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| - Through a $29 Wagjag deal, I came here for a 2-hour toy painting workshop with my brother. For less than the cost of a single movie ticket, we had lots of fun thinking of how we wanted to customize our toys (he decided to paint a dog dressed up as Totoro, and I chose @George2Legs). Before donning black Mindzai aprons, Shan helped us pick our toys, giving us ideas on what we could do with each character based on their shapes. Then, we chose our snacks: either a small box of strawberry or milk chocolate Pocky or a full bar of Japanese Meiji chocolate in white, milk, or dark. Finally, a drink from the glass bar: a can of Brisk Iced Tea, Coke, a couple other canned soda, or a bottle of water. For an additional $1.50, I opted for an upgrade to a milky Japanese tea, though for the same price for the upgrade you could also choose a bottle of ramune/Japanese marble soda.
Then, the fun begins! In a space considerably larger than their downtown location, this Mindzai has four tables available covered in plastic sheets. The splatters of dried acrylic streaks are evidence that many others have also enjoyed their experience. On each table are a set of colourful Sharpie markers, two Staedtler erasers, two pencils, and a drying rack made of thin pegs on a block of wood with clips at the end of each peg to hang on to your toys' freshly painted limbs and heads (a plastic Lord of the Flies!).
Pick up a plastic artist's palette, then squeeze your desired colours into the grooves to mix to your heart' content. Colour tips: I found that mixing Buttermilk with the peachy shade creates a basic flesh tone, but squeezing the tiniest dab of darkened yellow made for a nicely warmed foundation. Other tips:
- Some colours are more popular than others, ask Shan if she's got a new tube stored away if one is empty
- It's warm inside - if you're coming in during the hot summer months, dress like you would if you were going outside under some shade
- The bathroom has a super powerful flush - step away before flushing, that's all I'm gonna say...
- If you don't finish painting your toy that day, you can return to complete it for an additional $5/session
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