By The Paint Box is a paint your own pottery studio based in the Sea View Street quarter of Cleethorpes. Since moving back last year it has been on my “to do” list and so I went along with John’s youngest daughter and my Mum to “paint a pot”.
Rachel took over Paint Box from original owner Julie Gifford who started the business back in 2010 after being a customer for three years. When Rachel heard Julie was selling the business she decided to go for it and hasn’t looked back.
We arrived at the studio and it was a hive of activity. We were seated at our table and asked to pick out the pottery that we wanted to paint. There was a lot to choose from and we all changed our minds about three times!
Being an avid painter John’s little girl picked a very complicated looking gingerbread house, my Mum a classic looking birdcage and I chose a simple little gnome.
We were given our paints, brushes and clear instructions from Rachel on how to paint our items in terms of where to paint and how many coats etc. then off we went fuelled with a lovely cuppa!
It was great fun for all three of us, choosing our colours, deciding which parts we would paint, mixing colours ourselves. A really relaxing few hours, concentrating on our painting, with the odd gossip break inbetween.
The time passed so quickly and by the time we knew it everyone else had gone and we were the last people in the studio!
Rachel was so friendly and welcoming throughout our visit, she’s fantastic with kids and manages to spend time with each customer. She even took John’s little girl to see the oven that she “bakes” the pots in, which made her feel really special and she couldn’t wait to tell her Dad she’d seen it!
We were able to pick up our finished products the following week, which I am sure you can agree for our first attempts they’ve turned out really well.
I will definitely be going back again and really recommend it for kids. Prices range from £6 to £35 and it’s a really interactive activity to do together, or actually even on your own for something relaxing and mindful to do. They also run workshops (keep an eye on their Facebook page).
Massive thank you to Rachel for looking after us!
