Let's Go Doodlin - Paint your own pottery!

I love crafts - it's one of my favorite things to do! I'm not always the most creative from scratch - but if I see some ideas - I can make something fun. I came across Let's Go Doodlin ceramic & glass studio and it was RIGHT up my alley! 

Let's Go Doodlin is on Beechmont at 5 Mile (right by the Outback Steakhouse). It's a cute little shop in a strip mall and they're open every day but Monday. 

There are probably one hundred options (at least) for pottery pieces to choose from. You choose your piece, paint a design, they bake it and you pick it up. Pottery pieces range from $3-$40 (ish) so there is something at every price point. They have a painting fee - I think it's $7 - and you can stay as long as you like.

The selection of pottery pieces is huge! They have letters, mugs, plates, figurines, picture frames, bowls and everything else you can probably think of. Here's a link to their finished project gallery to give you more ideas. They also have finished projects around the studio to give you ideas to jump start the creative process.

Jen chose a plate and I chose a mason jar - each were around $14 - then our painting fee of $7 each - the cost would have been $20 each for our projects. (Let's Go Doodlin provided these projects & fees to us free of charge in exchange for this post.)

 Jen decided to make a birthday plate for her son based on one of the samples in the shop (and shown above on the bottom left. They recommended we start out our design in pencil on the pottery. The pencil will disappear when it's baked - so no marks!

I chose a mason jar - I thought it was really fun and I could use it in some of my food photography as a fun background item. I drew daisies all over it because of how much I love daisies. The nice thing about these pieces is that you can eat off of them, drink from them - they're dishwasher & microwave safe. They did say that over time the microwave may cause cracking - so do that sparingly.

I painted the piece with a light blue speckled background and then drew my daisies on top. Once that was done - I started painting the design!

Jen finished her plate pretty quickly - she combined looks from a few pieces around the studio to make Wally his birthday plate!

I got to town on my daisies - big & small - it was really fun. Daisies are my favorite flower and I was excited to see how this would turn out. They tell you to always paint light on the bottom and go darker on top. I was testing the waters by doing the blue on the bottom and white daisy on top - I tried to pile on the coats to make sure it would be seen.

The staff was very helpful as well - they have suggestions & tips along with any help you need in making your idea come to life.

I also decided to sign my mug on the bottom - #shocker. hahaha

Here are Jenny & I beaming over our finalized projects. When you're done you leave them there - the staff then bakes your projects in the kiln. It takes about a week for your projects to be ready.

The studio is very cute - they have two rooms and you can have parties there as well. 

A week later we picked up the projects - and we were thrilled! You can see the difference between the pre-baked and the post-baked. The colors get much brighter and really come to life! I love the mason jar and will definitely be using it!

Thanks again to Let's Go Doodlin for the projects - we had a great time and the staff was very friendly. It's also great for kids - the folks that came in while we were there had little kids that were doing Easter pieces and they were having a blast. So it's fun for all ages! Once Larry saw my jar - he said he wanted to go and do a project! So it looks like we'll be back.

Have you been to a paint-your-own pottery studio? What did you make?