Winter months can seem very long when it’s too bitterly cold to have fun outside. As a way to keep my family entertained this Winter, I create a Family Fun Night every 3-4 weeks. These Family Fun Nights are held at our house and are always fun for everyone.
Our February Family Fun Night was a Paint and Sip Evening. Well, a Paint, Sip and Snack Evening to be precise. It gave us all a chance to hang out together, have a bunch of laughs, and create something we don’t normally do – that’s what made it even more fun.
If you’re looking for something to do with your family, give this a try! Here’s how to create a DIY – Paint and Sip Party. I hope you have as much fun as we did!
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What You Will Need
- Paint Easels (one for each person)
The easels we used can hold a canvas in either landscape or portrait orientation – very cool! - Paint Canvases or Stretched Paint Canvases (one for each person)
We used the 8×10 inch canvases, but you could choose a larger size if you’d like - Paint Brushes
- Paint Palette
- Acrylic Paint
We used a set that included the brushes, palettes, and paint - Water Cup
- Paint Knives (optional)
- Pencils (one for each person, for sketching)
- Art Frame Table Cloth
- Sample of painting for the night (optional, but very helpful)
- Variety of Beverage Glasses
I purchased a variety of clear glasses from thrift stores so everyone could choose their own glass - Cocktail Bar Set
- Cocktail Mixers
We used the Cocktail Artist mixers, the name of these mixers was perfect for an art party - Various Alcohol (whiskey, vodka, gin, tequila, rum) or Drink Mixers (sour soda, tonic water, sparkling grape juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, etc.)
- Snacks (if you want to make this a Paint, Sip, and Snack Party)
What You Do
- At least an hour before your guests arrive, you’ll want to set up your Paint space – a dining room table or center island can work well, depending on how many people will be attending. Cover the surface with a table cloth, then place an easel, canvas, pack of brushes, paint palette, water cup (filled with water), and a pencil at each place setting. Place a paint set in between two place settings for people to share.
TIP: If you want, you could paint index cards ahead of time with each person’s name on the card, and use these cards as placecards. This is optional, but makes it more personal for your guests.
- Prepare your Sip station – Set aside space on a kitchen counter, center island, side table, or bar cart for your Sip station. This station should include a variety of beverage glasses, cocktail mixers, alcohol or non-alcohol mixers (your choice), a bar sharker set, and cocktail garnishes.
TIP: I wrote out recipes for a variety of cocktails that our guests could make. This allowed everyone to become their own cocktail artist, and allowed me more time to interact with our guests (versus making drinks for everyone).
- Set up your Snack station if you’re serving snacks – include snacks, plates or bowls, and any utensils you might need
TIP: Ask each guest to bring a snack to share – that way you won’t have to do all the preparation, and everyone will have a variety of snacks to choose from.
The Snack Station. Photo was taken before the party started, so not many snacks yet until everyone brought something to share. - When your guests arrive, it’s time to get started! Show your guests the supplies they have, and guide them to put pea-size amounts of each color of paint into the small circles on the outer ring of their paint palettes. Demonstrate that the center well can be used for mixing colors.
- Demonstrate how to complete the painting by guiding everyone with brush strokes and using different size brushes for different effects
TIP: If you’re not typically a painter, I highly recommend watching video tutorials for painting on YouTube – there are tons of videos to help you! Use that video before the party to create your sample painting, and to help you learn how to do the presentation. If you’re really uncomfortable leading your group, you can choose to just play the video tutorial on a laptop or computer screen and have your guests follow the tutorial instead. For larger groups, you can also project the YouTube video tutorial onto a large television screen for easier viewing.
TIP: We used an abstract heart as our painting theme – it was fitting since our party was a few days before Valentine’s Day, and abstract art is much easier (and more comfortable) for most people to paint.
The abstract heart sample to help get people started with painting. - As you guide your guests through the painting process, make sure to pause every once in a while to ‘sip’ and ‘snack’ 😉
TIP: You know your guests best. Make the evening relaxed and enjoyable, with no pressure to create perfect paintings. The idea is just to have fun together making something. - When everyone has finished their paintings, make sure to take a group photo of everyone holding their works of art!
Additional Notes
- Play a Video Tutorial – There are many painting video tutorials on YouTube available. As I mentioned above, use the tutorial to create your sample painting before the party and to ‘teach’ you what to present, or play the video tutorial for your guests the night of your party. By having a painting that is guided by someone, your guests will feel much more at ease and not feel the pressure to paint something off the cuff. This video tutorial is the one I used. I watched it several days before our party, then led our guests without playing the video at the party. I liked the interaction with our guests better this way. 😉
- Display a Color Wheel – Display a color wheel on a laptop or computer screen to help people see which colors work well together. Here’s the color wheel I displayed on screen (click to enlarge so you can display this during your party).
- Take Photos – Make sure to take photos of everyone holding their masterpieces at the end of the evening. Ah… the memories!
- Send Invitations – I created a private Family Fun Facebook Group for our family members. This is where I share our Family Fun Events and invite everyone. If your family uses Facebook, you might want to do the same. If you prefer, you could also send invitations by mail – for example, paint one side of a blank postcard with an abstract design, then include the written details of your party on the other side. Pop your postcards in the mail and wait for the RSVPs.
- Schedule Time In Advance – I share our monthly Family Fun Events with our family about 3-4 weeks before each event so everyone can plan accordingly. You’ll want to find a day and time that works best for your family, and plan on the painting portion of this evening to last 2-hours. Two hours allows everyone to relax into the activity, and is short enough to keep everyone’s interest. If there’s time after the guided portion of painting, have extra canvases and let everyone experiment on their own.
Photos from Our Paint and Sip Evening
Click any image to enlarge and to see comments. Hope you enjoy the photos!
The table cloth was perfect! Guests had fun doodling in the frames, and they loved all the supplies.
We used several vintage store display frames from my vintage shop and made signs for each ‘station’. Fun!
The supplies worked out great for our party!
The table looked great and everything worked out well for all the guests.
Our Sip Station!
The bar shaker set was a huge hit with everyone -especially those who had never used one before. “Shaken… not stirred.”
I found Cocktail Artist mixers – thought the name was perfect for this party.
I wrote down the recipes on how to make a variety of drinks. This let everyone be their own cocktail artist!
Oranges, Lemons, and Limes for zesting into cocktails.
We had a mix of alcohol and non-alcohol mixers for guests to use – along with tasty garnishes.
The Snack Station. Photo was taken before the party started, so not many snacks yet until everyone brought something to share.
Everyone had a great time painting their works of art while sipping their own cocktails and enjoying snacks. A fun evening!
The abstract heart sample to help get people started with painting.
If you decide to host your own Paint and Sip Party, share in a comment below – I’d love to hear how it went!
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