Jewelry Making And Creature Crafting: Two Exciting New Workshops Coming In April! Plus Collaborations With Staunton Parks & Recreation!

Hello, dear Friends of the Staunton Clayground!

We are so excited to announce that in April we will be offering two workshops we have never offered before! Plus, we are kicking off springtime with two family-friendly co-workshops hosted by Staunton Parks & Rec! Read on to learn more!

Where to start? Come join Mary Tuttle for a fun and magical journey through jewelry land! No prior clay experience necessary!

What better way to find that perfect piece of jewelry than to make it yourself?

In Jewelry Making With Handmade Stoneware Beads! Tuesday evenings: April 22 & 29 from 6:00–7:30 pm and May 6 from 6:00–8:00 pm (5 hours total), you’ll learn to make your own stoneware beads out of clay, as well as how to glaze them. You will also learn basic wire wrapping to put them together, in order to make at least one pair of earrings and one necklace (just in time for Mother’s Day). We will provide all tools and materials. You just bring your creativity and any photographs after which you would like to style your jewelry.

Jewelry making will not be limited to women’s jewelry!

Next up, come join creature-creator extraordinaire, Abby Kiracofe, for a one-day adventure in handbuilding!

Who doesn’t need a friendly clay companion or two?

In Creature Crafting – A One-Day Handbuilding Workshop In April 2025, over the course of three very fun hours, you will learn how to make two different types of clay creatures, using the pinch-pot method and by sculpting. Choose a glaze color from several options and pick up your glazed and fired creatures 1-2 weeks later. Absolute beginners welcome are welcome, and you can choose from 1 of 3 workshop times: Sunday afternoon, April 13, 3:00–6:00 pm, Wednesday morning, April 16, 9:30 am–12:30 pm. Thursday evening, April 17, 5:30–8:30 pm.

We are also very happy to be kicking off a series of collaborations with Staunton Parks & Recreation! These will be taking place at the Gypsy Hill Park Garden Center and are family-friendly! Come with a friend or bring your kids along! These workshops are for people age 12+, but ages 6+ are welcome if working side-by-side with an adult participant.

The first, taking place on March 18 from 4:30–6:30, is Paint Your Own Plant Pot! What better way to welcome spring than by painting a brand new plant pot, handmade for you by us here at Staunton Clayground? Click the link above to visit the Parks & Rec website and register by March 12 to claim your spot!

Next up, on April 15 from 4:30–6:00, is Spring Window Accents! Come paint three colorful seasonal window accents, handmade for you at Staunton Clayground. Choose from a variety of shapes including flowers, bunnies and Easter eggs. We will provide all materials, including ribbons, so that you can take your handmade window accent home to hang the same day. Register by April 8 on the Parks & Rec website by April 8 by clicking the link above! Plus, don’t forget to check out all of the other wonderful activities they offer!

There will be even more fun coming in May and June, so keep watching this space for news 😃

Wishing you much happy claytime!

Kids' Workshops Are Here! Monsters and Mugs (and something for Valentine's Day, of course!)

Hello, dear Friends of the Staunton Clayground!

We hope that your New Year has gotten off to a fantastic start! Our 2025 pottery classes for grown-ups are up and running, despite a couple of snow delays, and we are so happy to be back with our hands in clay. What we’re realllllyyyyyy excited about right now, though, are our kids’ workshops! The first round of 2025 classes for young creators of various ages is ready to go, so read on to find out more!

Let’s start with monsters (and really, if there are monsters involved, where else would you start?). We have two different workshops, one for kids ages 6–11, and the other for young creators ages 12–16, both taught by that incomparable creator of monsters, our very own Brooke Fawley!

Don’t worry, they’re the friendly sort ;-)

Marvelous Monsters! is a two-hour workshop in two parts, for kids ages 6–11, to be held on Saturday mornings, February 15 & March 1, from 10:30–11:30 am.

Make your very own marvelous monster to take home! In the first session, kids will learn how to hand-build and sculpttheir monstrosities out of clay. In the second session, they will paint them with all kinds of fun underglazes to make them stand out from the crowd! Finished and fired monsters will be ready for pick-up at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 8. Uaaarrrggh!

Don’t worry, they won’t steal your cocoa! They’ll keep it safe for you :-)

Make A Monster Mug! is a four-hour workshop in two parts, for kids ages 12–16, that will run on Saturday afternoons, February 15 & March 1, from 1:00–3:00 pm.

Make every day a terror-ifically monstrous delight by putting your favorite hot beverage in your very own handmade monster mug! In the first session, participants will learn the basics of a foundational hand-building technique, slab-building, so that they can craft their mugs, and will be shown how to transform them into monstrosities of the very best kind! In the second session, they will apply underglaze colors to make their monsters even more wild, wonderful and unique! Fired mugs will be ready for pick up on Saturday, March 8, at 1:00 pm.

From monsters, let’s move on to dragons… well, a very specific dragon: our local Book Dragon!

This dragon wants to be your Valentine!

Join us for Story Time & Paint-Your-Own Ceramic Valentine’s Heart! A Half-Hour Workshop for Kids Ages 5+: Saturday, February 8, at the Book Dragon, from 1:00–2:30 pm, with seatings every half-hour.

Calling all kids ages 5 and up! Come and paint your own handmade Valentine’s Heart at the Book Dragon bookshop, located at 102 W. Beverley Street. Join us for a themed story time and a chance to decorate a clay ornament in the shape of a heart, handmade for you by the Staunton Clayground pottery studio! Parents can browse the shelves while they wait. Valentine’s Hearts will be ready to take home at the end of the session, and kids can collect a treat on their way out the door!

Ticket price: $10 (each additional child, $8.00). We will be seating 8 children at a time, every half hour.

And that’s just what we’ve got starting in February! Stay tuned for additional kids’ workshop news coming soon, with more workshops for young folks of various ages, coming in March and April, both at the Staunton Claygroundstudio and in conjunction with Staunton Parks & Rec, which will be hosted in their facility at Gypsy Hill Park.

Keep watching this space! We can’t wait for you to clay with us 😊

Wishing you a warm and joyful weekend!