Little Shop of Crafts

I LOVED this place. My 5 year old son did, too. So when we came in from Queens for a special trip to Little Shop of Crafts we were gutted to see that it has closed.: (
It was a small, non chain place on a tree lined block, with funky painted stairs so you had fun from the first minute you walked up. Wah.

I had a free day during the week and decided to get my craft on. I was the only one in the shop for about an hour, which was wonderful. I really liked the music (lots of John Mayer, old-​school pop and the like … it made me happy =)) and once I got the woman behind the counter to warm up to me a bit she was very helpful and answered all my questions.
The only downside is that the shop did not have as varied of a color selection as I am used to. It looked like they had between 20 – 30 colors or so, which isn’t a huge amount considering different shades and all that. They also only have a few of their colors available in the writing tips. But I had a nice relaxing time (until the birthday party showed up in the afternoon) and wasn’t rushed. The woman told me about their wine nights towards the end of the week, and I will definitely be coming back for that.
All in all a good time, and you get to take home a quality item (well, a week or so later) when you’re all done — it’s money well spent!

Came here with my niece on a weekday to paint. A good variety of items to choose from and lots of different brushes.
TIP
No time limit, no sitting fee, UNLIMITED colors
They also have stencils you can use to add designs to your piece; a bit hard to use on curvy/​rounded items though.
I’m going to pick up my finished item some time this week and can’t wait to see it! Will definitely be back again with friends for a craft day.

Greatest greatest secret in upper east for alllllllll ages!!! SAFE: The door is locked and the owner or workers buzz you in. NO sitting fee. wine and cheese at end of week!
Don’t go to the ‘big outfits’ that put these charming places out of business!

I just wasn’t impressed with this place– compared to Make, it just seemed dim and not cheerful. I would not come back, maybe they just need to redecorate or get better lighting? It just made me sad to be in there– and I usually am addicted to paint your own pottery places!!!

This place is so adorable.
They have a really great selection of ceramics.
Unlimited paint colors and lots of good brushes.
We didn’t feel rushed to leave and my friend and I were diggin painting in
an air conditioned place with cool music.
So great for kids, and kids bday parties!!! So much more than just a ceramic painting place!

I’m torn with this review. On one hand, the place is expensive, a real ruckus with screaming/​crying kids on weekends, horrible service & really not clean. However, I also enjoyed my time here.
A really irkful occurrence stood out to me. I walked in and showed my iPhone to the lady at the counter and said «Hi, if I buy this $ 30 for $ 15 Unilocal Deal, I can just use it now right?» Her response was «No, we need a print out so you’d have to go home and print it.» I haven’t owned a printer in the past 7 years and no one has ever asked me to print out a deal coupon at any vendor EVER. I was therefore a little taken aback and almost walked out — however, I then looked on Foursquare and saw that they had 20% off per check-​in. The lady at the counter gave us the discount — though reluctantly.
The overall experience was fun although they told us our ceramics would be ready in 5 days, but it wasn’t ready until 8 days and they had *gasp* chipped the side of my ceramic. In response to the chip on my dish, the store gave me a brand new dish to paint, which I really appreciate. I can only imagine if they had chipped a little kid’s ceramic creation and not mine!

I went to the Little Shop of Crafts with a friend on a weekday night. It was pretty empty when we went. I really liked the concept of the store and it was a great way to catch up with my friend and make something creative at the same time. I haven’t ever been to any other craft stores so this review doesn’t have a comparison.
For those of you who haven’t been there, the store is a craft store. You purchase a wide variety of wooden and clay pieces ranging from small magnets to picture frames to large bowls. Once you choose what you want and purchase it (I made a teapot which cost $ 50) you then ask them for some paint and you get to work. You could also do mosaic. You sit at one of three large tables where brushes, magazines, pencils, and everything else you need is provided and you make your work of art. Once you are done, you give it to them and you can pick it up in a week once they «cook it.‘
I made a teapot and my friend made a bowl. We had a nice and relaxing time painting and chatting the whole way through. In fact, I think we were there for two hours and didn’t even realize it!
They let you bring in drinks if you want which is a nice BYOB experience. I am definitely going back and next time, I will make a mosaic!

Really fun place to get together and hang out while doing something semi-​productive! I come sometimes after exams just to chill out with some girlfriends and chat over cheap wine (Wed-​Sun nights get free wine!) and pottery. The staff are really friendly, and I don’t feel rushed even when I’m taking forever to pick out my colors and my pottery pieces.
There’s mosaic work as well as pottery painting
It is a little expensive, but I guess there’s no sit-​in fee, and they run groupon and Unilocal deals pretty often! Don’t think I’d come without one though.
Avoid the early afternoon times – that seems to be the hours when the moms haul all their kids for expensive playdates!
Warning: they don’t hold your pieces (finished or unfired) after 30 days! I got lucky and they actually used one of my pieces as the display (woohoo!) but the second piece got dumped =(They were kind enough to let me pick up a blank piece to bring back and paint next time though.

I came here a few weeks ago for the first time because I had a Groupon. I’ve been to Color Me Mine several times, and I was excited to try a new version of the idea. After the experience I had I would not recommend it to anyone.
First of all the atmosphere felt more like a Kids ‘N Paint than a place for adults. I don’t know who was working when we visited on a Friday night, but they were playfully fighting like a brother and sister — laughing, sparring. I didn’t find it professional.
The selection of pieces was ok, but very expensive. I could never afford it without a Groupon. We had two Groupons (worth $ 30 ea) and still paid an extra $ 25. I chose a bowl and my boyfriend chose a little storage unit with two drawers to mosaic.
It was nice to be able to sit and work on our pieces for as long as we wanted. And it took a long ass time, especially to mosaic. I tried using some stencils and stamps on my bowl, but I didn’t realize they wouldn’t work well on a curve (nor was I warned about it), and I had to re-​paint and freehand some stuff to make it look less like crap.
I knew the bowl would turn out awful, but I was excited for the mosaic drawers.
Well guess what? When my boyfriend went to pick up the pieces yesterday, he was informed that the mosaic drawer piece was not there. The woman said they must have given it to someone else by mistake (surprisingly no one took my ugly bowl).
Are you kidding me?!! I don’t know what kind of process they have for storing and retrieving items, but this is unacceptable. Especially for a handpainted one-​of-​a-​kind item.
My boyfriend wanted money back but instead they offered us store credit. Why on earth would I want to come back, waste another 4 hours of my life making something, only for you to give it to someone else? He took the credit because he didn’t want to leave empty handed, and he’s not as fesity as I am. Lucikly there’s Unilocal for me to voice my dissatisfaction.
The place gets two stars because the mosaic process itself is fun and unique. But even if they didn’t offer mosaics, I would not come back. It was too childish a vibe, it was expensive, and they lost our piece!
On another note, I’m selling $ 60 of store credit to Little Shop of Crafts for $ 40 OBO.

I really really really want to like this place, but the prices make it near impossible. Nearly everything in the store is $ 30 or more (and they’re not that big or nice — for example, a small, plain cereal bowl costs $ 30 to paint). They also have a pretty limited selection of art pieces.
Another thing that really bugged me is their mosaic collection. Many of the pieces are standard wood frames from art stores that normally sell for less than $ 5, but they charge $ 30 to $ 50 for you to make it into a mosaic. I understand it’s a business, and you spend a lot of time in their store, but the discrepancy in prices is way too big.
If you like crafting, then this place is definitely a lot of fun. It’s great that you pay for the piece, and not for the time. But when you end up paying so much more for something you made yourself, it’s hard to swallow.

Little Shop of Crafts SOUNDS delightful, but there are some realities to be aware of, including:
— complimentary wine is ONE «glass» of red or white wine in a small plastic cup (classy!)
— crafts are a bit pricey
— the stuffed animals are ridiculously ugly (not joking)
— towards closing the employee was visibly annoyed that I wasn’t finished and so i actually had a REALLY stressful experience trying to finish my project as fast as i could
With that said, I will not be back nor would I recommend Little Shop of Crafts.

I LOVE LITTLE SHOP OF CRAFTS!!! I cannot say it enough!
Whenever I have a bad day, I know that it will always be brightened by having a visit to Little Shop of Crafts. I love to do mosaics– they have a wide selection of bases and never charge you for your time AND allow you to finish on a different day if you aren’t able to finish it in one setting.
I haven’t tried the other crafts yet, but I look forward to. I save my pennies and visit at least once a month. I LOVE THIS PLACE, the atmosphere, the people, the crafts! Everything. I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Thank you for being wonderful. This place is so much more laid back then Make on 2^nd Avenue. Little Shop allows outside food and wine. enough said. You can also plug in your ipod of, get ready… Karaōke machine. Amaze. The staff leaves you alone, doesn’t judge your lack of artistic skills and lets you stay as long as you need! Prices are reasonable and they don’t charge you for paint or time (unlike Make!). There’s also a large room in the back for private parties.
Your inner Martha Stewart comes out here!

came here after going to the upper west side location. i have to say… the UWS location is a lot more chill and the people working there seemed warmer. fiancé and i came here on a random tuesday and an older lady in overalls ignored us. not cool. we had to wave her down and she just wasn’t that accommodating.
also, while we were here, the ceiling started leaking water. apparently the tenants above did not turn off their water. sigh. the horrors of owning a small business. it’s rough. :(however, none of the water got on us or our projects
the stuff here is nicer than on the UWS, though also more expensive. we painted this time — a nice serving platter for me, and a bowl shaped like a moose for the fiancé.
i’d rather go back to the UWS which is smaller and more cramped, but nicer employees!

I think that having the owner reach out to me (see his comment on previous review) and apologizing means a lot. I really appreciate it. I probably still won’t come back, but it’s comforting to know that not everyone who works there lacks social graces.

I went here for a birthday party and will say that making your own ceramics is a lot of fun, especially in a group. I would definitely go back by myself even because I think the process is pretty therapeutic. There are a few make your own ceramics places in NYC, so here are my pros and cons of this place:
Pros:
Not sitting fee, stay as long as you want
you can come back if you don’t finish it in one sitting
the youngish guy that works there is pretty helpful
Cons:
they chase you out early if they want to close early
their hours of operation are pretty inconsistent, you should call to check
the youngish girls there were pretty rude and not helpful
limited selection of ceramic pieces
At the birthday party, we had someone sit in and answer all of our questions and give us tips. The guy was super helpful. But then we got chased out at like 6:30 because they wanted to close early even though the hours say they close at 8 on Saturday. So we had to come back to finish our pieces. I came back with a friend the following week on a Thursday evening and there was no one else painting at the shop. We tried to finish our pieces and the two teenage girls working there basically looked at us as if we were infringing on their text time whenever we asked for paint or brushes. Then at 7:40 they tell us that they were going to close at 8. Gee, your website says you’re open until 9.
Well, we weren’t paying customers so they were going to close early. Nice of you to tell me that I basically have 20 minutes to finish my piece or I’ll have to schlep my way back here from Queens if I ever want to be done. So I slabbed on my paint, and the girl literally was taking my brushes away as I was trying to finish! Talk about rudeness.
I mean I like this place because it’s the only place that doesn’t charge a sitting fee, but I definitely don’t want to be punished for it by receiving rude customer service in exchange.

This is such a fun place to bring anyone from your best friend to your boyfriend. You walk in and pick out any ceramic piece (they have picture frames, bowls, teapots, you name it!). Most are $ 25 +. That’s all you pay for.
You sit down and paint or create a mosiac piece. Everything you need is provided. You can stay for as long as you want and can use as much paint as you need. You just ask for the colors you need. They have painting brushes but they were pretty worn out so my boyfriend and I had trouble painting on fine lines.
Amanda, the employee that helped us out was so kind! We mentioned Unilocal expecting a 20% discount but she happily offered to give us an additional 5% as well. (thanks if you’re reading this! and yes, we will be back: D)
There are about four tables that fit about 24 people and a back party room.
This was a great experience and I would highly recommend this to everyone.

Great place for a date (On Adult Night which is typically Thursday)!!!
You can learn so much about yourself and the other person you are with by exploring your creativity together. Paint pots, create beaded jewelery, and drink wine. (You can BYOB it, too!)

One time it was my friend’s birthday and she decided to have her birthday party at a craft store! So she told me and all her friends to come to this place, and we did and her mom was there and she ordered pizza for everybody! I love pizza. My favorite kind is mushroom or sometimes pepperoni, but I do NOT LIKE anchovies!
After we ate pizza we all got to put on smocks and then we sat at a LOOOOOONG table. We were the only people in the whole store! That was good because I don’t like sharing my pizza with strangers. Strangers are dangerous. There were shelves all over the store and on the shelves there were probably 4 million or maybe even a thousand white pretty things, like bowls and cups and statues and trays. They told us that we could all pick one thing and then we would get to paint it! I love to paint! But you can not eat paint.
I picked a big bowl because I never have enough big bowls when I’m entertaining and it is NOT OK to serve your guests chips out of the bag! I painted it with blue and green polka dots on the inside and a green stripe around the outside. I love polka dots! I used to have a pink polka dot skirt.
I had to wait a week or so for them to cook my bowl but when it was finished it was SOOOOOO pretty!!! We all thought that it was one of the funnest birthday parties ever and I will tell you a secret now – I really really wish that when it was my 29^th birthday party I’d thought of a good idea like my friend did for hers, but we just went out for Malaysian.