Crafts & Cocktails Night: A Start-to-Finish Guide

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You and your friends love having movie nights or grabbing drinks.  But sometimes those activities get a little… old.

Why not liven things up a bit with a crafts & cocktails night?

You’ll get to hang out with your pals while making something cute and enjoying a cold drink.  Best of all, you won’t have to sit through “Coyote Ugly” (again).

Hearts and crafts

Crafts and cocktails night is a great way to be creative while kicking back and spending time with your gal pals.

The shared experience of learning and creating together promotes interaction and bonding in a way that watching a movie or going shopping just can’t.

It’s also an easy, low-pressure way to get to know people if you’re an introvert.  (Hand raised high over here!)

Let me show you how it’s done!

Create a guest list

As with most gatherings, the first order of business is to decide who to invite.

When creating your guest list, be sure to keep the group size manageable.  This is especially important for craft projects that will require lots of space or shared materials.

 You may have a core group of friends you’d like to invite, and that’s fantastic!

Keep in mind, though, that events like this are a great opportunity to include neighbors or acquaintances whom you’d like to become friends with.

You could even host a craft night just for the ladies on your block, or that group of gals you always end up working out with at the gym.

Choose your craft

Once your guest list is complete, it’s time to decide on a craft.

Easier crafts are better

For an event like this, choose an easy craft that doesn’t have lots of steps or require a lot of concentration.  This way, everyone will be able to sip, socialize, and have fun working on their project.

Choosing an overly-complex craft will cause guests to get bogged down and give up.  Remember that the idea here is to have fun, not to create some complicated, endlessly impressive masterpiece!  Save those intricate projects for your solo crafting/DIY time.

Crafts that require some processing time are ideal.  Think oven-bake clay or anything painted.  It gives people a break mid-event to chat, grab a snack, and finish a cocktail.

Figure out supplies

Next, decide whether you’ll provide supplies for the group, or ask friends to bring their own stuff.

If supplies/resources can be shared, you can maybe assign each person to bring one supply for the group.  Remind guests what to bring a few days in advance, so you don’t end up short on supplies.

Also, it’s good to have some extra supplies on-hand.  They’ll come in handy if someone makes a mistake and needs to start over.

If shared supplies can’t be used by more than one person at a time, consider setting up stations for some steps.  Have guests take turns using them.

Finally, no matter how careful you are, accidents are bound to happen.  Take a look at your craft supplies list, and have the appropriate cleaning supplies ready to go.

Craft night ideas

Here are some easy, fun projects that would be perfect for crafts & cocktails night:

• Gold dipped mugs from Poppytalk
• Clay photo holders from This Heart of Mine
• Leather keychains from Alice & Lois
• Cyanotype diptych botanical art from Centsational Girl (Yeah, I didn’t know what it was either at first… it’s cool though!)
• Marbleized ceramic vases from Martha Stewart

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Plan your menu

When it comes to food and drinks, keep it classy.  Go light on the alcohol to avoid crafting mistakes that you or your guests will regret later.

Don’t open up your full bar or buy tons of beer.  Serve some sparkling wine or mix up a batch of fruity cocktails.

Have some non-alcoholic drinks on hand as well to encourage your guests not to overindulge.

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Here are a few tasty cocktails that can easily be made ahead in batches:

• Strawberry gin smash from The Kitchn
• Meyer lemon whiskey sours from Garnish With Lemon
• Pineapple prosecco punch from Damn Delicious
• Peach and thyme mimosas from Diethood

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Choose some light hors d’oeuvres to serve with your cocktails.  Don’t serve anything greasy or sticky, to keep your crafts nice and clean.

Since you’ll be helping guests with their crafts, make-ahead foods are best.  Here are a few ideas:

• Avocado deviled eggs from Damn Delicious
• Strawberry & brie bites from Eating Well
• Skinny mini lasagna bites from The Fit Housewife
• Mini Italian club sandwiches from Food Network

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Take the lead

Have a completed version of your craft on-hand so your friends can see the finished product.

You can also give a demonstration of how it’s done from start to finish.  If it’s something that takes a while to complete (Like tie dye), you may want to have multiple demo products to show the process at each stage.  (Little bonus here – speaking in front of a casual group of friends is a great way to improve your public speaking skills!)

Be prepared to float around during craft time to answer questions, offer assistance, etc.  You may want to recruit a DIY-savvy friend to help others too, if needed.

Speaking of which, I can’t say enough in favor of choosing an easy project.  It will allow you to spend more time enjoying your guests, rather than spending every last minute helping them through a complex craft.

 Send them home smiling

Once the crafts are done and the cocktails are drained, wrap up your evening in a memorable way.

First, go around the group and have each person present their completed craft.  It’s tons of fun to see each person’s unique take on the project.

Next, take a group picture with your completed projects.  It will be a fun way to remember the evening!

Finally, have bags on hand so guests can transport their completed projects home.  A paper lunch sack with a bow or cute punch-out shape works fine, but feel free to get as fancy or as creative as you want.

So basically…

A crafts & cocktails night is an awesome addition to your girls’ night rotation.   You can host a great one by following a few simple steps:

• Keep the guest list down to a manageable size
• Pre-mix batch cocktails in advance
• Include non-alcoholic drinks in the mix to encourage safe limits
• Serve simple, non-messy hors d’oeuvres
• Choose an easy craft that doesn’t have lots of steps
• Have examples of the completed craft, and be ready to demonstrate
• Provide bags so your guests can easily get their creations home

Have you ever hosted a craft night?  Are you planning one now?  Let me know In the comments below!