The Mud Mill

We love to paint as a family! We had reservations which is always good! We we’re disappointed that some of the Chirstmas color were out and many of the detail paint tips were plugged. They told us 10 days for firing we received NO notification had to call them only to be given wrong information!

Love going to this place to do some pottery… It’s a great place to take the kids and family to do some pottery… So much fun… Workers are super nice…

So i decided to give this place another try. To my surprise, it was a better experience the second time around. Only one girl working by herself this time and she was absolutely attentive.

Fun place to take my daughter! Time killer. Service does delay sometimes when needing paint rather than that excellent place! And I would come back but the prices sure do add up!:(

Gem of Lodi! We have loved painting chirstmas ornaments every year with our girls! The customers service is great and very helpful! This is the best place to get birthday gift certificates!

I’ve been here numerous times and always have a good time. It’s a place where you pick out your unpainted bisque pottery, paint it, they fire it for you, and then you pick it up in 1 – 2 weeks (usually 7 – 10 days). I love painting pottery so I was excited to see this place in my home town. Every time I go in I’m greeted and encouraged to pick out some pottery. They have a decent selection of plates, glasses, banks (piggy, action hero’s, etc), and ceramic animals of all sizes. I prefer to come during the holiday season when they have their fall pumpkins out or at Christmas when they have ornaments you can paint. I now have a pumpkin collection that I pull out every fall, and I’m planning on painting more pumpkins this year too!
The painting is easy and they have lots of colors to choose from. You can make the color as light or as dark as you’d like depending on how many layers you put on it. They have a wide variety of paint brushes to pick from too from large and flat to tiny and skinny for detail work. Also, what I love is they have squeeze bottles of the colors that comes out in an extremely fine line. It’s great for detail work or writing letters or names.
Because the color of your pottery changes once it’s fired, it’s always fun to pick up and see the finished product!
I’ve never had any problems here with bad customer service, and I’ve gone at least 7 times over the last 3 years. On Friday nights they have extended hours (I believe until 9pm), so you can get dinner downtown and then walk over and paint. They also do a «Ladies Night» once a month, where you sign up, they feed you while you paint (its catered from a local restaurant) and you can bring your own drinks, such as wine. Of course it’s adults only on that night. I’ve attended it once and it was really fun!
Pricing: You pay a «studio fee» which is standard for an adult or child. That covers the cost of your paint, supplies, and firing your piece. They you pay for the piece of pottery that you want. All pieces are priced and there are pieces in all price ranges.
The only downside is that I’ve been to other places similar to this one and they seem to have a much bigger selection for adults then the mudd mill. That’s why I find it’s most fun to go around holidays where special pottery comes out.

Today was my first visit with my daughter and two grand babies. We had an excellent time. Staff of young girls were very helpful and patient with the little ones ages 2 ½ and 7. I Think I’ll make this my new «Me Time» hangout

Rude, condescending customer service along with very used supplies and non-​existent creative, fun atmosphere made this visit very unbearable. We felt rushed the entire way through and when we picked up the project a week later, nothing changed; the same rude, condescending behavior by a middle aged woman. We will not be going back nor recommending this place to anyone when we visit the area.

This place is sooo cute! Took my little sister to a birthday party here & we were really impressed. Everything was organized & put together very well.

Fun! Friendly staff. Large selection of pieces to choose from. Decent price. We will be back!

NEVER Going back! They certainly don’t care for repeat business! My husband booked appointments for my mother and me for their Mother’s Day special. A nice flower pot w/​plate and food is provided. He was sure to ask if this would be good with an infant. They said yes! I get a phone call the night before requiring payment up front in order to keep the reservation.
The next day we arrive with my 10 month old in hand. There were 3 people on staff including the owner. We were not greeted and had to approach staff for help. My mother is rather larger lady and they weren’t very accommodating with their seating; who crams 5 tables in a small corner. It wasn’t even that busy.
They told us to clean the pottery and pick our colors. They expect you to get your own cleaning and painting supplies. Staff was not helpful in color selection or painting techniques; although we noticed those of a lighter complexions received more attentive service.
After an hour or so the owner finally placed out the food for their event. It consisted of store bought cookies and homemade sandwiches and salad. Three hours and a phone call to the husband later we’re done.
I was told I would be called when they were ready, usually 10 days. I never received any call and 3 weeks later I walk-​in to pick-​up. My pot didn’t turn out very well due to poor color selection. My mom’s came out cute with the exception of some smudged letters. When I mentioned that to the staff I was told that someone called and wrote that they left a message. «Why would she write that if she didn’t call you?»
I will never return again!
(I wrote this draft last year 2013-​waited to see if I still feel the same about this place and I must say Yes, Yes I do!)

I love this place! My brother and I took my 4 yr old son and had a blast! The staff were so helpful and nice and it has a great atmosphere! I’d go all the time if I could! A great place to take the kids or to just get away and use your imagination!

HORRIBLE SERVICE. First and last time ever going here. The concept of the place is fun and could have been a great time but the service from the staff was aweful. I had a 2pm appointment along with two other groups. I was the first of the 2pm’s to arrive (and I did arrive a little early). Instead of giving me an open table reserved for the 2pm groups, I had to sit and wait for one of the occupied tables to empty. That just didn’t make sense to me– why tell another party they had to hurry up and leave so I could have their table when there are open tables? …PS, one of the 2pm groups arrived 30 min late so the table sat empty.
The other thing that did not make sense business wise was that most of the tables seat 4 people. However, there was a table with 1 person and three tables with 2 people. Why not seat smaller groups together? Then there would be room to allow more customers? I would not have minded sharing with another mother/​daughter combo instead of turning paying customers away.
I could go on about the service, but will keep it short. Went there once, will not be returning. Would much rather try the one in Modesto. My daughter enjoyed it but I would rather drive a little farther for better service.

I came here with a friend on Friday when they stay open late. I enjoyed my painting experience & the atmosphere. Its true, the service was pretty spotty. I feel like the teen girls in there are pretty unhelpful & they treat you a bit like you are either stupid or not important enough to help. I think they were more interested in their social life, but whatever… teen girls suck anyway. On to our experience. They have lots of books to show you techniques. I chose a project that required no actual artistic ability. A mug & painted pumpkin. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! When I went to pick up my items, I was truly awestruck by the awesomeness of my mug. I didn’t realize when they pull it out & ask if you like it, that you are suppose to look for cracks. What I thought was an imperfection in the glaze turned out to be a crack… Unfortunately once you leave, forget about getting any sort of refund on damaged items. I called as soon as I got home but, alas, as I had signed the release form, I get a broken mug & maybe it can be re-fired…Maybe. I totally understand people probably do that all the time, but in my case it was genuine. I really wanted to hurl my beautiful broken mug against the wall, but I refrained. I am going back with the same friend this Friday to do some more things for Christmas gifts & rest assured, I will triple check my items at pick up!
Also, its kind of expensive but COMPLETELY worth it if you enjoy crafty projects with kids or friends. They had a bridal shower in there while we were there & it looked like a fantastic idea!

This is a great place to go! Birthday parties are run by super sweet girls, and ladies night is a great time for friends to get together, be creative and just visit! I’m not very creative, but I was shown some great techniques and I LOVE my platter I made. Service was 5 star!

Im giving it 3 stars only because i like the place but the service sucked. The two girls working were not very helpful the one talked to me like i was stupid when i asked questions how the process worked. The other girl only became nicer and helpful after the other ones shift ended. Im in my late thirties and i felt bullied by teenagers just for asking about paint colors. Its to bad there are not more of these types of places around (like color me mine). Oh and there selection of stuff (for me anyways) was poor but my 3 year old had allot to choose from. Not sure i will go back. Maybe when the recession is over i should open my own. Hmmm now theres an idea.

My mom took me here last October before she became ill and we painted a few pieces together. I chose a candle set of three holders and a stand. She chose to paint a Halloween mummy mug. The mud mill provided many color options but dispersed them in tiny amounts. I kept having to get up to refill on the paints as I was trying to deepen the colors. The pieces took forever and a day until they finally became available, but they came out lovely. Location wise I like the Mud Mill. The staff were helpful and luckily we beat the crowd before a large group of children came inside — fresh in from the chocolate shop with sugar rushes…

This place sucks as far as pottery painting goes, well it sucks in general. Staff is stupid & very little selection, what they do have is over priced. Good luck if you want a set of anything, the staff told me that it would takes WEEKS to order a piece that they didn’t have in stock, which was almost everything. I guess I’ve been spoiled going to places like this in major cities in the past because this place is a joke compared, but what to do? This IS Stockton/​Lodi & I guess this town is lucky to even have a painting place even if it is rinky dink.

I’ve been to this establishment twice. While it is nice and cozy, it is on the smaller side and often feels cramped. They have lots of items to choose from; anything you could think of. It’s a nice escape from a busy week or what have you.
However, they give you quarter sized dots of paint to work with, so if you’re painting something big – prepare to get up every five minutes. And to add to that, they always seem annoyed/​irritated with you for asking for more paint.
The last time I was in, was before Christmas and I painted two ornaments. Both were very dear to me, as I put a lot of work into them and one was a memorial for my brother who has recently passed away. I had no problems, until I was in to pick them up. Both of my items were dropped and both of them had broke. They super glued them back together messily and just handed them to me and asked me if that was ok. I was completely outraged at the fact that they didnt offer to refund my money or come back in for free for their mistake. I understand mistakes happen, that was not the issue. The issue was how they handled it. I had to protest and ask for a refund, which was denied because Vicki Snell was not there. And of course none of the girls could contact her. As of now, I have a «OOPS» voucher to come back in and repaint two new ornaments. It is now February and I still cant bring myself to go back in there.
The one thing that is completely lacking in this establishment, is «CUSTOMER SERVICE». Typically, there is about 2 high school aged girls running the joint and they always seemed more interested in their HS gossip to bother caring about your experience.
In the long run, it could be way better — but then again, so could my decisions in where I want to go.

Our first visit here was okay. There are many products to choose from but the prices are high enough that the studio fee should not be an additional charge.
We were not assisted with painting techniques so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I wish we would have been shown or given some tips. The service was not what I would have hoped for. I felt like I was burdening them when I needed paint. A drop the size of a quarter just wasn’t going cover my piece.
Overall we had an nice time, customer service improvements would make this place outstanding!