It’s that time of year… time to start thinking about giving (and getting!) gifts. As a potter, are you always thinking about what can help you make better pots AND help support our pottery community? Here are some pottery gifts you can add to your wish list.
But not just a bunch of stuff you can buy from Amazon! I want to support small businesses and independent makers. And though we would all love to get a pugmill or a fancy new kiln I’ll keep this list closer to the “average gift during uncertain times” price range. But you won’t find any average gifts here!
Let’s take a look at some awesome pottery gifts!
Some of the links below are affiliate links which means I would get a small percent of the sale for helping you find a great gift but there is no extra cost to you. This money is used to run the site and support my own small business.
Beautiful Handmade Brushes
What could be better for making handmade work than using handmade tools?! I recently discovered Lebenzon Paintbrushes. This business has been family owned since 1978 and every single brush is made by hand from the highest quality materials.
I received some of these brushes recently and I can tell you from personal use that they are amazing. I feel inspired just by picking them up and holding them in my hand.
The best part? The owner has offered a coupon code that I can share with my readers! Save 20% off your entire brush order when you use the code:
ARTBYFUZZY
This coupon code is good until the end of December. Merry Christmas indeed!
You can find out more about the business and the brushes in this brochure. To be honest, I learned more about brushes from the paper included with the Lebenzon brushes I received than I had in my entire life to that point.
View and purchase brushes at https://www.lebenzon-paintbrushes.com/.
Inspiring Pottery Ribs
Speaking of being inspired, have you ever used something other than those boring ribs that come in the super cheap beginner pack of pottery tools? If not, you should definitely consider it. I have nice selection of ribs from Troy Bungart that inspire me just about every time I use them.
I got to pick out a selection of ribs as a a Christmas present a few years ago. They are well made from different exotic woods. Even though they are often covered in clay I still love to wipe off the clay and see the beautiful wood grains and colors.
You can find Troy’s work on Etsy and his website.
There are probably many other makers crafting great pottery tools. Leave a link below if you know some of them.
Pottery Gifts You Can Wear
Did you know you can wear your feelings for clay on your sleeve– errr, chest? That’s right, you can get pottery shirts for real potters designed by real potters.
Potteryshirts.com has a nice selection of shirt styles, colors, and designs. More designs and products are in the works as well.
And not only do you get to wear some cool shirts, you get to support a fellow small pottery business.
Order by December 8 to get your shirts by Christmas!
Online Pottery Courses
The uncertainty of our current times has put a hold on many in-person workshops and classes. This is unfortunate but one good thing to come of it is more online clay learning. Here are a few independent potters that offer courses or classes:
- Antoinette Badenhorst – Porcelain, Glazing, Getting Started, etc.
- Andy Ward – Primitive / Ancient Pottery techniques
- Curt Hammerly – Mold Making, Bark Texture
- Hamish Jackson – Pottery Boot Camp
- Mea Rhee – Throwing, Glazing, Business
I’m sure there are many more. And keep an eye on ExperClay.com for an interesting course that will be launching soon.
A Good Book
Might I suggest this new masterpiece: The Michiana Potters: Art, Community, and Collaboration in the Midwest by Meredith McGriff.
(Full disclosure: I am part of the Michiana Pottery community so my opinion of this book may be biased).
There is always Amazon for ordering books but you can also get some books directly from fellow potters. For example, you can get books and DVDs from John Britt’s website. Let us know if you have a pottery book for sale.
New Pots!
Maybe this one is obvious but it seems like such a good idea. If you love to make pots you probably love pots that are made by other people too. And if you or someone you know is spending money on presents anyway, why not support some fellow potters?! You can’t go wrong with a new pot!
There are too many potters to name here but you probably already have some favorites anyway. If not, you can check out the Michiana Pottery Tour Holiday Sale happening on December 5th.
Okay, maybe a few pottery gifts from Amazon?
I guess I can share a couple of my favorites from our capitalist overlords. You CAN get everything from decal paper to diamond pads delivered right to your door so it is a convenient place to shop. But only look at these AFTER you have supported some small businesses.
Dremel Tool
This is one of the most used tools in my workshop. I received a cordless version years ago and I use it all the time to clean up pots, smooth out rough spots, and many other small tasks. You can get all kinds of attachments for all kinds of different jobs. There are definitely cheaper options out there but I haven’t tried them. Just do a search for “rotary tool” and you should find some. I found a cheap diamond bit set that I use on my pots that is similar to the one listed above.
Heat Gun
SEEKONE Heat Gun 1800W Heavy Duty Hot Air Gun
I don’t have this exact heat gun but mine is very similar. It is really nice to have when I need to make some wet clay a little more stiff. The one above comes with a couple different nozzle attachments which may be useful for non-pottery jobs.
Digital Scale
A long time ago I invested in a My Weigh digital scale. Back then it was a little cheaper but it has been a great investment. I have the i5500 and it is very reliable. I use it for making glazes, checking specific gravity, and shipping packages. There are cheaper options but usually there is some kind of trade off including less precision or smaller capacity. A reliable scale has been very nice to have in the pottery studio.
Happy Holidays!
So now you have some great pottery gift ideas that you may not have thought about before. If you can, support some of these great small businesses this year. Especially during such an uncertain time.
What kind of pottery gifts are you hoping for? Leave a comment below and maybe we can add them to the list.
Wishing you a safe, happy, healthy holiday season.
I’m hoping Santa brings me an oversized solid maple rolling pin. Nothing better for rolling even slabs.
This list is great! I tweeted it out.
Thanks Lori! That rolling pin sounds fantastic.
Happy Holidays!
These recipes, techniques and ideas are so inspiring and helpful. Thanks to all who put this together, I have been learning pottery for the last 5 years and still get excited when I learn about something new. I m 88 and feel like I have something to keep me interested for years to come.