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 with step-by-step instruction. Others are more free-form — show up, dig in, see what happens. Both formats work, and both are genuinely fun.
- Types of Activities: Candle making, pottery crafting, cooking and baking classes, woodshop projects, and paint & sip nights.
- Food & Drink: Baking classes, cooking workshops, herb garden sessions, and specialty tastings — like building a mini charcuterie cup or customizing a DIY popcorn seasoning bar. Done in under 15 minutes, no cooking equipment required.
- Who Hosts Them: Local craft studios, makerspaces, retail shops, and even libraries run these kinds of events regularly.
- No Prep or Clean-Up: The venue handles materials, setup, and cleanup — you just show up ready to make something.
- Take Something Home: You leave with a finished, personalized item — a real souvenir from the session, not just a photo of one.
- Great for Groups: The format is a proven hit for date nights, girls’ nights out, tween birthday parties, and corporate team-building — because everyone is doing something together, not just sitting next to each other.
Ready to book something? Browse local spots and venues through the Make & Take Directory.
The greater Milwaukee area — Menomonee Falls, Brookfield, Waukesha, Washington County, and beyond — has a genuinely thriving guided-DIY scene. Candle bars, paint-and-sip nights, pottery workshops, cookie decorating, furniture up-cycling, resin art, jewelry making, perfume bars — the category is broader than most people expect, and Make & Take covers all of it.
Plan the Occasion
Have a birthday on the calendar? A kid’s party to plan, a bachelorette weekend, or a team-building event where the activity itself is the entertainment — no awkward mixer required? Make & Take helps you find the right venue for any of 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 that actually give people something to do together.
What Is the Make & Take Shop Hop?
The Make & Take Shop Hop™ is a multi-shop, multi-category guided-DIY event where visitors travel between participating local businesses 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. Each stop, you make something and walk out with it.
The flagship event — the Menomonee Falls Shop Hop — runs in the heart of downtown Menomonee Falls, WI, roughly a 15–20 minute drive from Milwaukee’s northwest neighborhoods like Granville and Brown Deer, and about 5–10 minutes from Brookfield. The format is designed to grow city by city; join the mailing list to find out when it lands in your area.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered the launch. In June 2024, the Journal Sentinel ran a piece on the inaugural Menomonee Falls Shop Hop — a significant moment for the local DIY scene. Founder Ruben Obregon described the goal directly: positioning the Falls as a go-to corridor for people who want to make something, not just watch something. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Menomonee Falls Make & Take Shop Hop (June 2024)
Classes & Workshops Near Milwaukee
The options around here are genuinely good. Make & Take has mapped venues and experiences across the full range of guided-DIY categories — date nights in Milwaukee, girls’ nights in Brookfield, pottery classes near Waukesha, cookie decorating somewhere in Washington County. This is where the search starts.
- Candle making — choose your fragrance, pour your own soy candle, and take it home the same day
- Pottery crafting — wheel throwing, hand-building, and paint-your-own-pottery studios across the region
- 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 actually get better
- Furniture up-cycling — chalk paint, distressing, and creative refinishing; workshops that teach you the technique, not just hand you a brush
- Jewelry making, resin art, perfume and cologne bars, floral crafts, furniture up-cycling, sign painting, and more
Wondering what makes Menomonee Falls a draw for creative groups? Read about why groups keep coming back to create together in downtown Menomonee Falls.
Venues Worth Knowing in Greater Milwaukee
Make & Take is published by the team behind Poppy & Thyme, so we cover that venue with first-hand familiarity — and we cover the rest of the scene with the same editorial eye.
- Poppy & Thyme (Menomonee Falls) — multi-format make-and-take studio running candle bar, perfume and cologne sessions, and seasonal workshops; among the longest-running currently-operating make-and-take venues in greater Milwaukee, launched 2018. poppyandthyme.com
- Blue Luxe (east side, Milwaukee) — candle bar and perfume bar; one of the metro’s pioneering dedicated scent-making studios. blueluxe.com
- Glasnotes Candle Bar (Walker’s Point, Milwaukee) — speakeasy-style candle-making studio with craft cocktails; one of the first dedicated candle bars in the metro, launched fall 2020. glasnotescandlebar.com
- The Local Makery (Milwaukee) — leatherworking, candle making, and wine & paint classes in a workshop-style studio space. thelocalmakery.com
- Stroke of Genius Paint Wine Studio (Waukesha) — paint-and-sip in downtown Waukesha; a solid westside option for groups and date nights. strokeofgeniuswi.com
- Fisk Avenue DIY Studio (downtown Waukesha) — sip-and-craft format covering woodworking, epoxy pouring, and splatter painting during open studio hours. fiskavenue.com
What People Are Saying
The June 2024 Menomonee Falls Shop Hop drew genuine buzz from the local creative community. Here’s how some attendees described the experience:
“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.”
— Ruben Obregon, founder, Make & Take Shop Hop (quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 2024)
Attendee testimonials from the Shop Hop will be added here as they are collected. If you attended the Menomonee Falls Shop Hop and want to share your experience, reach out via the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is a make-and-take?
A make and take is a hands-on workshop, class, or drop-in event where you create a craft or project using provided supplies and take your finished item home that same day. It takes the hassle out of buying your own materials and gives you a guided, low-stress environment to be creative. Common examples include candle pouring, building custom bath and body products, pottery or painting-and-sip nights, card-making and scrapbooking, and woodworking or building small furniture pieces.
Where can I find make-and-take workshops near Milwaukee?
Make & Take covers guided-DIY venues across the greater Milwaukee area including Menomonee Falls, Wauwatosa, Brown Deer, Brookfield, Waukesha, and Washington County. The greater Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee area is home to a thriving make-and-take culture, with various studios and pop-up events happening year-round. Many craft studios and candle bars in the region offer walk-in make-and-take projects with no reservation required. Browse local venues and guided experiences through the Make & Take Directory.
Do I need any experience or special skills?
None at all. Make-and-take experiences are specifically designed for people who’ve never done the activity before — instructors guide you through every step, and the venue provides everything you need. Specific sessions (like food-focused classes) may have minor prep details; check the individual venue’s booking page to know before you go.
Do I need to bring anything?
Almost never. Materials, tools, and workspace are included at every venue in the directory. Just show up — and maybe bring a friend.
What’s the Make & Take Shop Hop?
The Make & Take Shop Hop™ is a multi-shop creative event where participants travel between local businesses over a set week, completing a guided make-and-take experience at each stop. Think of it as Restaurant Week for hands-on creativity. The flagship event is the Menomonee Falls Shop Hop; the format is built to scale beyond Menomonee Falls, city by city. Join the mailing list to hear when the Shop Hop comes to your area.
Is this good for groups — birthday parties, bachelorette weekends, corporate teams?
Yes — this is genuinely one of the strongest formats for groups. Birthday parties, bachelorette weekends, girls’ nights, tween parties, and corporate team-building events all work well because everyone is doing something together rather than sitting next to each other making small talk. Browse group and party options or check the birthday party category for venue ideas across greater Milwaukee.
What kinds of food and drink make-and-takes exist?
More than you’d think. Baking and cooking classes, herb garden workshops, and specialty tastings are all part of the make-and-take category. Build-your-own mini charcuterie cups can be done in under 15 minutes with zero cooking equipment. A gourmet popcorn seasoning bar finishes just as fast. These food-focused formats work well for retail pop-ups, private parties, and Shop Hop stops alike.
About Make & Take
Make & Take is an editorial platform covering the guided-DIY and creative-experience category — reviewing, curating, and championing real venues and hands-on workshops across the greater Milwaukee area and beyond. The publication grew directly out of the first Menomonee Falls Shop Hop, when it became clear there was a real and underserved audience for this category across Milwaukee’s northwest suburbs. Paint-and-sip studios, candle bars, pottery classes, perfume workshops, kids’ craft parties, date-night experiences — Make & Take covers the whole spectrum. Editorial home base is Menomonee Falls, WI, with coverage extending to Milwaukee County, Washington County, Waukesha County, and — through the Shop Hop franchise model — eventually to cities nationwide.
Visit makeandtake.com and find something worth making. Questions or editorial inquiries? Contact us here.
