How to Host Your Own Paint Party at Home

Host a Painting Party for Adults, Kids (or Both) With These Fun Paint Party Ideas

Painting parties are a fun and versatile way to socialize with old or new friends or family. You don’t need any prior painting skills to enjoy a painting night in your home! I wrote Pretty Simple Painting to be enjoyed by painting enthusiasts of all skillsets. With my book, Pretty Simple Painting and a few steps below, you can easily pull together a Pretty Simple Painting inspired gathering!

Table of Contents Step 1: Choose Your Location Step 2: Choose Your Project Step 3: Choose Your Materials

Choose A Location For Your Party

You can host your group painting party virtually, in your home, or in a public place like a park or a library. Think about the type of get-together you want to have and choose the right time and place to meet that will suit all your needs.

Virtual Parties

There are a few benefits to having a virtual painting party - if your attendants would prefer to socially distance or are simply located too far away and don’t want to miss the fun. If you host a virtual party, be sure that the platform you use to meet can accommodate the amount of people you plan to invite, and that it doesn’t have a time limit on how long you can host your virtual event.

For a virtual party, you’ll want to make sure everyone has ordered (or been sent) their materials with enough time in advance of the event. We’ll go over the supplies in a few steps! You’ll also want to make sure that you choose your painting from the book in advance, and the host is prepared to lead everyone through the project steps over your virtual platform.

In-Person Gatherings

In-person gatherings are fun and interactive. Set up your gathering by making sure everyone has a place to sit comfortably, inside or outside your home. You’ll need to think of table and possibly floor protection if you’re hosting a party for kids - to ensure everyone can have messy painting fun without worrying about your floors. I recommend using a layer or two of kraft or white paper (you can find large rolls of kraft paper in your home improvement store). Kraft paper is better than plastic because guests can test out colors or dab excess water and paint from their brush onto the table beside their work - and it makes for an easy clean up.

If you’re considering having your party at an indoor public location, such as a local library, be sure to call ahead and check if they have any rules or restrictions for gathering there before you start planning.

Hybrid Gatherings

Hybrid gatherings are the best of both worlds - and while it may involve a bit of extra work for the host, it is the most inclusive and offers the most options for friends near and far away. If you choose this option, be sure to check your internet and video connection before starting so your virtual guests can see and hear the host clearly throughout the painting process.

Choose Your Project

Before choosing your project, ask yourself what the overall level of your guests is, and what kind of painting party you’d like to host. You may be hosting an event for elementary or middle school kids, in which case you’ll want an easy project. Your painting party might be more of a sip and paint event for adults where guests will want to feel more relaxed while they paint - I’d choose an easy or intermediate project in this case. And if you have a group of painting enthusiasts looking to really improve their painting skills and learn, I’d choose an intermediate or advanced project for your painters to really dive in and learn together.

Gather Your Materials

For in-person gatherings, you can either purchase a set of materials to share collectively, or ask guests to bring their own materials.

Brushes

If you’re purchasing materials in advance for everyone to share, be sure to purchase a set of brushes that has more than one type of each brush in the set for easy sharing. Choose a set that has a variety of brushes like small, medium, and large flat tip brushes, lots of different sized round tipped brushes, filbert brushes, and tiny detail brushes. Having a variety of brushes also helps keep the painting event moving without having to clean brushes thoroughly as often. When the event is over, be sure to give all the brushes a good cleaning with a mild hand soap and water to keep them fresh for your next party!

Paints

I recommend an acrylic set of paints as they are the easiest and most affordable paints to find in your craft store or online. Golden, Arteza, Artist’s Loft, and Liquitex are some of my favorite affordable brands you can find locally and on Amazon in color sets. You may want to order an extra couple of tubes of white as it's used quite a lot for mixing and creating tints.

Water

For rinsing and washing brushes, you’ll want each person to have their own bowl, cup, or jar to dip their brushes into. Paper cups can be a great option, as well as mason jars which are my favorite to use - both of which you can find in your grocery store. 

Rags, Aprons, Towels, Table Coverings

Let your guests know they should wear something they wouldn’t mind getting paint on, or have aprons ready for each guest if you would like. You can also use old rags or paper towels for guests to clean their brushes in between layers. Don’t forget to cover your table and possibly your floor with a protective covering for stress-free painting and clean up.

Miscellaneous Art Tools

If you would like, you can provide other tools like pencils, pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, pastels, crayons, paint pens, and markers. Pencils are a great simple tool to help your guests sketch the project you’ve chosen from the book for your painting party. Other tools are completely optional and just depend on how creative you and your guests want to get with the artwork you’ll be creating! Read through the tools in the project you’ve chosen to see if there’s any fine line markers or pencils you may benefit from having at the table.

Hair Dryers or Fans

This is also optional, but it can be very convenient to have one or two hair dryers available for guests to dry their painting layers. Acrylic tends to dry pretty quickly, but at the end of the event, it may be helpful for guests if they could dry their creations a bit before heading home.

Food & Drinks

Decide if you’re going to serve finger foods, snacks, or drinks, and have a separate area set up for guests to enjoy getting up to grab a snack while their paintings dry.

Enjoy!

This process is meant to be a fun outlet for self expression, creativity, and connecting with your friends. Enjoy and see how you each infuse your own creativity into your pieces!

Don’t have your copy of Pretty Simple Painting yet?

Pick one up, along with the suggestions from this blog post, to create the ultimate gift for the creative person in your life.