Get all the best tips and tricks to host a fun, relaxed, and productive craft party with friends! With info on everything from which project to pick to how long it should be!
It will probably come as absolutely no surprise to any of you that when my friends planned my bachelorette party, they decided it should be a craft party. I mean, duh, right? They found a cute craft studio, we drank champagne, we crafted, we had snacks, it was great.
I have awesome friends.
Anyway, that was pretty over the top for a regular weeknight craft party but it was SO much fun. So today I’m sharing all the details on how to host a craft party at home for your friends!
Why should I host a craft party?
There are so many reasons.
- Crafting is awesome.
- It’s fun to hang out with friends.
- Having a common craft project is a great icebreaker if you’re trying to introduce new people to each other.
- It’s a great way to try a new kind of craft or material or technique.
- Your guests will feel like not only did they have fun, they actually were productive. For people have a hard time relaxing, this is a nice feeling.
How to host a craft party
- Decide who to invite. As I said, a common craft project makes a great icebreaker so it’s not required that all of your guests know each other beforehand. Nor is it required that they all be super crafty people.
In fact, often it’s better if the craft project is something new, that makes it fun and exciting and a little bit of a challenge which in turns makes for a good bonding experience! A good number of people for a craft party is probably somewhere between 5 and 10. Any fewer and it’s too quiet, any more and it’s too hard to manage.
- Choose a craft project. The key word for choosing a project for your craft party is SIMPLE. Say it with me. Simple. You’re likely going to have friends of all ability levels at your craft party. But while the craft project is fun, the real, super secret reason for having a craft party is actually the socializing.
And if your craft project is too complicated and requires a ton of concentration, no one’s going to be able to chat. Don’t worry if you have a super crafty friend, they won’t be bored, they’ll be able to add to or change their project to fit their abilities, that’s a crafty person’s super power!
Some criteria for choosing a craft project include:
- little to no drying time (for example choose acrylic paints over watercolors and hot glue over school glue)
- easy to find supplies
- a small number of supplies and tools required
- total crafting time required between 1 and 1 1/2 hours (you’ll be chatting so it’ll actually take longer)
Some good craft project suggestions for a craft party are:
- A cute, but easy to assemble wreath like this lemon wreath or this spring flower wreath
- An easy home decor craft project like this wire earring holder or a pretty trinket box
- A seasonal project like painted snowflake ornaments for the holidays, a Mother’s day photo planter for spring or cute little bunny eggs for Easter.
- A personalized project like luggage tags or a painted sign
What’s the next step?
- Gather the supplies for your craft party. To this end, I suggest making one of your craft project ahead of time. This is a good idea both so you can display it as an example, but also so you can see if there are any surprise materials or tools that will make your craft party run more smoothly.
For example, maybe you’ll discover in your dry run that sharp pointed scissors work better with felt than big giant sewing scissors. Or maybe you’ll find out that you really need a longer extension cord for your hot glue gun.
Planning ahead will also help you decide if your craft party should be assembly line / station style or individual workstation style. Then you can plan materials and tools accordingly.
For example, if you choose a project with only a little bit of painting and you set it up assembly line style with different stations for each step of the project, then you will only need one or two paintbrushes, but if you have each person at an individual workstation, then you will need as many paintbrushes (and palettes and water cups) as you have guests!
Finally, this might sounds like a random tip but I hope it will save someone. If you need multiples of a craft supply or craft tool, you might be tempted to buy the supplies for your craft party from the dollar store. That’s great for things like glitter or a wreath form or popsicle sticks. But never ever ever buy sticky craft materials from the dollar store. This includes, glue, glue sticks, and tape. Just trust me.
- Prepare the craft project ahead of time. If there are any tedious steps to the craft project that you can do ahead of time, do them. For example, if you are making a lemon wreath, you can cut all the lemon and leaf shapes ahead of time. Or if you are painting canvases and the canvas needs to be coated in gesso before painting, do that.
You really want to make sure that your guests are able to leave the craft party with a completely finished project.
- Prepare your house for a craft party. I recommend covering your table with either a plastic party tablecloth or butcher paper. Obviously paper is better for the environment and you can recycle it when you’re finished, but if you’re working with something wet or drippy then use plastic to protect your table.
If you choose a particularly messy project, or are hosting your craft party in a room with carpet, you may also want to cover the floor!
- Get some refreshments! I think the key to choosing snacks for a craft party is choosing food and drinks that won’t make a mess. The last thing you want is red wine spilled on your cute new stenciled tote bag or a greasy fingerprint in the middle of your painted canvas.
Stick to clear or light colored drinks like white wine, lemon lime soda, fancy sparkling water, etc. And for snacks, skip the Cheetos and Doritos, and instead choose snacks on sticks or toothpicks that you can enjoy while keeping your hands clean, like cheese, crackers or pretzel bites and whole fruits like grapes.
How to make your craft party a success
- Do a test run of the craft project ahead of time
- Make sure you have enough supplies for each person
- Do any tedious steps of the craft project ahead of time
- Make sure that each guest can complete the entire project during the length of the party, aim for a 1 to 1 1/2 hour long craft in about a 2 hour party.
- Choose a craft project that’s simple enough to follow instructions but still leaves room for personalization.
- Have a few extra materials and tools on hand in case someone finishes early. There are always those people at every craft party (hi, that’s me…)
And that’s it! The beautiful thing about hosting a craft party that’s already all about being creative is that there is no wrong way to craft, if something doesn’t go quite according to plan, you’re already all being creative, you can just think of a creative solution or adjustment! Have fun at your craft parties, friends!
Get all the best tips and tricks to host a fun, relaxed, and productive craft party with friends! With info on everything from which project to pick to how long it should be! As I said, a common craft project makes a great icebreaker so it's not required that all of your guests know each other beforehand. Nor is it required that they all be super crafty people. In fact, often it's better if the craft project is something new, that makes it fun and exciting and a little bit of a challenge which in turns makes for a good bonding experience! A good number of people for a craft party is probably somewhere between 5 and 10. Any fewer and it's too quiet, any more and it's too hard to manage. The key word for choosing a project for your craft party is SIMPLE. You're likely going to have friends of all ability levels at your craft party. But while the craft project is fun, the real, super secret reason for having a craft party is actually the socializing. Some criteria for choosing a craft project include: -little to no drying time (for example choose acrylic paints over watercolors and hot glue over school glue) -easy to find supplies -a small number of supplies and tools required To this end, I suggest making one of whatever craft you choose, ahead of time. This is a good idea both so you can display it as an example, but also so you can see if there are any surprise materials or tools that will make your craft party easier. For example, maybe sharp pointed scissors work better with felt than big giant sewing scissors, or maybe you really need an extension cord for your hot glue gun. Planning ahead will also help you decide if your craft party should be assembly line style or individual workstation style. Then you can plan materials and tools accordingly. For example, if you choose a project with only a little bit of painting and you set it up assembly line style with different stations, then you will only need one or two paintbrushes, but if you have each person at an individual workstation, then you will need as many paintbrushes (and palettes and water cups) as you have guests! If there are any tedious steps to the craft project that you can do ahead of time, do them. For example, if you are making a lemon wreath, you can cut all the lemon and leaf shapes ahead of time. Or if you are painting canvases and the canvas needs to be coated in gesso before painting, do that. You really want to make sure that your guests are able to leave the craft party with a completely finished project. I recommend covering your table with either a plastic party tablecloth or butcher paper. Obviously paper is better for the environment because you can recycle it when you're finished, but if you're working with something wet or drippy then use plastic to protect your table. I think the key to choosing snacks for a craft party is choosing food and drinks that won't make a mess. The last thing you want is red wine spilled on your cute new stenciled tote bag or a greasy fingerprint in the middle of your painted canvas. Stick to clear or light colored drinks like white wine, lemon lime soda, fancy sparkling water, etc. For snacks, skip the Cheetos and Doritos, and instead choose snacks on sticks or toothpicks that you can enjoy while keeping your hands clean like cheese, crackers or pretzel bites and whole fruits like grapes.How To Host a Craft Party
Decide who to invite...
Choose a craft project...
Some craft project suggestions:
Gather the supplies for your craft party...
Prepare the craft project ahead of time...
Prepare your house for a craft party...
Get some refreshments...
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