You know I love everything about Nashville and featuring the top places to visit or explore in this amazing city. I always feature great things to do with girlfriends or your significant other, but this past weekend I found the perfect place to have some quality Mommy/ Daughter time: AR Workshop (Franklin location). This would be a super fun experience for any group of people, but I loved sharing this experience with Mom, especially while she was in town to have a wedding planning weekend with me!

When you register for the experience, you get to choose what kind of project you want to make. We chose plank signs. STAY TUNED for later in the article for a discount code to save 10% on a class at the Nashville for Franklin location. I picked my Mom’s design for her to surprise her; you’ll see it later in the article, but it was our last name initial and our family names (I thought this was special since it was my birthday week and my last birthday as a Livewell before I get a new last name!) I made a date sign to display at our wedding!

The class is BYOB (or you can be like us and BYOC – coffee). There was a smaller group of 9 of us around a work station and it was the perfect size to feel like we had room to spread out and create, but still get walked through each step as we needed it. I’ve done a few classes like this in the past, but I love how I didn’t feel micro-manage in the AR Workshop. Our instructors (Claire & Macy who were both so sweet and AMAZING and helping everyone) were there when we needed the for each next step, but did a great job at not forcing the class to all be at the same point in their design. They started by assembling our wood based on what we chose for the front and back of our sign.

The next step is choosing your technique that they have easily displayed along the back wall so you can see what you like best (of course Mom and I chose all of the same colors and technique without even knowing). We both did a barrel stain with the dry brush technique using an antique white on top. I love the farmhouse look we ended up with!

Once the wood is prepped it’s time to take your pre-designed stencil and carefully cover the design with contact paper, then place it on your board exactly where you want it. If you followed along on my Instagram Story, you know this part stressed my OCD self OUT. Mom on the other hand was having an absolute ball with it.

The best part was getting creative and filling in your design with the pain color you choose. Choosing a font color was the hardest decision for me. You feel like nothing will show up because the wood is dark, but the whitewash is light. I decided to go with a dark navy that matches our house, but also our wedding colors! With a couple of extra coats, I love how the print showed up! Mom actually had Macy mix a color for her! It was the prettiest sage green – if you’re making something custom for your house, keep in mind that’s an option! After you paint you wait for things dry and get some time to chat, which was perfect for Mom & I to plan our next day out on the town (and take pics with self-timer)!

Finally it was time to peel off the stencil and reveal our finished product!! This part is nerve-racking, but the instructors do a great job at tweaking any little flaws you might have where paint leaked through, etc.

If you want to make your own sign, you can sign up now at the Nashville or Franklin location using code: LIVEWELL10 for 10% off your class! (Book by 3/31/19. 1 per customer. Not applicable to specialty classes. Cannot be combined w/ other discounts/promotions.) This would be so fun to do with a group of friends, work retreat, bachelorette party, family outing, or especially some quality Mom/Daughter time. Take it from the Livewell ladies, we 10/10 recommend!