I am so delighted to be writing this blog post as my entry into the #safestoreyourmemories competition which is being run by Safestore. To enable me to enter the competition I was sent a plain box which I had to style into a memory capsule as my entry.

I well and truly went to town on the box and transformed it from being a archive box into a spotty vision of loveliness!

The collage picture above shows how I did it but basically I have covered the box and the lid in polka dot wrapping paper. I then put red stick-on vinyl on the insides and once that was all done I completely covered the box in layers of sellotape to protect the paper. I can safely say that my memory capsule will stand the test of time. It will certainly not outlive my love of polka dots though….that is a day that will never come! 🙂

I chose to fill my memory box with polka dots for the purpose of this competition entry as I have so many polka dot memories but not once have I ever written them down….or even sat down and thought about them.

Now is the time to document the memories of some of my polka dot treasures.  :-

• First off…..all of the spotty things are on top of my beloved polka dot floor mat that was sent to me by The Mat Factory for review. I absolutely adore the mat and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was when I was sent the mat for my new house. It literally arrived within a few weeks of me moving in and it was the best ‘house warming gift’ ever!
• I have put in my polka dot kettle as my mum bought this for me a few months ago. I had seen it when we went shopping together in Asda and she offered to buy it for me and at first I’d said no…only because there was nothing wrong with the plain red kettle that I had…but she knows me too well and said she actually needed a new kettle so she’d have mine and she would buy me the dotty one. I didn’t argue after that!
• The Minnie Mouse phone holder looks fab…but in reality it falls over and doesn’t really hold my phone all that well. I still won’t get rid of it though as it is too lovely. I bought it in a charity shop once but it originally came from Disneyland Paris. I’ve never been there yet but that is set to change later in the year as I have an exciting family trip planned to meet my best friend…my sister in style…the one and only Minnie Mouse! I can’t wait!
• The polka dot notepad /address book set was bought for me by my daughter when we went shopping together on a holiday last October. She saw it and said ‘Mummy…I’m Buying This For You!’ It made my day and I haven’t yet brought myself to write in it as it looks so pretty.
• The polka dot postcard is 1 of 50 special custom made ‘Christmas Cards’ that I have had made for this Christmas coming…(OK, I made them for this Christmas gone but wasn’t organised enough to actually send them!).
• The polka dot plastic cups are probably only supposed to be a throw-away item but there is no way I am throwing away spotty things! They live in my kitchen cupboard and get used on the odd occasion.
• I have included my drinking glass with polka dot apples as I was so happy when I found them in Tesco! You have no idea how hard it is to find dotty drinking glasses!
• The New Year Sales saw me bulk buying Wilkinsons spotty cardboard boxes as they had reduced them. I had wanted them at full price but had not treated myself too them as I was being ‘good’.  When they were in the sale I couldn’t resist buying them though! I bought loads of them to store my sewing things in and I have to say they do look very tidy all stacked neatly on my bookcase with my bits and bobs in.
• I have included the polka dot headband as it was the first red and white spotty headband I bought my daughter. She had asked for it in New Look and as it was only £1 on sale I said ‘of course’. I must admit I wish I could pull off the headband style…sadly I can’t though.
• The mini espresso cup and saucer are so gorgeous. I bought them on ebay once as I fell in love with them (I have 2 of these) but as I don’t drink espresso I didn’t really need them. Not to worry though, I use the saucer as a general mini plate for putting sweets on etc and the mini cup sits on my windowsill to store tiny tea spoons in.
• A month or so ago I was really honoured to have a custom made polka dot washbag made for me by Personal Stitches. She had seen from my blog that I love polka dots and decided she’d like to make me a special little bag with my initial on. It was so exciting knowing that I was having a polka dot gift made especially for me.  🙂
• There are 2 sets of polka dot cutlery in my memory capsule. The first lot is a red and white cheap set that I bought on ebay. It is not very good quality and the spots are not really spot shaped but as they were my first attempt at having polka dot cutlery I have kept them. I have, however, since upgraded to my posh Amefa spotty set that I bought from Very. I ummed and aaghed for ages about buying them as they were about £30 but in the end I decided I had to do it and add them to my polka dot kitchen collection. I am so glad I did though as they are superb quality and rather sought after… now out out of stock in lots of places. At least I bought them in the end!
• I have 2 polka dot scarves in the box. They were both bought for me by friends. One is a big ruffly one and it was bought for me a few years ago as a Christmas present and the other one was given to me just last week – my friend came round and surprised me with it. It was such a lovely gift. 🙂
• The reason I have put the polka dot oven gloves in the capsule is because I loved them so much when I first saw them in the shop that I bought two pairs of them! One to be used then and the other to be stored away until such time that the first pair got too shabby. I am now on the second pair but have none in reserve…yet! 🙂
• There is a few polka dot clothing items in the box. I have a polka dot dress that belonged to my daughter when she was little, a pair of polka dot pyjama bottoms that I once made and a a little white skirt with spots on that I bought from Argos for my little girl once – it never fitted her but as it was a bargain I kept it just because I liked the material!
• The polka dot napkins were another post-Christmas bargain from Wilkinsons. They had them reduced so I bought 8 packs of them so I can always brighten up mealtimes and picnics with pretty napkins.
• The polka dot piggy bank is a most treasured possession of mine. My sister-in-law bought it for me as a gift but one day I accidentally dropped it and it smashed. I was so sad that I had lost it that I went straight out and bought another one on ebay. It is now very treasured!
• The posh soup bowl and fluted edge plate are are made by an American company called Temptations. It is unusual to find the red and white spot collection in the UK but once I found it I treated myself to soup bowls, plates, cups and cookware. It was on sale so that is how I can justify my purchases. Plus even better is that a couple of the sets came with cardboard polka dot storage boxes.  Even better value for money.  🙂
• One of my best friends is always buying me spotty gifts as she knows how much I love them. I have included several of her presents in the memory box. There is a Minnie Mouse shaped Disneyland Resort pen that she bought me about 5 years ago, a mini Eiffel Tower polka dot tin that she bought me on one of her holidays, a fabulous Christmas tealight holder with spots and reindeers, a wooden spotty letter ‘K’ that I have on my wall in the kitchen and a wooden polka dot heart chalkboard – that I have written ‘Kim’s Polka Dot Memories’ on. 🙂
• There are some spotty dish cloths in the box as I bought them once to add a bit of spotty cheerfulness to my washing up. I am such a cheap skate though – I even cut each cloth into quarters to make them last longer!
• I have included a sweet little polka dot wooden heart that I have hanging from one of my kitchen cupboard door handles. It was from East of India and my Mum bought it for me as a gift from my daughter when they were out together one day.
• There are some hand-painted polka dot items in the memory box and I have painted these all myself. There is a knife block, some spotty door knobs (these were done for my old house and when I moved I took them with me and replaced them back with the old door knobs – I wasn’t going to leave my bespoke ones there. Sadly they don’t fit on my new kitchen cupboard doors…one day I am going to attach them to a piece of wood and make a coat rack instead) and a dotty napkin holder that was given to me by a relative so I could glam it up.
• There is a polka dot drinks coaster as I saw the set of these in Debenhams once and I was bought them as a birthday gift, along with the matching place mats.
• The mini wind spinner is one of two that I have. I have them in the eyelets on my red blind in my kitchen.  🙂 I once had a massive polka dot one that was in the garden in a flower pot but sadly it got broken in the bad weather.
• The little magnetic clipboard is so cute. I saw this dotty item on the net and went straight away to my local Range store to try and buy one. It looks great on my POLKA DOT FRIDGE!!  I applied the red vinyl myself and meticulously hand-cut the white polka dots to stick on it. 😀
• The Minnie the Mouse Pez sweet dispenser belongs to my daughter but I added it to the box as I think it is so sweet!
• I have had the polka dot crockery set for about 3 years and I love it! I bought it from Very but sadly they no longer stock it. I do hope that if the day ever comes where it gets broken that I find somewhere else to buy some from as it is so lovely and cheerful.
• And last but not least is the precious picture drawn for me by my little girl. She has been watching me decorating the box this evening and whilst I was doing it she was using the excess bits of wrapping paper to wrap up her toys. She then drew me this beautiful picture of me standing under a rainbow with the sun shining and rain drops falling.

I have really enjoyed sharing my polka dot memories with you all. The items were put in the box for the photo but they all currently have a place in my home so they won’t be staying in the box for long. Instead the box is going to be used as a storage container to store my daughter’s toys in but it will still be a memory capsule as just by looking at it I will always remember this blog post. 🙂

* Please note I may look like I am addicted to Polka Dots but I prefer to consider myself as a collector of Polka Dots! 😀 Who am I kidding!

* Also, I have many other special polka dots items that would not have a chance of fitting in my memory capsule, even hypothetically! There is my Spotty Lorena Canals Rug that I was sent to review from Petithome (it’s gorgoeus!), my red and white spot wheeled shopping trolley bag that my mum bought me and my dotty Miracle Bag that I was sent to review. I have a feeling I will write more about my polka dot collection in the future!