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| - Colour Me Mine has a lot in common with most other paint-your-own-pottery places. Unless you're quite artistically inclined, you can expect to leave having spent a fair bit of cash on a pretty amateur-looking piece of dishware. But you come for the fun, and the relaxing experience of spending a few hours doing something creative in a pleasant environment, while the staff takes care of the hard part.
Like most places of this genre, there's a wide range of items to paint and the pottery pieces are on the expensive side. You'll probably be spending in the range of $35-$40 for your own hand-painted mug after the service fee. Go with a larger item like a tray or teapot or vase, and you could easily shell out $70. If you want to make a date evening of it, expect it to run about the cost of dinner for two at an upscale restaurant. But, like I said, unless you're a real talent, it's about the activity, not the product- if that's what you're looking for, you can find nicer and cheaper plates at Ikea.
What I really like about Colour Me Mine in comparison to other similar businesses is their fair and predictable pricing scheme. Unlike many places, Colour Me Mine has a flat service fee instead of an hourly studio fee. This way you don't feel rushed to finish your piece in two hours to avoid having to pay another charge. You can sit the whole afternoon and evening working on your masterpiece. You can even come back to finish if you're not done by the time they close. And they don't limit you to a certain number of colors and then charge you if you want to use more than that, unlike other PYOP places. So overall, I would have to say this makes for the most enjoyable pottery painting experience I've had, as you're free to relax and be creative.
It does take a little while to get your piece back (they glaze and fire it for you)- longer than most places I've been to. We were able to pick up our pieces about nine days after painting them. But unless you really need your hokey butter dish in a rush, this isn't really much of an inconvenience.
The staff is friendly, cheerful and helpful. There's free coffee and a party room for big groups, and special party packages as well. Fun!
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