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While it wasn’t technically a rainy day when we visited, CreativiTea is perfect for tucking in your back pocket for when the skies have opened up… and you need to get out of your house with your kids.
While my kids had been to pottery painting places in the past, this was my first time and I confess that I loved it far more than I thought I would.
When you get to the studio, you pick your pottery piece from the huge selection. There are animals and bowls and plates and cars and pretty much anything else you can think of. Once you have your pieces, you wait for a table. We didn’t have to wait long, even though they seemed busy.
At your table, they give you a little tutorial about where to find things and how to get the best results with your paint. Then, you get creating!
We were there for about two-hours. I reminded my girls (Everett didn’t join us for bull in a china shop reasons) that they should take their time and that they only got to paint one piece. I loved how they took their time with what they chose and how careful they were with the paint and supplies. I think that, for them, the processes was just as interesting and fun as the painting itself — getting to pick their own colors and brushes from the station, and even helping to clean up.
The girls adored it here and I did too. It was such a treat and while it’s not somewhere that we will visit weekly (my home can only handle so many painted pigs…), it’s a fun place to add to our list of outings, especially when we’re looking for a place to sit and visit and connect, with some creativity sprinkled in. We already have plans to go back to make some gifts for loved ones!
Cost
There are no studio fees for painting at CreativiTea. All you pay for is your creation, which you pick when you arrive to the studio. From what we saw, most of the kid-favorites were around $16, with smaller and larger pieces available.
Take
You don’t need to bring anything except your imagination and creativity for a visit to CreativiTea. I would recommend wearing clothes that you don’t mind getting a little paint on. My kids did okay, but I can see how it could get messy, quickly. Picking short-sleeves would be a smart choice, too.
Leave
Leave anything extra at home, as there isn’t a lot of storage and when it’s busy, there can be a lot of people milling around, grabbing their paints and brushes. They even have water at little stations around the studio.
What we would leave at home? Or, who we would leave at home? The littlest ones. Unless you are going to be one-on-one with your toddler or young preschooler, we’d recommend keeping this outing to the school-aged/pre-k crowd.
Eat
While it’s not necessary to order something to eat or drink while you’re at CreativiTea, it certainly adds to the fun! They have menus at the table and you can order traditional tea sandwiches and pots of tea to be shared (there are kid-friendly, caffeine-free kinds too!). The prices are reasonable and the food is tasty. The only tricky part about ordering food while you’re visiting CreativiTea is balancing eating and painting — consider waiting until you’re close to being done painting before ordering food. We ordered a large pot of tea for our table, which gave each of the five of us a mug, and it was around $6.
Find
CreativiTea Pottery Painting Studio and Tea Bar
1312 11th St.
Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone: 360.752.1724
Hours:
Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
No reservations necessary
Park
There is a large parking lot, just past CreativiTea, where there were a ton of open spaces on a Sunday afternoon. And, as usual in Fairhaven, there is metered street parking, if you have the patience to drive around the block a few times searching for a spot.
Online
You can visit the CreativiTea website for more details, including information about summer camps and birthday parties.
CreativiTea is also on Facebook and Pinterest.
Have you taken your kids to CreativiTea? What’s your best tip for other parents?
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