Emily and I will be painting at these events tomorrow, Saturday November 1st! Both are great family activities and help reset little minds on something other than candy. Come support the troops at Kondas Dental then shimmy on down to Sidney and attend Karing for Karrah. Mention this post AT either event and I’ll give you a special treat of my own!

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to paint at Dayton Parent Magazine’s 1 year anniversary bash. Incredibly easy to work with, they get a big thumbs up for making everything easy for us!! We were met at the vendor loading area with a trolley and escort to our booth location. A table and tablecloth had already been setup with sign and coupons. I love coupons. We were checked on periodically throughout the day and Katy Mark even delivered some FUDGE. Woo hoo!

Thank you, Katy!!

We offered our Fast Faces choices plus we tried something new. The other face painter for the event was unable to attend at the last minute. Concerned about the number of kids that would want to be painted, we tried to “Beat the Clock” painting as many simple Frozen faces as we could before the song “Let It Go” ended. In that three and a half minute song, we painted over 15 kids!! Mind you, it wasn’t the most stellar quality (something’s gotta give) but we painted so many more kids and they were happy so I’ll call it a win. We did it again with mustaches to the song “Everything Is Awesome!” an hour later. Some looked like super villains while others had a Fu Manchu or pencil mustaches. I WISH I had a picture of that lineup! We painted at least 20 people, maybe more since parents started jumping in too. I love it when parents join in the fun!

Here are a couple of cuties from the day:

The little girl with the flowers really wanted to get her face painted, but was too afraid and left. She had a change of heart and her sweet mother waited AGAIN so she could be painted. The design was a bit crooked from flinching but she was so brave and so happy when she was done! Just look at that smile!

Last week, I completed CPF certification through the Ohio Face Painter’s Guild! What IS CPF?? Every time I see it, I think “Can Paint Faces”! Almost. It stands for Certified Professional Face Painter. In an industry with no government regulation, the face painting community has taken it upon themselves to set an industry standard for cleanliness, professionalism, artistry and safety. Here’s a bit from the Ohio Face Painter’s website:

A C.P.F. is an artist who has gone through a rigorous examination, where they were judged on skill levels as well as safety, and hygiene. With certification we have ensured that they carry full liability insurance, and have passed a police background check.

Now you have one more reason to feel comfortable inviting me into your homes and businesses! All you have to worry about is the cake…

I had lots of fun at a family party last week, celebrating the birthday of two little girls. The most requested design was a full face zebra! Even with running around and a jump house, the makeup held up pretty well. Such an adorable family and the boys even carried our gear to the car afterward!

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We had one major learning experience this last weekend in our home town! Tipp City’s Art Council put on a spectacular event on Saturday. For a low entry fee, over 25 art booths offered light sabre making, cupcake decorating, paper arts, and (of course) face painting! Our booth was set up right by the entrance and we had a line formed immediately.

Emily and I painted fast and furiously for four hours, trying to get as many kids painted as possible. The line was unreal. Some people waited for 1.5 hours for our face painting. YOUCH! I saw Startroopers by the entrance, but what I really needed was a clone. Or three. The event had people checking on us, asking if we needed a break. I would just look at the line and say, “No thanks!” The event even had snacks for us…which we happily ate on our way home. We are going to try a take-a-number system this coming weekend in St. Mary’s to try to defray the long wait time. I also made a new menu board with simpler faces for this type of event. Every design on there can be done in under 2 minutes! We’ll see how it goes.

We debuted curtain panels on the canopy in an effort at crowd control (and because curtains are pretty). They worked well until a wind picked up and kept blowing them onto our heads. I think I heard Emily growl…

Speaking of growling, our last kiddo of the day was the little tiger pictured. She wore my Last In Line sash and took her duties very seriously. She politely told anyone who tried to get in line to toddle off and pointed to her sash. Good job!

All in all, a terrific event!

Wow! Another great event in downtown Troy, but it was HOT HOT HOT! My paints melted in the late afternoon sun! Many thanks to the kind people at Samozrejme who let me cool off between faces to avoid heat stroke. Despite the weather, Emily and I met a lot of families and kept busy painting. Our new Mystery Photo Op design (basically I get to come up with something new and take a picture for a cheek-art price) was a hit. By far the most popular design? Fairy eyes tied with Frozen!

Some of our Mystery Photo Op faces: