Our Favorite Felt Tip and Chicka Boom Boom Cupcakes

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Our foster son recently had a birthday -and we celebrated with cupcakes and his favorite book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom  -this boy recites the book perfectly from cover to cover and even requests to sleep with it!

Look who's coming?!

It's black-eyed pea!

You'll need: wool blend felt, chicka font sized to 209, scissors, toothpicks, glue... and our secret weapon: Super Spray!

1. Fist cut out letters of your choosing (black eyed p is a favorite here!). We like to transfer our patterns using freezer paper -and even have a tutorial for you!

2. I'm excited about this step fellow crafters -it's like introducing felt's best friend -or a secret beauty tip -and it's so easy too! Drum, dum dummmm... Fabric stiffener! It helps felt to stay sturdy, keep its form and provide extra durability; it extends the capabilities of felt even further. Here we are using a spray product called Stiffen Quick that we found at a local fabric store (but I just call it Super Spray).

I generally place the items to be sprayed in a box (to protect the surrounding area) -and spray stiffener about 6-8 inches away from the felt. You control how stiff you want your felt by how much you spray. These cupcake toppers needed to be pretty stiff so I sprayed one side till wet, came back an hour later flipped the letters and sprayed the backs.

After the letters dried -I used thin line of hot glue to attach toothpicks. Then you're done and ready to party!

Garlands for Sale!

We recently updated the way we assemble and produce our multi-sized circle garlands. But we still have some of Benzie's first design in stock -these are incredibly long at 7 or 14 yards (21 or 42 feet) per garland. No more skimpy party decorations -and we are offering them at a crazy 50% off our regular price! Go visit our shop!

Benzie in Pregnancy & Newborn!

Benzie's first magazine feature is in September's issue of Pregnancy & Newborn magazine! Do you spy our Moss green garland? Surrounded by Divine Twine, Shop Sweet Lulu's straws, Lisa Leonard's cake toppers and Rifle gift wrap... we're in good company!

Magazines are available in newsstands now! Thanks Pregnancy & Newborn! 

Butterfly Garlands

Butterfly garlands are now available in the handmade shop -and felt-fetti to match! Even better -you pick the color to match your party!

Felt-fetti is also perfect for making your own garlands -available in our supplies shop. We like to call it flutter-fetti. Ha!

MmmCrafts, Guest Currator

She's been to Benzie before -and we again welcome Larissa Holland from MmmCrafts -this time to celebrate the creation of her newest pattern of her beloved needle books. These gorgeous little books -so well made and intricately designed and now available as a pattern with instructions -and all of Larissa's tips and tricks are included! And I can't wait to make one for myself!

Even better -this collection of felt has been created by Larissa to coordinate with her original needle book color scheme. Just perfect! And don't forget -Benzie even has floss to match!

Purchase the needle book pattern in the MmmCrafts shop. And visit Larissa's blog. And don't forget your felt! Happy Stitching!

Felt like a Hexagon

Have you seen Benzie's newest felt-fetti? It's gone geometric! Oversized hexagons measure 1" per side or about 2" wide and is available in our felt shop -they are great to embroider on. Mollie from Wild Olive made a fabulous coaster for her lemonade pitcher, a diy too. It turned out great!

And a geometric garland had to be made! Available in our handmade shop. 

Happy Hexagons to you!

Embroidery Basics: Whip Stitch

The whip stitch is one of the easiest stitch to learn and the most common first step for beginners -even kids can pick up on this one! There are two ways to use the whip stitch. The first one described is used to connect two layers of fabric -like when making a small pillow or softie. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. To begin, place your needle and knotted thread in between the two pieces of fabric (felt is used here because it doesn't fray) and up through the top layer of felt at point one. 

2. Take your needle behind both layers of felt and sew through at point two. You will notice that the needle is at an angle, this gives the stitches the diagonal slant.
3. Again bring your needle behind both layers of felt and sew through at point three.
4. & 5. Continue stitching until finished aiming for consistency in spacing and length of stitches.
6. You can also use the whip stitch to attach pieces side by side -just flatten the felt when done. It's like a stitch trick!

And here is a handy diagram:

Here we start at the right side of the fabric and move to the left. Constantly whipping the needle at an angle up from the front the the back. Up from one and back around through two.

The second way to use the whip stitch is when attaching an applique or a shape to a piece of clothing or artwork. All the stitches are the same -but the angle of the needle is straight up and down. Here you will notice a piece of felt (my applique) on a linen backdrop.

1. Bring your needle and thread behind your applique and background and up at point one.
2. Go back down at point two right where your applique meets the background. You'll want to keep your needle nice and straight.
3. Come back up at point three.
4. Go back down at point 4.
5. Remember to keep your stitches evenly spaced -this will make for a beautiful applique!
6. Keep on going, practice makes perfect!

Again we start at the left and move to the right (but you can do what works for your project) coming up at one and back down at 2. This is one of my favorite stitches -it makes my projects come together quickly!

More embroidery basics by Benzie: 
Backstich