N&T / Benzie Design Collaboration Day 1: The Making of a Unicorn Themed Birthday Party | VIDEO

Hello friends!  We're so excited to be teaming up with Benzie Design!  Benzie specializes in felt, with 90 colors available in their house wool blend and 36 colors of homemade felt pom poms, but they have lots more to share including various 'felt-fetti' die cut shapes, kits, felt notions/tools and more.  This week (Monday - Thursday) we'll be sharing some projects featuring Benzie products.

There are also giveaways!  We'll be picking one lucky commenter to win the Carnation Collection felt pack and Atomic Pom Poms pictured below.  Be sure to also stop by the Benzie blog as they'll be posting on Monday and Tuesday and will select one lucky commenter to win a $25 credit to the N&T store.  Winners will be announced over the weekend.


Today Natalie is here to share THE BEST birthday project ever!  Here's she is:

What a Magical Day!!

My middle daughter turns 8 in a couple of weeks and she's already planning how she wants to celebrate. Everything is unicorns for her lately, and my Neat and Tangled Magical Day stamp set and matching dies has already had quite the work-out! But we couldn't resist using them once again for her party invitations, and it also became the inspiration behind the matching headdress we made for the event.



When I heard about the collaboration with Benzie Designs I immediately signed up because I love working with felt. I usually use my die-cutting machine and my steel dies, but of course you can freehand cut it as well. And the colours they offer are spectacular! My favourite palette from Benzie is called 'Electric Company' because it's the whole brightly coloured rainbow. But I also adore 'Mosey Palette' because sometimes you just need to tone it down a little too!


I asked Moriah to pick her 4 favourite colours from the Electric Company felt pack and I then used them to form the mane of the unicorn headdress. I love her choices! I then used the same colours, but in watercolours to paint the mane on the Magical Day unicorn so they would be matching.


Now I know it might appear at first glance that the headdress is a little complicated, but it's actually quite easy, and could even be achieved with a no-sew technique. The Benzie felt is really thick which means it cuts really nicely and is quite amenable to a hot glue gun without the glue soaking through. And because it's a wool blend the edges won't fray either. WINNING!

In my video today I'm going to show you how I created both my Magical Day party invitations with their watercolouring and foiled details, as well as this super-fun unicorn headdress made with Benzie Designs felt.

             

I think this smile says it all....


Thanks so much for stopping by, don't forget to head over to the Benzie blog to see what they have to share and to enter to win their giveaway!

50 comments

  1. Awww!!! I'm totally in love for these sweet invitations!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a sweet and well planned birthday party! That felt is gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great invitations! Benzie has the best felt!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm a bit confused about how you sewed the felt onto the fabric for the mane. Could you make it a bit more clear.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for any confusion... it's a bit hard to explain I guess! Did you watch the video?
      What I did was this...
      I laid out the felt strips randomly in a row going down the mane, and simply sewed a straight stitch right down the middle of them, so the ends are free to move. I sewed the first line of felt strips at one edge of my mane. Then I folded these over so I would have enough room to lay down the next line of strips beside them and sewed them on in the same way. I ended up with four rows of felt strips going down the mane.
      Hope that helps? But let me know if you need more clarification!
      xx

      Delete
  5. These projects are adorable! I love the vibrant felt colors. Thanks for collaborating with this company that's new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These projects are adorable! I love the vibrant felt colors. Thanks for collaborating with this company that's new to me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my, what little girl wouldn't love this magical unicorn head dress and those adorable invitations ... they're just brilliant ... and showcase that lovely felt so beautifully! Anita :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. How fun. I love the headdress and the felt colors are so pretty. I was also happy to see you have needle felting supplies. I loved felting but couldn't find a good supplier of the roving.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So fun and looks
    like she loved it!
    Great colors in the
    felt and wonderful
    idea.
    Carla from Utah

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, absolutely fun and stunning. I especially love the cute pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  11. How cute and fun. I bet your daughter loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. How sweet! Love the BD party photos and what an awesome and gorgeous collection of felt!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Absolutely amazing birthday party project!Love the invitations and the unicorn head dress is super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your invitations are adorable and
    The unicorn headband is simply amazing!!!
    I love the bright colors, but was thinking the toned down colors might be better for fall/winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's true! I love that about the range of colours Benzie has... there's a palette to suit every occasion!

      Delete
  15. Love these beautiful vibrant felts. The unicorn headdress is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Such beautiful felt and pompoms! I love the headdress - it's absolutely perfect for a unicorn-loving girl!

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a superb headdress! I love the vibrant colors and it is a beautiful creation :) Sure her birthday is gonna rock with unicorns all over! :) The pompoms are cute and lovely cards too!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What incredibly cute ideas! I have two daughters and one is very unicorn crazy would adore this project. Thanks for sharing such a good idea. 🦄

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tess! I hope I've given you some good ideas for crafting with your kids!

      Delete
  19. Gorgeous. What a fortunate little girl to have such a creative mummy. I've never worked with felt before. Thanks for sharing your technique video.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just love the texture of this felt. It feels so nice when you cut through it, and makes a lovely crunch when you do.
      Is that weird?! LOL!!

      Delete
  20. What a cute idea.
    Wish I had a little girl. (Mine
    are 30 and 59 and it doesn't look
    like a little one is in my future
    anytime soon.
    thanks for sharing information about
    Benzie - hadn't seen them before.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, wow, that headpiece is so amazing! Love the colors of the wool and how the party invitations match!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh my gosh, what a lucky, lucky girl to have such an awesome and creative aunt! No doubt your sweet niece will remember this birthday forever! Thank you so much for introducing this company! Benzie looks awesome...beautiful colors and the type of wool felt that will cut nicely with my Neat & Tangled dies! Love your unicorn invites and costume!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Too Too Cute!
    Love that the mane matches the cards!

    ReplyDelete
  24. That's such an awesome idea !! She must be so happy !!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Amazing! I love your bright and cheerful unicorn party ideas! Everything looks amazing!
    Take Care!
    Michele

    ReplyDelete
  26. So so cute! I'm curious what cutter would you use if you didn't free hand the cutting? Any recommendations?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This felt from Benzie is wool, and so cuts really nicely. I think if you just wanted to cut straight lines then you might need to get your hands on a guillotine type of cutter, or of course, they have specific fabric rollers (kind of like mini pizza cutters). But I've not actually tried either of these. I'm ok with a little bit of inprecision! ;-)

      Delete
  27. Natalie...this is just adorable!! Moriah picked out beautiful colors for her unicorn. The invitations are a perfect match. All of this makes me (almost) want to have an 8 year old daughter again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She did good didn't she? It wouldn't be my automatic choice... but I think they're fabulous, and I'm so glad I let her choose!

      Delete
  28. Love that fun unicorn headband! Delightful project and such pretty felt colors! So fun for a special party!

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a great collaboration... to be able to die cut your own felt shapes is awesome, and the range of colors is amazing. The pompons are something new to me, I'll have to investigate more...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great party idea for a lucky birthday girl!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Adorable, sweet and fun!
    <3 <3 <3

    ReplyDelete
  32. That Unicorn headpiece is soooo adorable and the model is very cute also. You're a great mom to make something so special she's going to remember forever.

    ReplyDelete
  33. How adorable! Love that unicorn head piece and I bet the girl loved it, too! Thank you for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Autumn! AHhhh! The sequins and stitching really does it. Diecut...oh my!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Entering the contest was not so clear to me. I'd of thot I would respond on a page with the leaves Garland. So I'm confused as to whether I am in the contest or not. I'll see on Monday!��

    ReplyDelete
  36. Natalie de verdad muchas gracias mi hija pequeña de 3 años quiere disfrazarse de PONNY Y juro que se me había hecho un dolor de cabeza el disfraz hasta que vi el ppost en instagram con las fotos y lo amé haré mi versión del ponny y prometo subir fotos de mi hijita de 3 años y su ponny en hallowenn muchas , muchas gracias saludos desde Chile !! Visite su blog y por cierto me encanto ya tienes una fiel seguidora Xoxo Claudia

    ReplyDelete

Back to Top