For party cup artists Claire Hadlock and Kellin Bowen, decorating party cups is more than a trivial date function tradition.
At the University, party cups are most frequently used within the Greek community. They can be purchased at local party and Greek stores, such as Parties Start Here and Balfour House. Taken to most Greek date functions, party cups act as a memento from each event.
At stores, party cups are sold plain in a variety of colors and textures. Customers typically pay to have their cups decorated or decorate them themselves.
As the Greek community continues to expand, the demand for party cup artists has also increased.
Hadlock, a mass communication freshman, is a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and has been decorating party cups since her freshman year of high school. Hadlock said her classmates at her all-girl’s alma mater would get party cups for their dates and fill them with candy as a gift.
For her freshman homecoming, Hadlock painted her own party cups as a way to save money.
“When I got better with the paint pens and art, I figured out that I could make some money if I did other people’s, too,” Hadlock said. “So I started bringing them to school as water bottles to kind of advertise.”
Since then, Hadlock’s hobby has become a small business. Her clients range from high school students to sorority women, for whom she creates custom cup designs.
In addition to word of mouth, Hadlock gets information to her customers on her business Twitter and Tumblr, called “Claire’s Party Cups.”
Sociology and English junior Audrey Martin, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, started decorating party cups her sophomore year of college.
“I have two majors, a job and a position on my sorority’s Executive Council, so decorating party cups has helped me stay organized and structure my day more efficiently,” Martin said. “I learned pretty quickly that I can’t finish all my orders without sticking to a schedule.”
Martin said painting party cups is a stress reliever. While she decorates, Martin uses Netflix to monitor time spent on each cup.
She said the first cup out of the set usually takes around 45 minutes, or one episode of a TV show. The second cup can be finished within 25 minutes.
Before applying paint to any of the cups, Martin first sketches the design in pencil. Using her paint pens, Martin creates the requested design, adhering to the theme of the date function.
“For semi-formals and formals, I tend to take a more elegant approach and use swirls, script fonts and less colors,” Martin said. “I love doing cups for GRUB [Girls Round Up Boys] and bus trips because they are themed, and I really have a chance to get creative and customize the cups to reflect the costume.”
Bowen, a mass communication sophomore and member of Alpha Phi sorority, said decorating party cups taught her a lot about creativity and originality.
Using paint pens and spray glitter glue, Bowen has created designs for themes such as “Louisiana Saturday Night,” “Zeta Crown Formal” and “LSU Football,” as well as high school homecomings and proms.
“A lot of people probably don’t know that cups are a super easy and affordable way to have a memorable, cute party favor,” Bowen said. “I do all my party cups unique and original. I always take suggestions and ideas from the buyer too.”

Gallery • 6 Photos

Caroline Magee

Party cups decorated by sociology and english junior, Audrey Martin, serve as party favors for sorority and fraternity party on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016.