Things to Do in The Pinery

Owner Jennifer Schroeder began crafting her own all-natural products in high school and, one career later, now heads a team of skincare mavens who give kitchen chemists the tools to create their own spa experiences. Demonstration lectures form a compact introduction to a single process and leave students with a product sample to take home and touch up aging portraits of great-great-grandparents, and workshops plunge all hands into the fundamentals of gel-based anti-aging serums, exfoliating sugar scrubs, or herbal soaps. The small-group classes focus on practicable skills and include recipes for home use, enabling perpetual plant-based pampering.

Relive elementary school artistic accomplishments with today's Groupon, offering $50 worth of personalized pottery pieces for $25 at Color Me Mine in Aurora. Celebrate V-Day painting pottery with your special friend, or surprise your valentine with pottery that you painted to look like two hearts absorbing each other, forming one monster heart.

Martin Percival starred in the principal role for Michael Flatley's North America–touring Lord of the Dance and played the original Flatley role of "the lord." This knight in tights and his lovely team of jig-jumping instructors will lay down the law of rhythm and greens with beginner-level dances like the reel and light jig.

With more than five years of experience splattered on its palette, South Denver Art Center continues to teach a range of artists how to tap into their creative energies and create artwork through a variety of media. Weekly classes are taught using the Monart Method—developed by art educator Mona Brookes—which uses a step-by-step technique to teach all levels of students how to create art through drawing, painting, clay work, and smashing things with a cricket bat. By employing five basic elements of shape, pupils can enjoy the process of creating without feeling lost or confused and can improve self-confidence while remaining as focused as a cat that’s ready to pounce on a laser-pointer dot.

Also at South Denver Art Center's private studio, friendly instructors lead groups during casual parties. These laid-back sessions offer an evening of fun as patrons sip on beverages and learn how to create each session’s themed art piece using paint, clay, or glass. Past events have included students swirling brush strokes into colorful peacocks, sculptors forming a chips-and-dip tray from raw clay, and artists fusing pieces of glass together to create a candleholder or larger pieces of glass. The center also offers private and kids' parties.