Get your guests creating with the following 5 Unique Art Party Ideas!

You have probably been to a paint party or two; why not host your own? (Check out the previous blog The “Art” of Partying: How to Host an Art Party for more planning and hosting tips). Get ready to create, inspire and have fun!

1. VIRTUAL PAINT PARTY

Have the celebration in the comfort of your home. A virtual paint party is sure to spark joy and creativity. Video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet have become a main way of connecting while social distancing. Why not incorporate art while catching up!

What you need: canvas, paint, paintbrushes, picture selected for everyone to paint and a virtual instructor.

Some paint party studios have started facilitating paint parties virtually, and some businesses have already established virtual paint party models, such as paintingparties.com, with videos and guidance on hosting the paint party. Give your guests the option of BYOW (bring your own wine) for this virtual soiree.

OR

If you are looking for a more informal paint activity (no instructor needed), you can simply ask your guests to paint portraits of each other. Each guest is assigned a person to paint from the video chat. You paint, chat and inevitably laugh at the hilarious portraits each guest reveals to one another. No paint skills necessary; it's actually more hilarious the less experience one has. Good luck and have fun with it!

2. ART PARTY VARIETY

Can’t just choose just one art party idea? Well you don't have to. Have an art party variety kids of all ages will love. One year for a family Easter celebration, my sister-in-law and I hosted a variety of art activities for all the cousins (there are a lot). We had a bunny craft, clay molding, coloring, and painting in addition to an egg hunt and games.

What you need: a station for each craft and ideally an adult monitor for each station

• Bunny craft: example or model pom pom bunny (prepared ahead of time) for kids to see, pom poms (white, blue, pink, yellow) -- standard size white for the bunny's body, small white for the hands and feet, mini color pom pom for the nose, and any color pom-pom for the tail (the kids will like choosing their own color variations), double sided tape/white glue/hot glue (we used hot glue and had an adult paste), small googly or wiggle eyes, and felt for the ears (white and pink for the inside of the ear which you may want to pre-cut)

• Clay mold: example/model flower, egg, or bunny (prepared ahead of time) for kids to see, at least two different sets of modeling clay in a variety of colors

• Coloring: coloring books or paper and crayons/color pencils/markers (consider leaving out markers for younger kids especially if there is minimal adult supervision)

• Painting: variety of acrylic paint colors and or watercolors. You can even choose watercolor crayons to minimize mess.

The art activities elevated this celebration, making it one of our most memorable family gatherings. This is a concept not exclusive to Easter; these activities can definitely be applied to any celebration. Use the canvas paintings as favors for the guests, home décor, or decor for the next soiree.

3. TREE DRAWINGS

What does your tree say about you? Let your imagination guide you and give your guests a novel party experience with reflective art. For a birthday shindig, right before COVID-19, one of my artist friends decided to gather everyone for an art party to draw trees. Everyone took about 15 minutes to draw a tree - no specific requirements; nothing too fancy required.

What you need: pencils, pens and markers, paper and a surface for each guest to draw (i.e., table, book, magazine) and optional book “A Tree is Your Key” by Janet Crain - helpful link to interpretations.

A couple of days before the event, the host read “A Tree is Your Key” by Janet Crain so she was familiar with various tree design interpretations. The birthday girl also prepared by marking pages to reference with the party group. After the drawings were complete, the birthday girl commented on what illustrations she recognized from the book, and discussed with the party guests their own designs, referring to the book as planned. The guests talked amongst each other and commented enjoying the activity very much, more than the host expected.

4. SCRAPBOOK DESIGN

One baby shower activity I hosted to reflect my sister in law’s love for design and crafting while incorporating my love of scrapbooking was designing a baby nursery room.

What you need: Three or more standard large scrapbook booklets with a variety of colors and patterns (can select different size scrapbook paper), several or more magazines (design, home, baby theme, catalogs possibly), glue sticks, and scissors

Each guest will need to choose a standard size scrapbook page representing the baby room background, and then use the other scrapbook paper and magazines to select nursery room décor. The design could be a more literal picture of the nursery or show color/design concepts on a single page. My sister in law’s shower turned into a competition to catch mommy to-be’s design eye. Grand prize went to paternal grandma to-be.

Nonetheless we were all proud of our work, and we were not all confident in the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation of the work; we presented as if we were on a design TV show. This activity was a form of art therapy - full of laughter, relaxation, and excitement - yielding an art “peace”. Plus mommy to-be had inspiration for her baby’s nursery.

5. HEADBAND CREATIONS

Another baby shower activity was making headbands. This can be a birthday activity or just an excuse to get together and create.

What you need: a variety of flowers (with felt attached on the bottom) and bows, variety pack of elastic ribbon, variety of self-adhesive gems, hot glue, scissors, measuring tape

The flowers and bows used for these headband designs were purchased at Amazon. The flowers with felt are a bonus because that saves you a step. There are other options too you can choose based on styles you want and your guest list amount. The elastic ribbon, also purchased at Amazon, was a great color variety, easy to work with and comfortable to wear. The self adhesive gems and other supplies were purchased at Walmart and Michael's. This activity is awesome for a shower because it's an activity and gift in one. The best part is it's simpler than it sounds.

Step 1: Cut the ribbon to the right size (typically ranging from 12" for a newborn to 19" for an adult); add about a quarter inch to account for the gluing. Use hot glue to seal the band.

Step 2: Choose a main flower or bow to adorn at the adjoining part of the band and seal with hot glue. If you want to add more flowers or bows to a single band, identify where you want to place them on the band; you may want to mark lightly with a pencil, and then seal with glue. For smaller bows that leave the line exposed at the adjoining part of the band, you can cut an additional strip of the ribbon to fold over the line on the band (hot pink band shown in the picture).

Step 3: This is the time to adorn with the sticker jewels for some extra bling, either on the flower/bow or the elastic ribbon. If you need to reinforce the stickers use a little hot glue. Voila - your headband is complete! Have fun with patterns and color variety in your designs.

There are many types of headband designs; for example, you can use alligator clips or make crochet headbands. For simple chic, try these colorful elastic headbands.

When hosting, I'm always trying to give my guests a unique experience i.e., with activities, decor, food, or themes. These art parties will do just that. Along with novelty, I strive for simplicity - to maintain my own sanity and ensure a light, enjoyable celebration. This can be a hard balance to achieve. Novelty can be complex and expensive. Rest assured, the above entertainment require minimal materials that can be purchased for reasonable prices, and many of the materials you are likely to already have.

What memories are you going to CREATE next? Show us on Instagram @adorn_life_celebrations.