Make & Take — Guided DIY Workshops, Candle Bar & Paint and Sip in Menomonee Falls + Greater Milwaukee

What Is a Make & Take Experience?

A “make and take” is a hands-on workshop, class, or drop-in event where participants create a project with provided supplies and take their finished item home that same day.

Some events are structured classes. Others are more free-form — show up, dig in, see what happens. The format is popular for both adults and kids, and you can easily find them nearby in the Milwaukee and Menomonee Falls area.

• Types of Activities: Candle making, pottery crafting, cooking and baking classes, woodshop projects, and paint & sip nights.
• Who Hosts Them: Local craft studios, makerspaces, retail shops, and even libraries run these kinds of events regularly.
• Benefits: No supply runs, no prep stress — it removes the hassle of buying everything yourself and gives you a fun, guided environment to be creative. Just show up, make something you’re actually proud of, and take it home.

Ready to book something? Browse local spots and venues through the Make & Take Directory.

Across the greater Milwaukee area — Menomonee Falls, Brookfield, Waukesha, Washington County, Milwaukee County, and beyond — Make & Take is where you find the region’s best guided-DIY experiences. We’re talking candle bars, paint-and-sip nights, pottery workshops, cookie decorating, furniture up-cycling, and honestly a lot more than you’d expect.

Celebrate Every Occasion

Got a birthday coming up? Planning a kid’s party, a bridal shower, or a team-building event that people will actually enjoy? Make & Take helps you find the right venue for it. There’s something about making something with your hands — surrounded by your people — that turns a regular get-together into a real memory. Browse Milwaukee-area venues for birthday parties and after-hours crafting sessions where the whole point is laughing, creating, and going home with something to show for it.

What Is the Make & Take Shop Hop?

The Make & Take Shop Hop™ is a multi-shop, multi-category guided-DIY event where visitors hop between participating local shops over a set week — doing actual classes and creative experiences at each stop. The closest comparison is Restaurant Week, except instead of eating at five restaurants, you’re making things at five shops. One stop might be a candle bar. The next, a paint-and-sip. Another, a pottery session or a jewelry-making class. At every single stop, you make something and leave with it.

The flagship event — the Menomonee Falls Shop Hop — runs in the heart of downtown Menomonee Falls, WI, a short drive from Milwaukee. The Make & Take Shop Hop is designed to grow city by city — new markets, new participating shops across the country. Join the mailing list to hear when the Shop Hop arrives in your area.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered us! In June 2024, the Journal Sentinel ran a piece on the very first Menomonee Falls Shop Hop — a big deal for the local DIY scene. “Menomonee Falls is quickly becoming known for its diverse array of make-and-take activities, positioning itself as a burgeoning destination for those seeking creative experiences,” said Ruben Obregon, founder of this event. Read the article!

Classes & Workshops Near Milwaukee

We’ve pulled together venues and experiences across the full range of guided-DIY categories — and the options around here are genuinely good. Date night in Milwaukee, girls’ night in Brookfield, a pottery class near Waukesha, cookie decorating somewhere in Washington County — Make & Take is where you start the search.

• Candle making — pick your scent, pour your own soy candle, take it home still warm
• Pottery crafting — wheel throwing, hand-building, and paint-your-own-pottery studios
• Paint & sip — guided painting with a drink in hand, the classic board-and-brush night out
• Cookie decorating — royal-icing classes for total beginners and people who’ve done this before and want to get better
• Furniture up-cycling — chalk paint, distressing, creative refinishing — workshops that actually teach you the technique
• Jewelry making, resin art, perfume and cologne bars, floral crafts, sign painting, and more

Looking to make your own perfume or cologne near Milwaukee? The Menomonee Falls area has hands-on scent-blending bars that walk you through building a custom fragrance from scratch — no experience required. Read about why groups keep coming back to create together in downtown Menomonee Falls.

About Make & Take

Make & Take is an editorial platform built around the guided-DIY and creative-experience category — reviewing, curating, and championing real venues and hands-on workshops across the greater Milwaukee area and beyond. Paint-and-sip studios, candle bars, pottery classes, perfume workshops, kids’ craft parties, date-night experiences — we cover the whole spectrum. Our roots are in Menomonee Falls, WI, and our whole job is helping makers find their next great creative adventure.

Visit makeandtake.com and find something worth making.