Create Studios, Baton Rouge

Create Studios' hands-on crafting classes nurture students' inner artist while teaching skills that can be used to replicate projects at home. Owner and instructor Tanya Ruffin draws from her master's degree in art history and BFA in fine arts to helps students unwind and create within an informal studio. All classes are designated as "make and partake," allowing students to bring in any food and drinks they'd like, including bottles of wine, snacks, or entire flash-fried buffaloes.

Each two- to three-hour class brings home and body accessories to life, turning provided materials into everything from a stained-glass mosaic to steampunk-style jewelry. Wine glasses are a particularly popular medium; students learn to paint them with enamel or etch them with designs. Another popular option is Pop Art Your Pet. During this class, students create four panes of vivid, pop art colors that depict their pet with an Andy Warhol flare.