Every mom needs a night out once in a while. We recharge by being with friends who can relate, enjoying good food, and working on a simple project to feel creative and accomplish something. That’s just what I provided last month in partnership with Bumble BFF. We hosted a Moms Night Out in Austin, where we brought together a group of mamas and created hand painted tote bags while meeting and mingling with each other.
Bringing people together to create is one of my main career objectives. Bringing people together for any reason is one of Bumble‘s objectives. The women-run app launched in the dating space, but has since expanded to include the unique feature of matching with new friends for purely platonic relationships, and has announced they’ll soon provide ways to create business and networking relationships as well! The new developments are exciting for someone like me, who has been happily married for almost ten years (since before dating apps existed!) but who is still interested in meeting and connecting with new people where I live.
We loved hosting moms from all over the Austin area with our first Moms Night Out. There were brand new, expectant mamas, and moms with kids heading into high school. Everyone enjoyed meeting each other, and I loved seeing new friendships form as people exchanged cell numbers and social media handles to stay in touch after the event.
As with any great event, there was good food. I think cheese, cookies, and crafting go together beautifully.
We chose these thick, sturdy canvas tote bags with exterior pockets as our base for painting, because they’re so useful! The pockets set them apart from your everyday reusable grocery bag, and of course personalizing them with hand created designs adds such value.
The fabric paint I like to use is actually this liquid dye, that paints on like watercolor, and once set doesn’t affect the drape or hand of the fabric at all. It’s lovely. All of the basic principles of watercolor painting apply. Here are a few to keep in mind when you get started:
- Find a flat surface just larger than the area to be painted
- Cover the table with plastic or a drop cloth in case of spills–the dye is permanent
- For lighter colors, add water
- For deep saturation, use the dye without water
- Pre-wet the fabric for a more loose, watercolor effect
- Dry fabric will create more defined lines
- Keep the pattern simple for a bold effect
- Stick with colors you love, and you’ll love the result
We saw everything from hand lettered quotes to stripes, and simple one-color ombre to a cartoon unicorn. This “Get Shit Done” seemed like an appropriate design for a creative mom! Haha! I painted the above with avocado and peonies, one with only avocado halves (that has become one of my go-to daily bags) and one with watercolor-like prickly pear that I gave to one of the interns helping with the event.
There’s nothing like the creative energy of people making new things, and this event was a fun way to share a new skill with some Austin mamas who definitely deserved it. Cheers to making new friends and learning new skills at the same time.
Sponsored by Bumble BFF, all ideas and opinions are my own!
