ABOUT
We are The Pottery Stop - a paint your own pottery studio that has turned in to so much more! We aim to be a fun, friendly, and relaxing space where anyone and everyone can release their inner artist!
The Pottery Stop opened its doors in Columbia off of Snowden River Parkway in 2005. Three years later we picked up and moved to a new shopping strip in Ellicott City! This was a wonderful jump in visability, but we needed some room to grow!
So in March of 2010, we moved a few doors down to our current Ellicott City space and a few months later added a Coffee Bar to our awesome new studio.
Less than a year after that we opened our second adorable studio in Fulton, MD.
It's been a wild ride so far, and we thank our wonderful customers for sticking with us over the years!
Here's to more many more filled with fun, friends, and more pottery than you can shake a stick at!
1. Choose your piece from our amazing selection of housewares,
figurines and more!
2. Pick from over 100 colors ranging from basic primary to beautiful art glazes!
3. Browse our variety of idea books and design tools to create your masterpiece!
4. Paint and create to your hearts content!
5. Now it's our turn! We dip your pottery in our special clear glaze to ensure it is fully sealed!
6. After your piece is glazed, we fire it up in our kilns to almost 2000 degrees!!
7. One week after you tured it in, you pick up your work of art! It is now fully glossy and food safe!
Pottery pieces are priced anywhere from $4-$60, with most pieces in the $10-25 range.
In addition to your pottery, there is a studio fee equal to one half the price of your piece. This studio fee covers your color, materials, time, firing, and glazing.
So for example, a $12 mug will end up costing $18, or $12 + $6 = $18.
The average painter spends $15-25 total before tax when they come to paint.
Ocassionally, there may be an small additional charge for special glazes or techniques. The staff will be sure to inform you of any of these before you begin.
1. Choose from a great assortment of wine glasses, candle holders, ornaments and more!
2. Pick your colors from a bright rainbow of opaque, transparent, and frosted shades!
3. Browse our variety of idea books and design tools including glitter, snow, and chalkboard!
4. Paint and decorate your masterpiece!
5. Once your piece is dry, you'll bring it home that day with a care card to cure in your oven!
6. Let your piece dry for 24 hours, place in a cool oven, and bake for 30 minutes at 325!
7. Enjoy your beautiful new glassware! It is now food safe and dishwasher safe!
Glass pieces are priced from $8 - $35 and cover all materials and a care card with instructions on how to cure your piece in your home oven.
Materials and options include:
- Glitter
- Snow
- Chalkboard Paint
1. Choose a base mold shape! There are hearts, circles, ovals, teardrops and more!
2. Pick from hundreds of top stamps to decorate your pendant OR use your fingerprint!
3. Step by step instructions will help you roll out and stamp your pendants.
4. We'll fire your pendants in the mini kiln! Don't worry, a Lilly Pro will do this for you!
5. Choose your findings and accents! You can upgrade to silver chains, earrings and more!
6. When your piece done firing, polish and patina it using special tools!
7. Add your pendants to your findings and wear your silver masterpiece with pride!
Create your own heirloom quality silver jewelry with our Lilly Ollo Silver Clay program!
Cost is $40 per person & includes:
- instruction and firing
- use of base molds, stamps and tools
- One silver clay pack
- up to 4 sterling silver jump rings
-up to 24 inches of leather cord.
With your clay pack, you can make one large pendant, two medium, 4 small pendants, or two medium and one small.
Extra clay packs can be purchased for same day usage at $18 per pack!
You can also choose to upgrade to a nicer necklace, charm bracelet or purchase findings to create earrings, wine charms, mobile phone dangles, luggage/backpack pulls, bookmarks, keychains, etc.
Walk-ins available at Fulton only, but please call to be sure a Lilly Pro is there to help you! You may also book a silver class/party at either location for 6 or more!
These projects are suitable for ages 13+ individually, or 10+ with an adult helper.
Don't have time to do the finishing yourself? We can do it for you for an extra $5! Your finished pendants will be ready for pick up the following day.
Want to try it out with a friend? You can split a pack of clay and each make either one medium pendant or two small pendants. Cost is $25 per person, and is only available for walk-ins.
This looks like fun! What exactly do you do at The Pottery Stop?
How much does it cost?
What is a studio fee? Why do you have one?
How long does it take to paint?
What if I don't finish my piece?
When will my pieces be ready?
Why does it take so long?
Do I need to take a class?
What sort of payments do you accept?
What sorts of parties are available?
Do we need a reservation?
I need a gift for tomorrow/this weekend-- can you rush my pottery?
Are the cups, bowls, and plates food safe?
Will my creation be microwave and/or dishwasher safe?
Do you do special orders?
Are kids welcome at The Pottery Stop?
Im not an artist! Can I still paint?
No, really, I have two left thumbs! Can you paint it for me?
Can I take my pottery home to paint?
Can I bring my own refreshments or snacks into The Pottery Stop? What about wine?
Your parking lot at Ellicott City can be difficult! Any tips?
I have a question you didnt answer here! Who can I contact?
The Pottery Stop is a paint-your-own-pottery studio with a mission to help to whole world discover and release their inner artist!
You stop by one of our two convenient locations, choose your pottery, paint your artwork, leave it with us for about a week, and pick up your fully glazed and fired masterpiece!
In addition to your pottery, there is a studio fee equal to one half the price of your piece. This studio fee covers your color, materials, time, firing, and glazing. A $12 mug will end up costing $18, or $12 + $6 = $18.
A studio fee is a one-time fee that covers your time, materials, firing, and glazing of your pottery when painting in the studio.
By structuring our pricing the way we do, we are able to offer customized levels of pricing to suit a variety of customer needs, such as off-site painting (Port-A-Pottery), bulk pricing, fundraiser pricing, and more.
Studios that are all-inclusive or do not have a studio fee merely lump their fee into their base price for their pottery. You'll find that our prices are very competitive with other local studios!
Definitely not!
While we will offer classes and workshops, we are designed for the walk-in painter!
But if you would prefer a workshop setting with an instructor, you can check out our events and workshops here!
We accept cash, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover!
At this time, we do NOT accept American Express or personal checks.
We have tons of parties for artists of all ages! You can read more about our kids and tween parties here!
But don't let the kids have all the fun! We offer adult parties for Bridal/Baby Showers, Corporate Events, Birthdays and more! There is nothing more fun than 15 grown-ups blowing bubbles and splatter painting the night away!
Have a scout group, team, or school interested in taking a field trip to The Pottery Stop? Check out our great tax-exempt group rates!
Not at all!
We are a walk-in studio that is first come, first serve.
The only times we will take reservations are for birthday parties, scout troops, corporate functions, bridal/baby showers, etc. OR occasionally for special events such as workshops.
Your pieces will usually be glazed, fired and ready to be picked up in one week!
Parties, Fundraisers, and Port-A-Pottery will take a little longer to be ready.
The completion date will be marked on your invoice! We encourage you to pick up your creations in a timely fashion as we cannot be responsible for broken or lost items which remain after 4 weeks since completion.
Due to both the volume of pottery we fire and technical constraints, we cannot rush pottery, but you are more than welcome to call to see if your pottery is finished early!
It will always take a MINIMUM of 4 days for pottery to be ready.
But you are welcome to take home the un-fired pottery to present as a gift if you run out of time-- merely bring it back afterwards to have it fired!
We also offer gift certificates and gift sets for those last minute gifts!
You bet!
All of The Pottery Stop's glazes are lead free and completely non-toxic and after being fired in our kilns, pottery has a high gloss glazed finish that protects your artwork!
To keep your creation looking its best for years to come, we do not recommend putting your artwork in either the dishwasher or the microwave. Hand-wash only for best results!
Yes, if you can't find the specific item you are looking for, you are welcome to take a look through our catalog!
It will generally take anywhere from 1-3 weeks for your order to come in. Unfortunately we cannot always guarantee we are able to get singles of every piece, so we recommend having a 2nd choice as back up, just in case.
Yes, definitely! We welcome painters of all ages, from newborns adding footprints to grown-ups ready to relax and create!
Do keep in mind that our youngest artists might not yet be ready to handle a marathon painting session, but they always have a wonderful time expressing their creativity!
Absolutely!
Here at The Pottery Stop, we believe in helping everyone discover their inner artist, even if it is buried way down deep and most of our customers have never painted before!
We have tons of idea books, stamps, techniques and more to help beginners and experts alike-- you can even trace logos and other images from the internet!
Be sure to take a look through our idea gallery online to see examples of what you can paint!
While we love to encourage everyone to tap into their personal Picasso, we understand that some are just more comfortable having someone else do the artwork!
We offer a variety of different custom and finishing options from lettering ($2 per word) and
hand/finger print finishing ($15 per piece) to fully custom pieces (prices vary).
Please contact maegan_thepotterystop.com
if you' re interested in having us paint a fully custom piece!
Definitely! We offer a great discount for off-site painters!
Simply ask our staff or visit our website to learn more about our Port-A-Pottery program.
Want to host a painting event at your school, church, or other organization? Learn more about our off-site Tax-Exempt program here!
You bet! In fact, we encourage bringing munchies to complete the experience!
But do keep in mind that our Ellicott City location is also a full coffee bar: we offer delicious lattes, smoothies, and more!
Wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages are welcome at The Pottery Stop for painters that are 21 or older! We have a wine opener on-site, just in case, but our employees will not be able to open or pour for you.
TPS reserves the right to ask for identification and asks that all painters drink responsibly.
Don't we know it!
If youve tried to stop by between 12:30 and 3pm on a Saturday, you know how crazy that lot can get!
We definitely recommend trying to avoid taco timelunch and dinner can be a mess, so if you arrive to paint before noon or after 4, you tend to have better luck getting a spot. Also keep in mind that Q-doba has a quick turnaround time, so spots can open up fairly fast!
Remember! The Bank closes at 12 noon on Saturday and all day on Sunday which definitely adds some much needed spaces.
That will really depend on the piece you paint and level of detail, but most kids spend 1-2 hours painting and grown-ups average 2-3 hours.
We recommend planning on at least two hours if you're coming with a group!
No problem!
We will simply wrap your piece for you to take with you, and you are welcome to come at any other time to finish you piece at no extra charge!
Unfortunately, due to space and storage constraints, we are not able to hold pottery on-site.
Please email any other inquiries to info_thepotterystop.com or fill out the form below and well be happy to get back to you!
Good question!
First, your piece has to dry overnight.
Then we dip about half of it in a clear glaze, and let that dry.
Next we'll dip the other half in our clear glaze to ensure it is completely coated.
After your piece is completely dry, we load it in to our kilns and fire them up to over 1800 degrees, which take about 8-10 hours.
Once the kiln has reached temperature, it must cool down very, very slowly, so as not to crack or damage the pottery inside.
It will usually take 24-36 hours to cool down enough for us to open the kiln.
Once your piece is cool, we'll unload and match it to your invoice before we place it on the pick-up shelves to wait for you!
As you can see, it is quite the process and hurrying any part of it can compromise your artwork!
The Pottery Stop is a fun and exciting place to work and we’re always looking for great people to join the staff! Please read through the job description and qualifications below for more info.
If you feel like you would be a good fit, please download and complete the application below:
Applications may be dropped off in person, scanned and emailed to thepotterystop_gmail.com OR mailed to:
9050 Baltimore Nat'l Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042
**PLEASE NOTE: Incomplete applications or resumes only will NOT be considered**
NEW Employment Application Blank 01.2012.doc
Questions? Concerns? Compliments?
We welcome any and all feedback!
Please feel free to fill out the following form or email us at info_thepotterystop.com and we'll get back to you as soon as we are able!
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Ellicott City, MD
(410) 480 0111
Fulton, MD
(301) 317 9936
