Most people have had painting (or making pottery) on their bucket list, whether as kids or adults. Well, at Color Me Mine, you can paint just about anything! Looking for owls, penguins, ducks, and dinosaurs? Check. Or, maybe you’re looking for home pieces like mugs, plates, small containers, and soap dispensers? Also check. Color Me Mine, located on Broadway Blvd in Park Place Mall, is a great place to get your creative juices flowing! If you’re looking for a fun place to have a date night, birthday party, or just hang out with friends, visit this paint-your-own ceramics store that offers either walk-ins or reservations.
They have so many options to choose from, ranging from teacups to huge perched dragons on mountains! For our soon-to-be colorful creations, we chose a cat and a dolphin. And oh man, it was fun! It was like each unpainted piece of pottery was calling our name to be personalized and given a story, so a story we gave it!
Voices, noises, and choices
When you first enter Color Me Mine, it’s a whole whirlwind of emotions and sights. First, you’re overwhelmed by how many choices there are, stretching from home essentials like cups and bowls to animals like turtles, dogs, piggy banks, and even seasonal items like pumpkins and Christmas trees. Second, you notice the astounding array of scents surrounding and dancing around in the air, with the smell of faint pumpkin spice, clay, and paint being the most prominent. And finally, you situate back to reality and realize an employee has asked you if you need any help. For us, that was our exact experience. When we realized the dozens of shelves and the hundreds of unpainted pottery and material, we were astonished! It’s not very often you walk into a store and are immediately inspired to be creative and colorful. Everywhere you look, it’s another possibility added onto your already curious mind.
When you’re looking for a definitive pottery piece to paint, it’s hard to keep your eyes on one spot. You’re always looking around at the many shelves, even if you were just staring at them moments before. Once we started to walk around and look for our own pieces to paint, our interest was piqued over and over again. Should one of us choose this cat-inspired bowl, or what about the actual cat? What about the ginormous dragon perched on a mountain or the cute little dolphin? So many choices to choose from! Color Me Mine is a huge palette for your imagination.
The sight-seeing of pottery pieces was a great experience, but even greater was the customer service! Luckily, we were actually able to converse with one of Color Me Mine’s employees. Meet Kyra, an employee who has been working at Color Me Mine since 2020, and her response to the overall goal of Color Me Mine. “Our goal is to create memories and keepsakes. We love seeing families come in every year to make handprint plates or clay impressions.“ Kyra has also personally completed over a hundred projects at Color Me Mine, stating, “I couldn’t even begin to count all the projects I have completed. I love to paint at home as well as paint store samples, so it must be over 100.” Thank you, Kyra! And now, it was our turn. (Cue the dramatic, theatrical tunes.)
Coloring It Ours
After toying around with the hundreds of available choices, we finally stuck to our decisions and chose a cat and a dolphin. Small, neat, and definitely not as intimidating as the dragon. Once you choose and fill out the information for the bill, you receive a color key and a painting palette where you write down which colors you are going to paint with. It’s a quick, easy process and makes you excited to finally paint. You also get a rundown of how painting the pottery works and what to expect, so that’s pretty neat too! For us, the beginning was the most jarring. Where should we start? What color should we paint this and that? More and more decisions.
Once we got started, the process was very entertaining! Painting made us simultaneously concentrate and sociable with each other, which was an interesting mix. We kept gazing around Color Me Mine while we painted, and the colorful atmosphere was a welcoming tone. Our pottery pieces had us hooked in with concentration. Every time one of us messed up by accidentally mixing two colors or painting over an already dry area with another color, we would hear each other sigh and it would spark up a conversation between us. Our pieces had us riveted with focus. We were indecisive on what colors we wanted what to be, and leaned towards asking each other for advice. Taking someone to Color Me Mine with you is an experience that not a lot of things can top since you’re engaging in a quiet, calm, and comfortable environment together- it takes away any awkwardness and is a great bonding experience!
Throughout our time at Color Me Mine, we witnessed a birthday party take place. In our conversation, Kyra also mentions her own birthday party at Color Me Mine. “I have been coming to CMM since I was a kid, I had my birthday party here and came in to paint with my mom pretty often.“ As we continued to paint, more and more little kids and their families walked through the doors of Color Me Mine to join, and it was a warming sight to see. Eventually, a couple hours passed and we, as perfectionists, ruled that we were finished. Once we were done, we dejectedly said a temporary goodbye to our now-painted pottery pieces and bid farewell to the store. Now, it was a couple of days’ wait for them to be glazed. However, there’s still so much to see and so much to paint. Until next time, Color Me Mine!
If after reading this, you believe you are interested in this wonderful experience, Color Me Mine is open everyday from 11 am to 6-8 pm, depending on the day and is about twenty or so minutes from the University of Arizona campus. In-store shopping, curbside pickup, and delivery are all a part of their services.
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Madison O’Malley is from Ohio, studying English and creative writing. Daniella Kotopoulous is from Arizona and is currently a freshman at the University of Arizona, she is undeclared but exploring.