Relief Society Paint Night Activity

I've had a lot of callings in my life and I would say that the 2-1/2 years I've spent as Relief Society Activity Coordinator have not been my easiest. My early days in the calling were filled with misunderstandings, made worse by high stress in my life and some poor communication on someone else's part.  Dynamics with the new RS presidency (called about 1/2 way through me getting this calling and now)  have been MUCH more smooth and I'm happy to report, completely drama free.    Having said that though....I'm tired!   Planning activities for adults has stretched me waaaaaaaaaay  outside my comfort zone and, after doing it for a couple years,  the activities have been getting much harder for me to come up with and implement lately.  I just barely got released this past Sunday, so this post is all about the last activity I planned.   

This latest activity was one I'd had on my list to do almost since when I first got called back in the summer of 2022.   Every time we discussed it as a committee though, it seemed too complicated to implement.  We worried about the cost of materials, finding an expert willing to teach it, etc.   It just kept getting pushed back again and again.     Finally...I realized that, due to my own poor planning (thanks to laziness and  a whole lot of exciting things happening in my family in August/September), that I was essentially going to be on my own for planning and making the October activity happen.   So, why not do the activity that had been on my brain since the beginning?   That's how we (I) decided to have a Watercolor Paint Night!  

Invitation was designed with a template on Canva. 

All the  hurdles we kept worrying about turned out to be a nonissue.  We borrowed paints and brushes and the only cost was buying a few packs of watercolor paper (fairly cheap at Walmart), getting some styrofoam plates and cups for the paint/water, and getting some black and white copies made (also very inexpensive when providing my own paper).  Apparently you can print them at home too, but my printer is pretty wimpy with thick paper and I didn't want to fight it.  The inkjet ink can also bleed, which was another issue prevented with getting them professionally printed.  For 5 cents a copy, it was well worth it!   Also,  I decided to forego finding a painting expert and just give a quick non-expert's tutorial on using watercolor paints and let people channel their inner Bob Ross and just have at it.

  To decrease the intimidation level that some people might have felt with a blank canvas, I decided to copy simple outlines directly onto the watercolor paper, so they'd have a good place to start with their art.   I got the outlines from here (Christ)  and here (flowers & berries) and here (Mt. Timp temple).  I also cut up some 4x6 blank sheets of watercolor paper for people to test their colors on and to give them the opportunity to create their own design from scratch if desired. 

The biggest issue, by a mile, was the fact that I decided so late in the game what we were doing (and the fact that it was just after General Conference weekend)  that we ended up not having a Sunday to get it announced and advertised.     I emailed, texted, and delivered fliers to people's doors, but we still ended up with only about a dozen people in attendance or so, which is 1/3 to 1/4 of what we usually have.    Despite the disappointing turnout, however,  I think it was a fun activity for the dozen people that did come.  

It was the perfect kind of activity to be productive and social  at the same time, and I loved watching the conversations happening around the room throughout the night!

  Despite the poor attendance (which I view as my fault for planning it late), I consider the night a great success and I'd highly recommend it for anyone planning an evening for adult or teen girls!