Can I tell you something that made my heart smile this week?
I ran into someone who attended one of our first workshops with a girlfriend almost 2 years ago and she told me that they were given the opportunity to arrange the flowers for a friend’s life celebration service and they were recalling the different tips and tricks they learned at the workshop. They shared how meaningful it was to create something to bring life and beauty to this grieving family.
I started thinking back to ordering the flowers for the first workshop I hosted. My vision at the time was to pass along my love for flower arranging to others and to share some simple tips so others would feel more confident arranging in their own homes.
But what I didn’t realized was that these workshops were about more than flower arranging.
Here are my observations about why our workshops keep selling out.
Two attendees having a little bit of fun ;)
Observation #1 : It’s been about self care. I know this term is super trendy right now. But hear me out if you haven't already tuned me out :) Blocking off a chunk of time to do something for yourself that is lighthearted and just fun. We could all use some more fun.
Observation #2: They have been about a relationships. It’s hard to put it into words- but I kinda feel like a (butter)fly on the wall getting to see you laugh together with your girlfriends and also see strangers becoming friends and hugging goodbye at the end of the night. It has totally reminded me that humans have beautiful hearts that love relating to one another.
Observation #3: It’s been about surprising yourselves with the creativity that lies within each of you. I say/write this with all honesty: Seeing the originality of what each person creates at our workshops is totally not lost on me. It’s a thrill to see what each person comes up with when given the same ingredients. I love how each person sees beauty through their unique eyes and I have adored seeing you each be surprised & proud of what you create.
But you don't have to attend one of our workshops to take care of yourself, cultivate your friendships, or pursue your creativity!
I wanted to share a 5 of my favorite home workshop ideas in hopes that it sparks your imagination to recreate your own version of it. It does take a bit of work to be the host of one of these gatherings, but it is SO rewarding to create an environment for your friends to feel lavished and loved on and be creative.
5 Ideas to Get You Thinking About Hosting Your Own At Home Creative Workshop
1. An essential oil party. My friend, Amy hosted one of these and it was one of my favorite gatherings! She set out all the supplies, ingredients & recipes to make various oil rollers, sugar scrubs, lip balms, room sprays. It was SO fun to have everything set up in little stations for everyone and I still wear my lavender orange roller every day! This party was hosted around the holidays and each "station" had a price tag of $2-5 on it. So we knew that whatever we made would cost that much. My awesome friend who hosted did the work of buying all the jars, labels, and ingredients and setting it all up for us!
2. A holistic minded gathering. One of my dear friends hosted us girls before to make homemade healing salves & poison ivy salve. After her husband had a bad run-in with poison ivy, she wanted to make sure to have a good salve on hand if that ever happened again and it's just more fun to do this with friends. She also hosted us to make elderberry syrup for the cold and flu season. This was critical because once you are hit when the cold or flu, you are usually not up for making your own tincture! Thankfully we haven't needed the poison ivy salve, but the elderberry syrup came in handy for us this past season.
3. A good old fashion potluck. Yes, I know you all know what this is. My recommendation: don't share what you are bringing before hand. Just bring something that you love. The surprise element adds to the LUCK of the pot! :) And it's so fun to "Ooo" and "Ahh" over friend's recipes.
4. A cooking party. This has been one of my favorite things. I have learned so much from my Mom & Mother in Law when they have invited me over to learn a family heirloom recipe! I have learned how to make my husband's favorite cookies from my Mother-in-Law and just recently my mom taught me how to make braciole. And DANG! It was good!
5. Candle making party. This year, two of my friends have gifted me homemade candles and it has been my FAVORITE thing. I love my daily ritual of lighting a candle when we sit at the kitchen table and having homemade ones are just so special. It's on my list of things to do to host one of these because I really want to learn how to do it myself.
Well, there ya go! I hope your wheels are spinning about what you could host for your friends!
Below is some inspiration for how we set up our workshops. Oh, and champagne & cheese & chocolate are always good to have on hand :-)
This workshop was captured by the lovely Keristin Gaber.
Big thank you to Dana & Val of Blueprint Studios for hosting us in their inspiring showroom.