MAKE IT GREAT. Kathie Klinger-Berg paints with her daughters at the new Chippewa Falls AR Workshop.

‘Love well, work hard, and play harder,” has always been the motto of the Bergs. Kathie Berg and her daughter, Taylor, consider Chippewa Falls their hometown. With a vibrant downtown area filled with cool places to go, how could they not?

“We’re excited to bring this to the area and get people in to have their hands full of paint.” – Taylor Berg, AR Workshop

Kathie and Taylor found the love for crafting and DIY a couple of years back at a family Christmas party. “We actually did a class in our own house for Christmas a couple of years ago and we thought that we really liked the concept of these types of classes,” Taylor Berg said. “We really wanted to bring something to Chippewa Falls that was along the lines of home décor and crafting. We decided to look into the franchise option for us around the area, and we came across AR Workshop. We found the franchise that we liked.”

The workshop opened its doors at the corner of West Grand Ave. and North Bridge St. in Chippewa Falls for the first time on Sept. 19. There were a variety of things to do at the grand opening, from painting your own Wisconsin wood sign to entering a prize drawing to learning how to sign up for classes to snacking on delicious cupcakes.

AR Workshop offers creative workshops for people of all skill levels nearly every day of the week. Customers may start by registering online for a workshop. Pick from among a variety of classes from the calendar of events, which includes workshops for knitting chunky blankets, creating with canvas (possibilities include wall hangings and tote bags), making things with wood (such as porch signs and lazy susans), and much more. There are also customizable options where you can create a sign with your name, a quote, or a specialty design such as a sugar skull or pumpkin.

“We’re just excited to get our doors open, bring people down to Chippewa Falls to do something fun and different,” Taylor said. “We’re really looking forward to inviting people in, having people come in, so people will really become like family to us. We want to offer an area for them to feel at home and somewhere fun for friends to go or come for a date night. … We have team-building classes we can do. We’re excited to bring this to the area and get people in to have their hands full of paint.”

Above all, Kathie and Taylor want to stress their DIY mentality. “We want them to know that it’s not hard to do, anyone can come do it and make something really great,” Taylor said.

AR Workshop Chippewa Falls • 224 N. Bridge St., Chippewa Falls • (715) 861-7267 • chippewafalls@arworkshop.com • www.arworkshop.com/chippewafalls • Find them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube