Color Me Mine

The boyfriend and I came by on a Saturday afternoon and there were a fair amount of people — only a couple tables were empty. It’s kind of neat because they have shelves and shelves of ceramic doohickeys, everything from mugs and vases to Hello Kitty figurines and piggy banks. They can be kind of pricey — most fall in the range of $ 15 – 30 for even simple pieces. The lady working at register was super unhelpful and not at all friendly so it took us a while to realize how the system works. Basically you get to walk around and pick out whatever you want to paint, then grab your own paints/​brushes/​etc. I like that it was more of a self-​service deal because I’m sure the workers wouldn’t be attentive at all (more on that later). Once you’re done, you leave it with the workers to glaze it and you’ll get to pick them up in «about 1 week». We ended up not picking up our things for about 2 weeks after giving them a call and asking about it. The finished products were super pretty though!
If you check in on Unilocal they waive the $ 10 adult painting fee (which is normally added on to the price of your item), which is awesome. There were about 4 high-​school/​early college age girls working throughout our time there and 3 of them were either unfriendly or talking trash about customers out in the open which is REALLY unprofessional. It was a really fun casual date activity but the service was really lacking at this location and I have a feeling they wouldn’t have called us to let us know our things were ready for pick-​up if we had not contacted them. Luckily I’m happy with how the pieces turned out and the Unilocal check-​in is a great deal, so 3 stars!

No place like it. They allow wine. Parking structure across the street. Yes Melissa charged me by myself even tho I’m clearly on a date & we had to make 2 transactions when she realized I’m also paying for my date? But who cares! I said «both» about 5x but duznt matter. Great place.
TAKE YOUR PIECE TO ANOTHER LOCATION like Westchester & it’ll get fired a week sooner

I had a nice time with a group of my friends here. Its calm and fun. We were able to make a reservation to sit together. The only downside is the price. In addition to the pieces being quite expensive, we were charged an 18% gratuity for having a group of 6. The employee told us the basics of what to do, but didn’t really take the time to go over things with the beginners. The wait time for pieces to be finished was 2 weeks, and it costs $ 20 to rush 2 pieces. So– overall fun, but definitely not a cheap activity. I’d go more often if it was a bit less expensive.

First of all I want to make clear I love all Color Me Mine’s! I love the idea and the concept of coming into a pottery studio, picking out an item of your choice and getting to use your creativity and imagination with different colors of paint. However this specific location kinda let me down in the customer service department.
A friend and I came here one evening to paint, chat and to use our creative sides. The two working were both super sweet and helpful. By accident my friend smudged her bowl with the wrong color of paint, one of the gals said «oh, that can be fixed. I’ll sand it off and call when it’s ready to be picked-​up.» however when they called to say they were ready to be pick-​up he said they’re both ready but if you want the other one that needs to be fixed you’ll have to wait two more weeks. I was annoyed but wasn’t in a hurry so I agreed and waited the two weeks. After the wait they never called so I called to ask if our order was finished, the employee on the other end of the line acted confused and said probably no but you better call tomorrow to make sure. So I called the next day to get the manager who I may add was rude, not helpful, clueless about his staff and basically confused in general about all the orders in the back waiting to be picked up. He expressed there was no way to fix the bowl unless she wanted to sand the whole entire thing down and repaint it from start, by doing this to the bowl though it would weaken it’s ability to withstand the firing process and could cause the bowl to break. I thought about it for a second and just decided to call it quits on trying to fix the smudge on the bowl. I agreed to come in and pick-​up the order as is without having it sanded.
That whole situation I believe could of been handled differently, maybe a little nicer, maybe clearer communication on their abilities to fix items and maybe more organized overall. My friend and I both ended up having to wait much longer than we needed to. In the future I’ll probably just go to a different Color Me Mine instead. Hopefully I’ll have better luck there.

Color Me Mine is a fun place to take kids to have fun and be creative. My issue with this particular location was the lackluster customer service. There were three girls working when we walked in and not one person greeted us. I made my way to the front desk and told one of the girls I had a reservation, and even then there was no welcoming, not even a smile. She just said my name, pointed to a table and asked if we’d ever been there before. There was no explanation given about the process. The only other thing she said was that there was a $ 10 studio fee per person plus the cost of the ceramic piece. Then about halfway into our painting another shift of workers came in and kept complaining about the previous shift who apparently didn’t clean up after a large party. I understand every work place has their issues, but it’s a little annoying when you’re trying to paint and enjoy your time with a kid when you’re listening to complaining all around you. Those types of conversations should be done in a back room somewhere away from the customers.

I am giving 2 stars only because of the unfriendly customer service. They 2 working gave off the vibe of being in a morgue. The store is clean and super organized. So that was nice. One employee turned away 3 women who came in together at 5:50 reason, they can’t take people an hour before they close. They close at 7:00. The women said we were stuck in the parking lot. We tried to get here by 5:30. The customers were nice about being turned away (I was shocked) but it was obvious they were disappointed.

I like when my kids are kept busy and focused on something productive that doesn’t involve screen time :)
Parking: there’s a structure across the street and costs a $ 1 for 90 minutes.
Selection: much more to choose from than I expected, even though my kids went for the typical cups and mugs for gifts.
Customer service: could have been better. We fumbled for a bit at the beginning because we were the only ones there and didn’t know how to set up our painting session because the worker went into the back room for a while. We eventually figured it out, got started, then really got the idea when a seasoned family came in and prepped.
For the price and experience though, I would definitely return! Check out their website for weekly specials and discounts.

Very fun place! They have a big selection of things to paint and a lot of paints to choose from. The workers are friendly and the painting environment is enjoyable. It’s pretty pricey but I usually only go when there’s a deal that day to avoid paying for the sitting/​painting fee. Check their website for things like Ladies night deals!

Just another great date night here. Best staff we’ve had yet, headed up by Daniel. Very friendly this time. He even cleaned our mess. More time to enjoy each other. Perfect visit, with a great bottle of wine and my fiancé.

This place is so fun! It is a nice place to gather and express yourself artistically.
There is free paint time with a Unilocal check in and you can also come on Wednesday for «ladies night» for 2 dollar paint time. The way it works is that you can pick whatever item you want to paint – you pay for however much that item is plus the paint time fee. The items range from 7 dollars to like 50+ dollars depending. They have some useful stuff like cups, plates, ring holders and creative stuff like ornaments, penguins, teddy bears.
Then, you pick your paint and go for it! They have nice tables set up for you. I have only come on Ladies night and I guess they allow you to bring wine and food. We did that and had a blast!
The items are ready about a week later and they look amazing!

I made an appointment to do imprints & I am very happy with the results. The people working there are very nice & friendly. I will definitely go back to this location. Parking usually isn’t bad bc there is a parking structure right across. Great place for events too

Who says it’s not fun to act like a big kid?! If they told you different they lied! Color Me Mine is a place where kids and adults can both just have fun. Well at least we did!
I haven’t been here in years but I got a groupon and my friend and I couldn’t resist. Not only do they have a great groupon going on but they have a check in offer as well. However they both can’t be used at one time.
The check in offer gave you free paint time. The groupon we bought was $ 15 but gave us a value of $ 30 which included free paint time.
Sarah the lady who worked there was so nice and helpful. She showed me how to use everything and all my options on how to create an awesome piece of art work. Too bad I’m not much of an artist. This place also has ladies night, special deals on certain nights for women to come in.
They also have great ideas for Christmas gifts that I would have never thought about. I could have endless fun here!

I went once before and 120.00 later I ended up with two small plates.
I thought we would give it one more try when Groupon offered a deal. The employees insisted that they needed to charge me for 4 people even though there were only three present and two projects being painted.
It’s ridiculous to charge a two year old and an adult 16.00 to paint the same item. It’s not like they are using more materials. To add insult to injury to insist that the the Groupon said 4 people so they charged me another 6.00 for an imaginary child not present. Totally insulted.
I will never return.

Ceramic painting is the perfect hobby for a creative introvert like me! I used to go to the Beverly Hills location, but I’ve discovered that I actually like this one better.
I’ve come to paint twice on weekends, and it was never crowded or noisy. Didn’t have to wait for a table to open up or anything. Everything was clean and organized both times I went. Also, they let you use the small, hand-​held paints with the fine tip for smaller painting, which the BH location doesn’t allow, for some reason.
Both of my paintings were fired and ready for pick-​up within a few days. They hold them for 2 weeks by default, but you can call them and let them know if you need more time.
The only gripe I have about this place is that parking is always kind of a headache in this area, but… eh, such is downtown SM.

Color Me Mine is such a fun place to spend a few hours getting in touch with your artistic side! They have a wide selection of ceramics, plenty of different colors available, and super helpful and friendly staff. I visited on a Saturday morning when there was a little kid’s birthday party happening but was still able to find a table for myself to paint on. I used a deal purchased from Living Social and encountered no problems when redeeming it. And in about a week and a half, I received a call that my piece was ready for pick up.
All in all, my experience at Color Me Mine was positive. I’ll definitely come back again the next time I want to make another ceramic!
Quick tip: you don’t need to make an appointment but I’d suggest visiting here on the weekdays or early during the weekends to avoid crowds. This place is popular!
Parking tip: if you can’t find street parking, park at the lot right across the street from the location. Depending on how long you stay, you may have to shell out a few bucks. Totally worth it in my opinion since Santa Monica parking can be a hassle.

RUDEST OWNER EVER! I’ve never experienced anything like this before. The staff was really nice. I won $ 10 OFF coupons at a fundraising event and then SHE called SCREAMING asking WHERE I got the coupons from!!! SCREAMING!!! She left me shaking. NEVER went back to pick up the finished work.

This place is pretty damn awesome! I almost don’t want to write this because we got really lucky to almost have the place to ourselves! Alll you who are being fooled by the poor reviews, thank you for not coming in on Friday! :)
Four of us got here on a Friday evening and literally had the place to ourselves! Before you go thinking «duh, who paints on a Friday night?!» keep reading… We arrived and had a large table reserved for us (I called in a little earlier). We were allowed to bring in pizza AND wine, so had a delicious dinner and began to paint after the wine kicked in. :)
This was one of the best, simple and easy date nights ever! A girlfriend and I surprised our bfs thinking they’d hate it, but we all LOVED it! Can’t wait to go back and pick up our pieces!

Oh yeah!
This place is located on busy 4^th street in Santa Monica. There is a parking lot located pretty much right across the street. We were lucky to get parking on the Sunday that we went but the next time I went to pick up the pieces, I could not find a spot… so the parking is a little spotty… but hey, it’s Santa Monica.
Moving on…
when I saw this place on Groupon I quickly snatched it up. I remember how much fun it was the last time I was there and I wanted to repeat the experience.
I never cease to be amazed at how relaxed I feel at these places… Painting something makes me really relaxed and I go into some sort of zen place! If only this place weren’t so expensive! I would go way more often!
I read some other Unilocal reviews complaining about the staff. We, honestly, didn’t have a problem. They were having a birthday party the Sunday we went, but I don’t need someone doting on me anyway. I want to be left alone while I’m painting but the people were courteous and friendly and quick to seat us. Also, when I used my Groupon at the end, there wasn’t any issue with redeeming it.
As another Unilocaler mentioned, this place is much tighter in terms of space than any of the other Color Me Mine’s that I’ve been to. They do have a wide variety of pieces to choose from and even have some more «boy themed» items (ie. comic book characters/​robots/​etc) then I’ve seen in the past.
After much debate, I settled on a three level owl bank (which was too cute) and my boyfriend chose to do a Penguin bank.
They also have a wide variety of paints that they have out (as well as tiles on the walls — so you can see the color fired that you’re choosing) as well as some specialty paints that are absent at some other studios. They have some neon colors and this specialty flecked paint (which is what I used to create my pastel owls). They also have a ton of paint brushes (yay! — can never have too many of those), palettes, the little squeeze bottles of paint for small dotting and even some stencils. Cool!
They called me within a week (probably 4 – 5 days) to come pick up our items and they hold the items for 2 weeks, however, if you call them, they can hold your piece for longer.
Yay! I can’t wait to do it again!

Time to get CREATIVE and be an ARTIST
I’ve been to Color Me Mine several times and finally made it out to this location for the first time. Due in large part to a LivingSocial offer of $ 25 for $ 50.
I had a great time here and had no issues with my LivingSocial offer. They took it from my phone and I did not have to print it out (this was an issue some fellow Unilocalers had).
The few hours of selecting your ceramic piece and getting artistic and creative with it takes you away from reality and allows you to be a kid again. The best part is, you get to keep your creation and use it in your reality.
Some highlight:
–the staff was helpful but could be friendlier
–many option to select from with different sizes, price ranges, and uses
–many colors and drawing supplies
–pick up your creation a few days after (since it needs to dry and go in the finishing oven)
–check out their website and calendar for discounts and specials
Perfect for a date, bday party, or an outing with friends.
Looking forward to coming back soon.
I ARTIST :)

This color me mine is more cramped then other ones I’ve been too. There isn’t much space to walk around, but the store knows how to take advantage of the space they have. Although it is smaller and more cramped, the selection of kiln here is greater than the ones I’ve been to in Beverly Hills and Westchester.
I didn’t run into any problems at the Santa Monica Color Me Mine except for finding parking on a weekend at the public parking lot across the street. :/​
This is a great place though, I like it because you get your own paint here. I never really liked asking people to get my paint colors for me. Also, there are cool neon colors you can paint with. And, there are cute little aprons you can borrow for your kids while they are painting.
Service was good. The only difference between this place and others is that they only hold your piece for you for two weeks, vs. four at others.
Also, if you purchased a LivingSocial deal for this location, you will need to have the voucher printed out in order to redeem it. They won’t take it if it’s from your phone. Lucky for me, I printed mine beforehand.