“Face Painting Experience”
Sent in by “Miss Sparkle” the Clown
A bad experience can be a learning experience.
I am a clown and was hired to do a birthday party for a friend I work with for his 5 year old daughter and her friends. The day before I had started putting together an extra face painting kit so that if I ever had a large party and needed someone to help me I would have a spare kit. Each kit is in an identical brightly colored tub. The only difference was that my kit had my paint set in it and the other kit had everything else but no paint kit. Both tubs have a handle so I can easily carry them and they are lightweight and not too bulky.
Well the day of the party I loaded my car with everything I would need to do balloons, magic and facepainting, including my face painting kit (or so I thought).
I started the party with magic and balloons and then was ready to do the face painting. The children were so excited and as I opened my kit my heart skipped several beats. No face paint pallet was in my kit. I had grabbed the wrong tub. It was a 45 minute drive to get them so that was not an option. I kept my cool and looked through all the supplies in the kit and discovered I had a very small container that had thin slices of 3 different colors of paint that I use for a basic rainbow. Thank goodness I had that. I proceeded to paint all the children using just those three colors and glitter of coarse. The children did not seem to notice or care but I know I could have done much better with more colors.
This is where you have the opportunity to learn from my mistake. I have been clowning and face painting for about 3 years since that fateful day and I have never had that happen to me again. I have 2 important rules to share with you:
#1 is this, after every party the first thing I do when I get home is wash my brushes and sponges and let them air dry overnight before putting them back in my kit. I then re-organize my kit so that everything is ready to go for the next party. Even if it is late and I am tired I take care of my face paint kit first.
And my # 2 rule is just as important, I have an index card taped to the inside of the tub lid that has a list of every thing I need to take along for a face painting gig. Some of the items on the list are paint, brushes, sponges, glitter, table cover, wipes, mirror, face design sample sheets. Make sure to check your list even if you think you have everything. Being over confident and forgetting to check your list may cost you a party and your reputation. Be pre-pared.
I hope this has helped you.
“Miss Sparkle” the Clown
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Thank you for sending this in “Miss Sparkle” the Clown, such an important lesson to be learned here! Please leave a comment if you want to ask questions, or just want to offer encouragement!
Happy Face Painting,
Philadelphia Tivoli
www.FacePaintingTips.com
“Helping You Paint with Your Favorite Face Paints!”
Buy Face Painting Supplies Right Here!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the index card idea! I’m one who would need that! I just started balloon twisting- any suggestions on a great DVD? (Hope you don’t mind that I ask Philadelphia)
kim
Oh my goodness – I can just imagine how you must have felt! Good thing you did not panic and were able to calmly look through your supplies, and what a lucky thing that you had a little bit of paint as a backup!
I think the index card idea is brilliant! (We have a similar system for all of our camping supplies when we set off for a weekend) I think I will make a face-painting checklist for myself when I get home tonight – better to be safe than sorry! : )
Kim-
I learned a lot of balloon twisting from youtube.com
In responce to Kim Bakers search for a good balloon twisting dvd. I am not sure. I have a couple I would not reccomend, they were cheap and come across that way. The best source I have found is
http://www.balloon-animals.com, they have balloon twisting instructions on there in video format so you can watch and learn. The twister is Michael Floyd, very informative and you can learn any thing you’d like to twist on that site or just do a google search and you will find many websites with videos you can watch. Good Luck, Miss Sparkle the Clown
The index card is a great idea! I do that for all of my different supply kits (face painting, tattoos, balloons, crazy hair) and it makes planning so much easier!