Claytime

A fantastic place to go with kids or with the girls.
They have a thursday evening open paint that was a blast. The perfect after work activity for a creative outlet. I wish they did a date night painting class for couples, it would be a fun way to kick off trivia night in town.
It’s a perfect place to go after school with the kids. The staff is upbeat, friendly and patient with painters of any skill level. Stuck for inspiration? They have some great books on hand to help spark your creativity.
Projects are glazed, fired and returned to you in a timely manner and the quality of the finish is perfect.
If you are looking for a fun environment to do a little creative project, this is the place to do it.

I received a gift certificate for Claytime for Christmas. I must say it was a great experience! When arriving and greeted by a really friendly and knowledgeable staff member. We were informed of the operating procedures. You simply purchase a piece of bisque, (plaster piece from the display shelves) — we decided on two of the very large coffee mugs. They then offer you up to six colors selections for you to create (paint) your original masterpiece. BTW– There is also an additional charge for studio fee. However the fee pays for the use of the paints (refills included), use of brushes, stamps, stencils, glazing and firing of your piece. They do the firing and you pick your creation up a week later. No lead is used in the painting or firing of the piece-​A good thing to know. We actually really enjoyed the creative time –and are using our creations for cereal bowls. We also plan on making another trip to Claytime to experience the Adult night, where you can byob.

Finally, I decided to go here and check this place out. I’ve wanted to for so long, just never got around to it. Took my pre-​schooler here for a fun craft after school one day. We were the only ones here when we arrived (Thursday around 1pm). First you pick out your plaster piece from the display shelves, most of which are around $ 13-​$ 16. You can get cheaper ones (I think the cheapest I saw was a small square tile for $ 4) or expensive ones (like a fancy serving bowl or pitcher for upwards of $ 30). My 4-​year old chose the dolphin statue for about $ 13. This was a little more than I was expecting to pay. We also paid $ 6 for an hour of working on painting the craft and choice of 6 colors of paint.
We were greeted by a warm and friendly lady that helped us out. She explained the whole process to us, helped us pick out the colors, and we sat down at a table covered with paper and painted away. It was fun! I didn’t get my own craft but I «touched up» my daughter’s because I wanted it to come out really nice. I have to say that it’s really harder to paint this stuff neatly than it looks!
When we finished painting we got a yellow ticket to return with a week later to retrieve the product (which would be fired in an oven although my daughter commented «that’s silly, you don’t cook statues»).
While we were crafting we got help with our project and some extra paint when we ran out.
We picked up our statue, with just as friendly a greeting, and we love it! It’s on display now.
So that made the $ 20 craft worth it. I’m glad we have our special piece.
The place is bigger inside than it looks, well-​organized, and has a restroom. They offer stencils and stamps too, classes and parties. This would also be a good choice to make a special gift for someone.