So...how did it go?

Hello, my dear Thrillerati!

Well, I'm happy. The sun is shining, I am drinking coffee out of my fox mug with the puppies and the kitties all around me, and my first Young Artists Collaboration was a success. The venue was perfect ( it was in the birthday party room of the local, independent movie theater). I had more than enough materials, the young geniuses were really engaged and polite, and I had a lot of fun.

Would you like to see some of the Celebrity Homage Photography? Oh, these are so good. The girls really brought their game!

Abby Stumpf as Josh Dun

Hannah Houtz as Melanie Martinez

Lauryn Sigfreid as Lady Gaga

Sarah Kusmaul as Harry Potter

Sequoia Gawlik as Josh Dun

Ashley Stumpf as Hayley Williams

The only drawback that I can think of is the students all came from Sequoia's school, and none from the actual town that hosted us. I spoke to the art teachers and delivered flyers to three schools and that delivered zero return. ZERO. I think I will actually walk around with flyers and hand them to teenagers myself. It was also 60 degrees outside in the middle of February, and I think maybe some kids just wanted to be outside on a freaky day like that. Miserable weather is better for this business. Speaking of weather,  Lauryn is a spray paint artist, and she had a suggestion of doing spray paint on canvas during the warmer months...psyched to work out the details for that.

I have also learned that Instagram is a better way to communicate with teens than Facebook. Teens left Facebook in mass exodus once their parents became members.  Snapchat is really the place to be, but I haven't mastered that platform yet.

I am really looking forward to doing the next class in two weeks. It is an illustration class called "The CRAZIEST Thing That Ever Happened To Me." I am trying to figure a way to do it without having the kids sit in chairs. I want it to be un-school-like, active and energetic. I wish I had standing easels. I find a lot of kids to be really docile...they just politely wait to be told, and agreeably do it. The point of my class is to break out of that a little bit. On the spot, while giving my opening talk, I came up with my three main objectives:

1. Learn to think for yourself.
2. Learn to work together.
3. Learn to create something if you want it.

Maybe I'll just take away the chairs.

Love and light,

Your friend,

Hil

HOW TO:Throw A Christmas Party For Teenagers

Hello, Thrillerati!


Happy holidays! We are having a party! There are twenty-six teenagers in my living room! I'm hiding with the dogs, between sniffing for pot and picking up dirty plates. We are two hours in, and no one is crying, so I think that is Level: Expert.

Menu:
~Appetizers~
Chips and dips
Veggie platter

~Drinks~
Bottled water
Sodas, lemonade, iced tea
Ice


~Dinner~
Baked Potato Bar
 -Potatoes
 -Cheese, chives, sour cream, butter, salt and pepper, hot sauce
Vegan Mac and Cheese
Tossed Salad



~Hot Chocolate Bar~
Hot Chocolate (in the crockpot)
 -marshmallows (regular and rainbow), sprinkles, chocolate chips, whipped cream, cinnamon, cocopuffs, etc.


~Cookies~
 Guests brought cookies! A LOT of cookies!

~Extras~
paper plates and plastic silverware, napkins (christmas themed)
a LOT of christmas themed mugs for the Hot Chocolate Bar

Music:
~rock and roll christmas music streaming on Youtube~

Party Activity
~Cards Against Humanity
~Quiplash
~Mafia



To Do:

A Day or Two Before
1, Clean house. If you are me, that's the largest, most annoying part.
2. Shop for supplies. We spent about $100 at Walmart
3.Figure out where people can park, if necessary
4. Put away breakables or valuables

The Day Before
1. Threaten everyone to keep the house clean.
2. Find your serving dishes that you rarely use, and wash them.
3. Set up spots for drinks and ice, for cookies, for hot chocolate bar, for potato bar
-spread them out to encourage people to mingle
-put the dishes in the right spots so that you make sure you have enough bowls and platters, etc
4. Clean the bathroom again. Put out extra toilet paper, clean towels, empty the garbage can
5. Make a sign so people can find your house
6. Find a place to put people's coats

The Day Of The Party
1. Bake the potatoes and leave them in a warm oven
2. Set up the Hot Chocolate and Potato Bars
3. Set up drinks and appetizers
4.Make salad and mac and cheese
5. Take the dogs for a long romp so they will be tired, then put them in an upstairs bedroom
6. Get dressed.
7. Party!




Happy Holidays, everyone!

Love and light,
Your friend,
Hil