A few months ago, I blogged about my experience at a Painting With a Twist class and ways I thought florists could replicate the activity in their shops.
Jackie Levine, manager of Central Square Florist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, took it one step further: she partnered with a painting studio to offer customers a fun evening out where they could learn not one, but two creative art forms.
A few months ago, Levine, a social media maven, started following The Paint Bar, a fellow local business, and engaging with the studio’s posts. One day, Jackie Schon, co-founder of The Paint Bar, contacted Levine on Instagram, asking if she’d be interested in collaborating on a project.
They started talking and learned they had more in common than just a first name. Schon runs The Paint Bar with her mother and Levine runs Central Square Florist with her father.
Schon said she’d drop by the shop to meet in person. Eyeing the shop’s array of colorful, fragrant product, she said she could buy some flowers to serve as subject matter for her painting classes. Then Levine suggested that they could host a class where guests make a bouquet and then paint a picture –double the fun and double the exposure, right?
Both businesses advertised the class on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and the class quickly reached capacity (39 people).
“We knew the idea was good, but we didn’t know just how well it was going to turn out,” Levine said.
On the night of the event, Schon welcomed guests at the front door and told them to meet Levine in the back, where they’d receive their buddle of flowers.
People lined up in waves and Levine handed them their recipe:
3 tulips
2 roses
1 iris
1 hyacinth
1 solidago
silver dollar eucalyptus
At their stations, guests found a mason jar, clippers, and flower food. Levine guided them, step by step, through the design. Then Schon taught them how to sketch flowers and transform them into a watercolor painting.
On the way out, Levine gave them all a $10 certificate (no purchase necessary) to the shop.
“It was such a success! Everyone who attended the class LOVED it,” she said. “They were all so happy and gave us hugs at the end and we got so many shares on social media,” an invaluable endorsement.