One Date at a Time: A Creative Mess

Hubby and I needed a bit of an escape from the holiday madness and wanted a date night that would help us unwind and let loose. But of course, we still wanted to feel safe and socially distant while doing it. We find that the two things don’t often mix. But, after a little investigating, I came up with a perfect date night … a SPLATTER DATE! And after hearing that he would be able to splatter paint everywhere, Hubby was completely on board!

A short 35 minutes from the Nonahood, in a strip mall in Oviedo, you will find North Orlando’s Pinspiration, an adorable craft studio that allows customers to have access to a variety of high-quality art supplies and tools (and even instruction) to create the many DIY projects you can find all over Pinterest. The studio is open to walk-ins (or you can make reservations), and people are free to create their own idea on the spot or they can choose from an array of ever-changing monthly project menus based on the most popular “pinned” social media projects and current craft trends. The studio also has a special Splatter Room, where you can don protective coverings and channel Jackson Pollock and create an abstract expressionist masterpiece. Or, in our case, a silly, fun souvenir from our date! Oh, and did I mention this place even has a wine/beer bar? I know, how much cooler can it get?

We chose to do the Splatter Date package, which costs $99 per couple and includes:

Private Splatter Room for an hour
1 large canvas or 2 small canvases
Protective painting gear
“Glow Upgrade” (glow-in-the dark painting experience under black lights)
Sweets platter for two
Two drinks of your choice (including the option of champagne)

I made a reservation for late Saturday afternoon and the place was empty when we got there. The friendly staff (who had masks on) showed us to our room, explained to us how things worked, took our drink orders, and got us started on our pre-painting prep – which was basically putting masking tape on the parts of the canvas where we didn’t want to have paint. We kind of failed under pressure and went for the unoriginal option, using the first letters of our names: R+S. Just as we finished our prep, our drinks and sweets platter arrived. It was nice to be able to be in the room alone, and I actually felt safe to remove my mask to eat and drink. (The staff always knocked before entering, so we had time to put our masks back on.) Finally, it was time to do what we came for … make a mess – I mean, create art!

The staff brought us fresh jumpsuits, paper booties, and head coverings as well as sanitized goggles. They hung our canvas in the “painting” area and explained how things worked. They showed us how to turn off the lights, if we chose to use the glow-in-the-dark colors, and even gave us control over the music. Then, they left us to don our gear and get to work. The outfits are not the most attractive thing, but they are a must because splatter paint does just that … SPLATTERS everywhere! At first, I was a bit timid. You know, the mom in me didn’t want to make a mess that others would have to clean up. But it didn’t take long for that feeling to be replaced with “Let it rip!”

Flinging paint around is not something this couple tends to do in their everyday life, so this experience was extremely freeing. It was fun to just let go and not really have a plan about what we were doing. We weren’t really worried about the outcome and instead just concentrated on the actual act of doing something together … something only a great date night does! And we now have a new, very colorful piece of art for our home! This date was definitely a win-win, and Hubby and I are already thinking about going back sometime soon to try a different craft project.