The Pottery Cottage

My family loves this place. I was looking for some entertainment for visiting grandkids & found a Groupon. I took my 4 grandkids & their moms last summer & all of us painted pottery. Since 2 of my grandchildren lived out of state & I didn’t want to have to ship their items, the Pottery Cottage offers a «rapid fire» for a slight charge to do it ASAP… Later in the year, my daughter-​in-​law & I decided to go to one of the adult «wine & paint» classes. We really enjoyed painting a painting which now hangs in our respective homes. We both have a background in art but some others were «amateurs» & the class & instruction is structured so anyone, regardless of ability, can come away with a nice piece of art… I got another Groupon & the grandkids, their moms, & I returned the week after Christmas. The inventory was a bit low but everyone was able to find an item to their liking. Once again everyone had a great time. I think the prices are fair. The service has always been great. Any of the personnel I’ve dealt with has been courteous & helpful. They don’t hover. If you need hand-​holding, I’m not sure how things would go. We are aged 4 – 65 & able to paint on our own & find what we needed. We got help & suggestions when picking out glaze. The kids had a blast & my out-​of-​towners asked could we make this a regular activity when they visit. (Some extra «stars» — the Groupon I got had the ‘wrong’ location on it even though I chose Harrisburg — their explanation was no room to list both on one page ??? but when I called Pottery Cottage to verify I could use it in Harrisburg, the manager said no problem. When we were ready to check-​out the lady helping was nice enough to waive the «rapid fire» surcharge (which is usually very low anyway) because she said she’d gotten all caught up on firing pieces so none were ahead of us. We were able to pick-​up our pottery in time for my out of town family’s departure). Adult or child, if you’re looking for a fun activity w/​a tangible item to come away with, I recommend Pottery Cottage. ((Keep in mind, this is poured bisque ware & not hand built pottery. I did see where they were going to offer pottery classes for thrown pottery.))

I loved this little place! We got the groupon, brought some beer, wine and music and got the whole party room to ourselves on a Friday and Saturday night (took us two times to finish). Staff was so funny and helpful! We had a great time and think this is a great relaxing place for night out w friends.

Great for children, not so great for adults. I went with my 8 year old daughter who had been there before but I had not and I told the lady working there this. There were many pieces that were not priced so the woman had to keep calling someone, I assume the owner, to get prices. I was given no instruction so I just assumed okay, you just paint it. That easy. No ! At each table, there was a container of paint brushes that were in pretty poor shape and as soon as I started to paint, I got these nasty clumps all over my pottery. I told the woman this and she said there may have been some acrylic left in the brush. So I’ve now pretty much ruined my $ 16.00 plate. She gave me another brush which worked fine, 2^nd brush I tried, same thing. She gave me some newly washed brushes but by then my piece was already looking pretty bad. I gave up and painted over the mess and handed in for curing a pretty awful looking plate. I tried to remind myself that this was quality time for my daughter and I but I also wanted to make something useful and at least semi-​nice looking for the $ 16.00 I paid. Bottom line, some clean brushes, instruction and an offer of a replacement plate would make all the difference.