I cannot say enough great things about Once Upon a Creation! We booked Once Upon a Creation for my…read morebaby sprinkle and loved it so much, we booked them again for my daughter's first birthday! The staff are so kind, attentive, and genuinely cared about making sure everything went smoothly. Cathylee, the owner is absolutely amazing! she goes above and beyond to make sure every detail is perfect and that our party was everything we hoped for. You can really tell she takes pride in what she does. I can't recommend this place enough for any event!

I had an amazing time at Once Upon Creation today. They hosted my daughter's 9th birthday party. It…read morewas Nailed It! theme and included a breakfast bar. Words cannot express how superb the staff/owners were. Melisa and Jessica were incredibly kind and their place is out-of-this-world spectacular. I cannot praise them enough for making our dreams become reality. 10 out of 10 experience. I highly recommend their establishment.

My friends and I absolutely enjoyed ourselves here while celebrating my 35th birthday!…read more Our Painter/teacher was amazing! She was patient and stayed opened after hours to accommodate this special day for us. Unfortunately, my entire group didn't show as it was a 10 person minimum. No matter the amount of people we enjoyed ourselves. We were allowed to have wine and refreshments... She also jammed with us to our favorite songs. I highly recommend!

I have adult onset artist syndrome and dove in several classes at valencia and once tried Crealde…read more- which was nice but I thought it didn't give me the flexibility of an open studio like environment . I had peeked into Artroom several times finally last year I signed up for a class - the format was really nice ( adult oil ) first weeks all newbies were given a beginners project and Linda walked us through it in detail sharing wonderful tips that I did not even get from Valencia professors - no offense - most importantly her expertise in teaching and reading the class is incredible - she knows each student their capabilities strengths individually and coaches accordingly - giving honest constructive feedback in a very warm manner. People joke that it is a lot cheaper than therapy and works even better. After the initial project everyone works on a project they want and Linda coaches everyone individually on their projects finding bringing resources - recommending references. It is a group class so this level of individualism surprised me in a good way. My only regret is that I did not find artroom sooner

YadaYada is my grandchildren 's favorite place in Mt Dora. They are welcomed cheerily and love…read morepicking their pieces and paints. It is a great place to relax and talk while we paint.

We visited Yada Yada pottery on a Saturday, and were informed of all the great, handmade items. We…read morereturned the following week to spend a little bit of time custom painting pieces that we selected for Christmas gifts. The gnome I selected was only $12. I bought cookies from the cafe, and my girlfriend enjoyed a coffee and muffin. We spent a relaxing hour at the table, taking our time to relax and talk. Another customer joined us and we had a really nice conversation about the holidays. Our pieces were left with the shop to be fired in the kiln; a few days later, we were called to pick up our pieces. My gnome turned out greater than expected; so good that I will not be placing it on the porch with our other small plants and gnomes. My girlfriend's pieces are going to make wonderful Christmas gifts. I wish I could custom make some gingerbread men and snowmen ornaments for our relatives that lost every in the recent floods. We will be returning soon to take pottery wheel classes, and to make custom dishes. Oh,,, while painting our pieces, I noticed that the brush holder cups, the cookie plate, and several other items in the shop were handmade. This is a great way to show the practicality of making things, and the creative ideas put to use. I felt very welcomed in this place of business, and look forward to returning many times in the future. Thanks Juliette (the owner) for answering all of my questions, and making me and my girlfriend feel comfortable and appreciated.

I loved visiting the SoBo Gallery. It's small but nicely done and very enjoyable. The gallery is…read morelocated in what was once a firehouse. The historic building brings charm to the atmosphere and adds to the enjoyment. I found a painting that I liked and was impressed by the reasonable price on this item and others being displayed. It is definitely affordable art. The Winter Garden Art Association invites artIsts to participate in regular exhibits. There is an Exhibition page on their website that gives the guidelines and all of the pertinent information.

The exhibits change frequently. Each exhibit has a different tone and feel. There are actually two…read morelarge exhibit rooms. Mostly all artists are local. This building used to be an old fire station. The exhibits lift this utilitarian building to a new level. The art association also offers classes. See wgart.org

As a local, I highly recommend this spot--I've been about five times! The staff is super friendly,…read moreand there's a huge selection of colors and ceramics. Just a heads up, the wait to get your piece back can be long since the owner glazes everything herself. The only downside is it can get noisy if there's a birthday party in the back, so maybe bring headphones or visit on a weekday.

I spent an afternoon here painting ceramics with a friend, and then kept forgetting to pick up our…read morepieces for months after they were ready -- and they still had them for us! For ceramic painting you only pay the price of your piece and can spend as much time as you need, including coming back as many days as you like before your piece is fired. A little less polished than some "paint-your-own" spots, but with its own special charm. They have a relaxed atmosphere, perfect for families or anyone who struggles with feeling rushed when arts and crafting!

Tanner Hall was absolutely beautiful. We payed for Tanner Hall from 5pm-11pm with then an hour…read moreincluded for cleanup after. We also rented Little Hall to use as a bridal suit from 3pm-11pm which also included an hour after for clean up. Kamilla Udit was the name of the person who always answered the emails with my questions. She was very fast to respond to all my questions. She sent a reminder the week that the layout was due for both venues, which leads me to my next point- As long as you give them the layout a week in advance they will set up all the chairs and tables where you want. They have plenty of chairs and tables for indoor seating. (We did have to rent chairs for outdoor seating for the ceremony itself.) When we arrived day of the setup was exactly what I had drawn out. They usually show Tanner Hall and Little Hall a couple times a week in the evening as long as there's no event happening. I emailed ahead a few times to make sure there was no event and got to tour both halls a few times. We also met with the DJ the week of at the venue. It was easy to gain access to in order to take photos and video so that everyone in the wedding party could see it ahead of time. The bathrooms were clean and had plenty of stalls. There's also plenty of normal parking and handicapped parking around the two halls. Tanner Hall itself is very pretty. The dance floor is in the middle and I really liked that because it made it easier for everyone to see the first dance and such. Best of all, you get to use your own venders, so we were able to pick our own catering. (A lot of venues make you use their official caterer and that price definitely adds up.) Overall it was a great experience. I'd HIGHLY recommend to anyone looking for a beautiful but cost effective venue. (This venue was by far the cheapest I found. A lot of venues cost my entire budget for the wedding.) The gazebo outside comes with the rental of Tanner Hall so that's where we held the ceremony. There's also a beautiful oak three that I was told some people use for the ceremony. We decided on the gazebo because there's a sidewalk leading up to it and I figured that would be easier for our grandparents to walk on during the procession in. I emailed ahead to ask if we could set up outside prior to our rental and was told that was fine, so we had the chairs for the ceremony delivered at 2pm. The ONLY bad mark for this place was the woman who was there day of to keep an eye on things. When the reception was over my husband and I left and a few members of my bridal party stayed to clean. We had things mostly cleaned by that point too. (We had a team of four people there during the reception that we paid to clean up trash as people finished eating and things of that nature.) So as some people left early that team of four cleaned up the tables and such. The gifts and a lot of other things were already packed up and ready to be moved to cars. The food was all collected and just needed to be loaded into a car. So for the most part, when we did the send-off, most of the venue was already clean. One of my bridesmaids told me that after we left the lady was yelling at people asking who was going to clean. The bridesmaid tried telling her that it was taken care of and she and a few others were going to clean the last of it, but the woman was still freaking out about who would clean and the deposit only gets returned if the place is cleaned. My bridesmaid also tried asking her a few times what all needed to be done for her to consider it "clean" because she wanted to know if they needed to vacuum or anything. But the woman just kept freaking out about who was cleaning. She even yelled at a random guest who was not part of the bridal party nor was responsible to clean after to start cleaning. And I was also told that she was mad at the DJ for using a room to store things in that he was told he was allowed to use. That's why I took off a few stars for professionalism. If my bridesmaid was clearly telling her that there was a plan for the cleaning, then there was no need to continue to yell at people (including guests) about it. With that in mind, that was really the only bad thing about this place. Overall I'd still recommend it to anyone who is looking to have a casual wedding. (My husband and I spent about $6500 on our entire wedding which we planned on/paid for things assuming there would be 100 guests.) So if you're in the area and want more than a court house wedding but less than some of those crazy $20K+ weddings, this venue is great. Outside is gorgeous for a ceremony and the venue interior is very nice. I'm honestly a little surprised that more people don't use it for weddings.

Established in 1989, The Great Escape is not only a framing an art shop, but a store that…read moreunderstands the value of customer service. For example, if you live in the downtown area, they will pick up and deliver your items for free. They will also spend a few moments to answer your questions even if they are busy. They carry over 1,000 frame choices from simple to extremely ornate. They, like most frame shops, have a generous amount of matting options as well including various textures: silks, suedes, leathers, etc. They turnaround your order in about a week which seems sooner than most other local framers. It's not only art and photographs that they work with. They do mirrors and jerseys as well. They have a nicely done, framed jersey on display which exemplifies their craftsmanship. To get something similar done, it will cost around $300 which is a bit higher than most others charge. Currently, they are having a sale on their prints. In the window, they have a few large and beautiful pieces of art for purchase. One piece was originally marked at $375 and is now only $195. Parking is not too much of a problem since there are free spots along Mills that never seem to be completely taken.

I highly recommend Curtis at Great Escape for framing. I have worked with Curtis for many years…read moreand he has always done fantastic work.

Snap! is such a wonderful local gem that everyone should know about! The owners, Patrick & Holly…read moreKahn, have brought something truly special to Orlando and they so work hard to bring this city some incredible photography exhibits. Some people might find this place tricky to find. Snap! is located on the first floor of the Camden Thornton Park Apartments. You actually enter through the leasing office for the apartment building, and the gallery is located just to the left as soon as you walk in. Their hours are 11am-6pm and they are closed on Sundays. Plenty of metered street parking is available in the surrounding area. Currently on view in the main gallery is the work of Martin Stranka (through Oct. 2, 2021) -- prepare to be fully immersed in all its beauty. As a lover of both florals and photography, Martin Stranka's exhibit truly speaks to my soul. The image of the car with the flowers pouring out of it... omg, I need it hanging in my house stat! There are two other smaller galleries located down the hall that feature some other local artists as well. You should definitely make an effort to check out one of their exhibition opening parties, which are free to attend. There's always great music, drinks, and a nice crowd of Orlandoans who love to support the local arts.

Enjoyed the Florida Showcase art opening in this lovely gallery! It's not large, but displayed…read moremany beautiful works by local artists.