Mad Potter

The Mad Potter is SO fun when you’re itching for a crafternoon with your girls, kids, Grandma or significant other. It’s indeed very therapeutic and a great way to catch up while doing something fun.
The selection of paintable pieces is darn near overwhelming. If you haven’t dreamed up or found a design on Pinterest before coming in, you might suffer from choice paralysis! From Christmas chachkes to light switch plates, you’re bound to find something fun to paint. They have tables lined with paper and set with brushes and water bowls ready to go when you arrive. If it’s your first time the staff will show you the ropes, but basically once you pick your table and your piece (s) all you need is your paint colors. They have paint, glazes, stamps, stencils, tiny glue-​ons and hair dryers stationed throughout the studio for quick drying between applications. Unless you paint something tiny or have a super simple design, plan to spend about 2 – 3 hours there. But hey, LaRosa’s is right next door if you get hungry!
Also, for my fellow instant gratification types, be prepared to leave your new piece of art behind when you leave. It has to be fired and will be ready in 7 days!

I love this place. Painting pottery is therapeutic, fun, and a perfect activity for a whole family, girls/​date night, or a place to play hookie from work. There are plenty of paint colors and pieces to paint ranging from dishes to picture frames to silly figurines.
Even though Mad Potter is enjoyable, the staff is rarely pleasant to be around. Most of them are very young, probably in high school, and could care less about helping customers. When asking where supplies go in an effort to help clean up, the girl simply pointed in some random direction and refrained from making eye contact with me. I was also there until closing, 9pm, and instead of providing a friendly reminder that the store was closing, another girl simply stated ‘you need to leave, we are closing.’ Aside from these two employees, the older staff are helpful and friendly and available to answer any questions and offer advice which is especially helpful for newbies. Enjoy, but ask for the owner if you need help; the other employees aren’t in it.

This place is going to be a problem for me…
A few of my girlfriends and I decided to go to Mad Potter on a Saturday afternoon, and I can easily see this becoming an addictive little hobby! Most of us aren’t all that artistically-​inclined, so the staff were really helpful and encouraging in how to start up the process of painting our pottery and selecting pieces that would be easy to do. The shop has long tables that can be used by groups or shared with multiple individuals. My favorite part??? You can bring in alcohol. Because what’s a better idea than painting with a glass of wine, right? There is a room available for party reservations, but we didn’t get our plans coordinated in time to reserve it.
The selection of paintable ceramics is almost overwhelming, but everyone will find something for either their skill level of the specific item they’re wanting to create. I picked a small owl plate, another friend picked a large platter, and several others designed coffee mugs. There are trendy things (like whimsical owls, compost containers, and Disney characters) to very classic pieces (garden gnomes and animal figurines) to gorgeous décor pieces (tall pitchers and wreaths). Prices range from around $ 7.00 to over $ 35, depending on the size and detail of the item you want to paint.
Studio fees are $ 8.00 (some Saturdays are half-​price), which covers the cost of paints, supplies, and the firing of your item when it’s completed. Because the glaze has to dry and then be fired, you can’t pick your items up for 7 days after your painting session. And if they happen to break in the kiln, which happens occasionally, they will reimburse you for your original purchase (sadly, this happened to one of our mugs).
We spent a few hours at the studio, snacking and drinking while we worked on our pieces. I was really impressed with the variety of paints and glazes that were available, especially for as cheap as the studio fees are. This is such a great activity for anyone, regardless of your skill set. When we were there, there were grandmas with elementary-​aged grand kids there, parents with high school aged kids, a few couples on dates, and our rather boisterous group of 30-​something wine drinkers. Our pottery came out better than we hoped, and we had a fabulous, inexpensive activity for a girls’ afternoon out of the house. I’m already planning my Christmas gifts, so I have an excuse to go back to paint more!