Last weekend my housemates and I decided to relive our youth by visiting a ceramics café. We’ve been toying over ideas for a birthday gift for a friend for a while now and thought the idea of personalising some pottery for her would be extra special!
Ceramics cafés were a popular birthday party location when I was a child, below is an old photo from my twelfth (or maybe thirteenth?) birthday party at All Fired Up, Ipswich. I’m the one in the stripy top in the centre of the pic – how cute!
Anyway back to the review; I got the idea of going to a ceramics cafe into my head – on Google searching it to find any local to us in Nottingham, Funky Pots, Razzle Dazzle Pots and Pot’n’Kettle were the top 3 choices. I had a browse of each of their websites and Razzle Dazzle Pots’ was by far the most professional site, providing opening times, examples of pottery, information on parties, bookings, news, events, social media links, the lot. I think it’s so important these days for businesses to keep up with their on-line presence considering most potential customers search on-line before deciding where to go. My first impression of Razzle Dazzle Pots was good even before I’d visited because of their website!
Opening times on a Saturday are 10am till 5.30pm, we arrived at 3pm thinking we’d only be an hour but it took us till past 5 to finish, so it’s important when visiting to give yourself a good 2 hour gap. There is a free carpark behind the shop which was convenient for us considering it was a short drive away to Mapperley from the city centre. On entering the shop, of the 4 large tables available, two were in use. The owner greeted us as we took to 4 person table and asked us whether we were here to collect or to paint. To paint please!
The lady asked us what we were looking for and we said we were thinking of painting a vase for a friends birthday present – she suggested we each paint something individual and create a set which was a much better idea – so we went for a small plate, breakfast bowl and mug. Deciding on a cupcake theme, we started painting. There is a numbered colour wheel on the table, which shows you what each colour will come out like after the kiln, each colour required 3 coats.
There is a vast collection of pottery to choose from in the shop, from ornaments to crockery, everything is fairly priced and involves no hidden costs, i.e. the price tag on the object include the use of paints, decorations, the firing etc. Click this link to view a slideshow of some of the pottery available. The shop itself is spacious and brightly decorated, making it a lovely setting for you to come and spend some time creating your own unique piece of art.
On each of the tables there is a plastic box full of small bottles of paint (which according to the website, aren’t actually paint but underglaze which is especially made to go on bisque). The colour wheel can be found in the box also, there is a selection of different shaped paintbrushes and each of us were given a sponge, cup of water and paint pallet. If you’re stuck for inspiration, the staff are more than happy to show you some tricks and there are also arty books available too.
Half way through our stay, we were offered a hot drink, by this point we were the only customers left in the shop. Earlier on in the afternoon there had been a party upstairs which meant things were a lot noisier for the first hour but it wasn’t a problem, it was the kind of atmosphere we had expected. That said, it was rather nice when we were the last ones left, painting away. There is freshly grounded coffee available and cold drinks as well as home baked cakes and sweets, all reasonably price. I went for a cup of tea, 70p, a Hot Chocolate was £1.50 and a latte £1.80. Each were presented in a hand painted cup which was a simple but lovely touch.
Our visit to Razzle Dazzle Pots was much enjoyed by all, we were all happy with our pieces once we’d finished painting. The next thing to do, was to leave our pots there for a week to be dipped in a special glaze then fired in the kiln. The kilns are currently fired on Thursdays and Sundays, so items are generally available on Tuesdays or Saturdays.
Razzle Dazzle Pots had a lovely friendly atmosphere and we thoroughly enjoyed the bit of quiet time and a chance to get creative (away from our final year business degree studies!). I would most definitely go again – and I’m saying this without having seen the finished article yet!
Details
ADDRESS – 852 Woodborough Road, Mapperley, Nottingham, NG3 5QQ
CONTACT – 0115 905 6029
OPENING TIMES – Closed on Mondays, Tuesday – Saturday 10am till 5.30pm, Sunday 11am-4pm
WEBSITE – www.razzledazzlepots.co.uk
FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com/Razzledazzlepots
TWITTER – @RazzleDazzlePot
Just another London foodie 