Hot Mess Studios is one of a few great pottery studios in the Wilmington. They have group and individual private lessons and parties for on wheel pottery, canvas painting, and piece painting. They have 3 speciality nights you can sign up for in advance. On Thursdays they do Ladies Night Sip & Spin where you get one hour 1 pot, throw as many as you like, keep what you like for just $10 more + wine. Fridays are "Filthy Fridays" where adults 16 and over can sign up for a 7 pm or 8:30 pm time slot and get 1 pot + 1 ball of clay with the option of more at $10 each. On Saturdays they do the same thing but it's family friendly sessions (ages 7+) from 1 - 6pm, and 16+ reservation only from 7-8 pm. They're closed Monday - Wednesday with an exception of private reservations in advance. If you have special time and group number requests I'm sure they can accommodate if you call ahead and plan. They're very responsive, professional and easy to schedule with. I did all my scheduling through email and received prompt responses. The gal running our lesson, Emma, was also so professional and sweet. She's great at what she does and I'd recommend any beginner taking lessons from her. When we arrived Emma greeted us at the door, walked us through the studio, showed us the process and helped us whenever we needed throughout the activity. I had a certificate for 2 hours, 2 people, and 4 pieces each. It was plenty of time and almost too much clay for two first timers, which is a good problem to have. I'm not sure if that special is still running but check their website to see active discounts - they run great deals, often, and are super affordable for what it is! I would highly recommend trying it out or giving as a gift! read more

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Awesome studio, highly recommend that date night package. Fun place to take my wife on a date. Good atmosphere! read more

Hot Mess Studios - Paint & Sip Near Me - Wilmington, North Carolina

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Love this spot! A group of us took the pottery throwing class. Trying to learn the basics of working with clay on a wheel. It was like breathing for some of us (not me) and more challenging for others! I'm going back to do it again! :) I'll master it, damn it, I will! They fire your creations, whether they are worthy of moving forward in the world outside the studio or no. We went back about a month later to paint our pieces. Then the fired them again. The paint was key! We had so much fun in the studio! Yesterday I took a friend back to pick out a pre-made piece for painting. I went in with a very certain idea in mind. One of the skull coffee mugs! Of course once I began I changed the colors and design! Overall satisfied and can't wait to see the finished piece! Already have plans to go back again and work on one of their other art projects! There are canvases, glass wear, who knows what else!! One thing at a time, but I'll be a regular in this space!! Loads of fun for adults, and I saw plenty of kids with moms and dads in there yesterday! read more

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My boyfriend and I took a couples pottery class 2 months ago and genuinely wanted to have a good time. The clay pieces were on the smaller side which made throwing them on the wheel more difficult then if we had a good amount of material to work with. The instructor was very friendly in the beginning but got rude and standoffish as the class continued. In the end, we left with 4 pieces to be fired, finished and shipped to us. The approximate time frame was 4-6 weeks for the ceramic pieces to ship. After 8 weeks, I decided to contact them as we had gotten a little worried about our pieces and wanted to check in. I called twice and got no answer, as the prompt instructed I texted the number (I'm in California, not North Carolina and cannot simply go in and pick up my pieces). It took 3 separate texts before I got any response, a week worth of attempts and finally on the 6th total call we got through to an employee who informed us the instructor had marked us down as not paid (after she made us pay immediately after the class), so instead of reaching out for payment options, they let our pieces sit their to either be broken or thrown away. Negligent, and inconsiderate. It would have taken 2 minutes to call and sort through the misunderstanding but instead it took me a week of headache and at this rate I will never see my ceramic pieces again. I understand that things get misplaced and shops become busy but this is unacceptable read more

No idea what we got into when we booked a pottery session, Had a great time, excellent instruction, fun for our group, and looking forward to getting our creations back. Thank you. read more

My favorite place! It is the best ceramic studio ever! The people are very accommodating and there are so many things to do. Thank you!