Well, it's officially winter. The kids are bored of being inside all day, and there aren't too many exciting things to do on the weekends. It's a great time of year, however, to visit one of the area's paint-your-own-pottery shops, where your kids will enjoy flexing their creative muscles and you'll enjoy not having to clean up their artistic messes. Plus, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so you can also get a head start on a gift for the grandparents or a special someone.
This Sunday, January 27, The Artist in You studio in Westport Village is hosting a fundraiser for the Louisville Children's Museum. Stop in anytime between 3:30 and 7:30 pm, choose from hundreds of pottery selections, and let your kids go to town. Pottery pieces range in price between $5-$75, so even a big family could create many gifts or keepsakes without breaking the bank. A portion of proceeds will go towards the creation of Louisville's first hands-on children's museum, which aims to be a place where Louisville families can play, grow, and learn together.
If you're a Groupon member, check out the deal at Paint Spot in Shelbyville Road Plaza. For $12, you get $25 of paint-your-own-pottery, but you must use the Groupon by Friday and redeem the code by April 10. This website has a good link to various Valentine design ideas for platters, mugs, and vases. If you have very small children, it's relatively easy to use their grimy little hands to fashion a symbol of Valentine's Day that a parent or grandparent would adore. Four handprints make a great flower blossom and two handprints connected at the thumbs transform into a beautiful butterfly. (If you're still stumped, there's a reason why Google images and Pinterest were invented. Some other mom or teacher has already thought of everything!)
My favorite local pottery studio, Louisville Stoneware, also hosts a paint-your-own option, which I wrote about before Christmas. They have seasonal stamps and stencils and holiday-specific pieces to decorate, so don't forget about this Louisville icon when creating your handmade Valentine's Day gifts.
The Artist in You is located in Westport Village at 1321 Herr Lane, Suite 187.
Paint Spot is at 4600 Shelbyville Road in St. Matthews.
Louisville Stoneware is at 731 Brent Street, downtown.
Photo: courtesy of gorillaimages/shutterstock.com
