bit neglected last Summer. I just had to include this photo of her mid-run during a game of catch... with an apple, because it makes me laugh so much. My daft dog kept asking me to throw an apple for her to fetch. Wouldn't go after the tennis balls I kept throwing... just the apple.

The little goof-ball also loves to hang out on the top of the sofa. She walks along it as sure-footed as a mountain goat, likes to keep watch out of the window, sits there to watch us in the kitchen (unless food is involved, in which case she's at our feet), waits there for family to come home, and sometimes even lies across it, gnawing on a Nylabone.

My dog is a weirdo. A cute one, but still a weirdo.

I don't think we could have found a dog with more character if we'd tried. She's hilarious.

Excuse the messy kitchen. This was Rosie last weekend, sitting on the top of the sofa. (We have an open plan kitchen / living room). Her coat has also started getting a lot more black and grey through it over the last month or so.

We might have only had her for a year, but life just would not be the same without her now. Home would be so quiet and empty without her. 

This past year has been so fun and rewarding, and hopefully just the first of what will be many happy years with my little puppy dog. I'm looking forward to seeing where they take us.

Do you have any fur babies you just can't help loving?