Make Meaning

The worst store in the city. I have went to this store several times and they lose my piece every single time. Now the store has lost the lease, so I come to pick up my piece and they tell me it is missing and I can not receive a refund. They did not care that I spent over $ 200 on several occasions. The manager has the worst attitude and every other worker are teenagers. This store needs to shut down completely. I wonder how much money they lose a year just by letting people do a piece over. I spoke with the manager on several occasions and when she said she would be in the store to speak with me she was NEVER on time. I had to deal with little girls in red shirts who did not know anything. I love this place it has a great concept but IF YOU LIKE WASTING MONEY AND TIME THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU. They said they would re-​open but the best advice would be to gut the management team and then re-​build. My daughters love this place and so do I but the manager makes the place unwelcome at times. You cant miss her either she stands out, you would think she would be discreet with her comments or gestures but she does not care. I overheard her bad mouthing a worker over the walkie talkies in front of guest, where is the professionalism in that. This place needs to get it together and bring back the love to our community for families. Also a well knowledge staff would be great to have from this company.

If you need to get the kids out of the house and have a couple of extra bucks to throw, come here. Staff was helpful, the space is beautiful and the candle my niece made smells up the whole apartment and seems like it will last for a long time. Other than the glass making activity, you could easily replicate it this at home and save yourself the money.

I enjoyed it. I went on a rainy day and took my daughters and it was a great bonding experience. We spent around 2 hours and did the soap and candles. I found the staff friendly and engaged my children and made it fun. I think Ill come back one night for the adult crowd in the evening :)

After my awful experience at this overpriced place, I got an automatic message asking me to review Make Meaning. It came with a personal note from Amy, the CEO, promising that she reads each review. I’m still waiting for a reply.
The manager on duty at your Upper East Side store was abominable. The store was run by young, inexperienced staff, and not customer-​focused ones at that. When I came in with my 5 year old daughter, I had to seek someone out to ask what to do and where we can sit. It was like pulling teeth. «Where do we go? How does it work? What now?»
When we picked out our ceramics to paint (after being pointed at … and not actually brought over with an associate even though there were about 5 staff standing around chatting). We sat at a table as instructed and then manager in red shirt (we came on Saturday at 11:45am and I did not get the manager’s name other than «MOD — Manager on Duty) asked if she could move us to a 2-​top rather than the 4-​top we were sitting at.
Then she asked me if she would do anything else other than painting … «It’s really much more fun to do soap making,» she said. So, my 5 year old said, OK lets do the soap making … so I sprang for the two over-​priced activities. (Mostly the reason it’s over-​priced … and I am a small business owner who understands the costs of running a business … is because this is supposed to be a service-​focused business and there was zero service. In fact, it was lackluster and bad.) The soap making had a huge table set up ready to go for about 12 people but we were the only ones to sit there.
When we were done, I had to keep asking for where to go next … I felt abandoned and floating … we wanted to do the ceramics painting as we originally stated. So I started to look for a new place to sit and had to repick up the ceramics piece since even though the manager said she’d hold it for me until we were ready, put it back and said just take another one. I asked the manager where we should sit since I didn’t want to take her 4-​top again (even though she told me to sit there) and the the manager came over and set up a table for us near the sink in the back where all the kids were washing their hands and there was never meant to be a table there anyway. The manager had actually asked two parents sitting at their 4-​top who were just waiting for their kids at a party, drinking ice coffee, if she could take half of their table and gave us the crappy table near the sink and let the parents enjoy the nicer table even though they weren’t spending money like we were to be there doing an activity.
I was patient at first but then after all the crying and splashing by the kids at the sink, I asked another associate if we could move. The entire candle-​making and soap-​making areas were empty. Finally one of the young associates allowed us to move to the soap making area where we were working before.
The whole experience was bad for me. I tried to keep a smile on for my daughter but what a rip off to paint something worth $ 2 and I paid $ 20. It should have been a customer-​focused experience. I could paint this anywhere … but there was no value in being at Make Meaning. There was no Meaning behind anything. A bunch of young people who couldn’t care less about the service aspect.
That manager was really a disappointment. Her behavior was unprofessional and just ridiculous to be in that role. What a face of the company that you have established. If I saw my well-​established company being run to the ground by children, I would be horrified. You are in one of the primest locations for wealthy children in the world and you are going to fail with that kind of service.
I will never recommend this place and never come back. Incidentally we run a children’s entertainment company and are one of New York City’s biggest party planners and I will make sure to spread the word about my dissatisfaction.

Have been going here for a while. Even threw my daughters birthday party here. It’s a major rip off but live in the neighborhood and it’s an easy place to drop by. Today I discovered that they threw out my daughters work which I paid 50 bucks for and no apology or anything. All I got was a major attitude. My daughter is so sad and their attitude was too bad we threw it out, the ceramic wasn’t suppose to be cooked and we cooked it so had to throw it out. Like its my fault and I should have known that. At the minimum they could have give her a voucher or something. Not give me an attitude and act like compleat assholes. The manager is a jerk. You don’t treat customers like that.

Went way down hill since expanding and closing the west side location. Terrible staff, higher prices and smaller choices to pick from. Don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

Don’t come here if you’re not willing to spend money. This place is on the Upper East Side for a reason.
Make Meaning says that they cater to both kids and adults, but the décor says otherwise. I don’t think I would have liked it even as a five-​year-​old. (Then again, I’ve always been mature for my age.) Regardless, I did enjoy my experience. Four of us (two adults and two kids) each painted our own plaster figurine. It was a lovely time of bonding, and I enjoyed watching the kids get creative.
The staff was neither good nor bad. They didn’t check on us too often, so we found ourselves having to wait a while to get extra paintbrushes and mixing trays. Maybe it was because we were an older group and they wanted to focus their attention on the little kids.
I paid $ 30.47 (including tax) to paint my dog piggy bank. I painted for about an hour and a half. For the amount of enjoyment that I got out of the experience, I was willing to splurge, but I can see how the cost can add up quickly if kids want to try everything that Make Meaning offers (cake decorating, candle making, soap making, etc.)

It caters mostly to kids. There’s cake decorating, painting, cups mugs plates, jewelry-​ish making, and soap making. It’s expensive but the soaps are actually glycerin and is probably better for your skin than most of the store bought bar soaps out there so I actually don’t mind the cost for that. It’s a ton of fun to make for the kiddies (mine is 5). The staff are all pretty helpful and friendly but I do often hear that if you leave behind a project it’s a pain to find when you want to pick it up because their stock room is overwhelmingly filled and disorganized. I stick with the pottery painting, soap and anything you can walk out of the store with the day of and its a pretty good way to spend an afternoon crafting.

SUMMARY: They lost my work and refused to honor their own promise to make it right!
If I could give negative number of stars for my experience, I would. I purchased a Groupon for pottery painting and invited my friend to come along.
After painting, the items (in my case — olive oil bottle) had to be treated in an oven and picked up a few days later. When I came to collect items for myself and my friend, I discovered that while my friend’s item was correct, mine was switched with somebody else’s. I came back immediately to the location and informed store clerk that one of items was not mine. They collected the other bottle from me and told me they will get in touch once they recover my item. This was the beginning of September.
Then I spent several weeks following up by phone in average once per week. I primarily communicated with Na’sha (one of the managers). When I called, Na’isha and other employees assured me every time that someone would get back to me, but noone did for several weeks, I got lots of run around, so eventually came in person because noone was getting back to me over the phone. That’s when I learned that they haven’t found the bottle, but they «will keep looking.»
At the end of September, when it was clear the bottle wasn’t going to appear, I called again and spoke with Na’sha, I offered to settle this mishap by them extending their hospitality for another evening for myself and my friend with 1 items to paint each. I felt it was a completely reasonable request given that they lost my work, but Na’isha said she had to check with her manager if they can do that for me.
A few days later Na’isha called and left me a voicemail indicating that they will be able to comp me and my friend. (Feel free to listen to the voicemail here:
).
When I returned her call a couple of days later, however, the same manager refused to honor her own promise saying that she doesn’t remember saying anything like that in the voicemail and that my friend would have to pay for her item.
At this point this has completely ruined my experience with this place and I didn’t go as far as making her listed to her own voicemail. They lost my item to which I dedicated several hours of work and really was hoping to get back. When I made a deal with them to have myself and my friend come back for another session, feeling that it would make it right, first the manager leaves a recorded voicemail confirming this concession, but then refuses to honor her own promise.
Overall, a very disappointing experience with Make Meaning — they lost a very good customer as I was very excited to discover such great activities place in the neighborhood prior to this disappointment. I would have come back, brought friends and family there. When this transpired, I was also pregnant and before they treated me like crap, I was actually considering doing my baby shower at that location.
Kudos to Groupon, however, they gave me a Groupon credit after I told them what happened.

I had so much fun here making cups with my date. It’s a nice kiddy spot to go to and it really brings back the nostalgia of your childhood. The girl working there actually knew our names and was so sweet. Taz was doing so much at once, but helped us out attentively even though she was doing so many things all over the place.
I just wish someone took me here when I was 5. This would’ve been my six flags as a child lol

This was my first experience at MAKE, but not at a ‘DIY’ pottery place. The store is very large, noisy, and caters mostly to children. My painting experience was all-​in-​all pleasant, but my pickup experience? Not at all.
The staff are completely inattentive. When you pay an exorbitant amount of money to paint ceramic pieces and are told to come back in 5 days to pick them up, and your pieces are not only not ready but NOWHERE to be found, it is frustrating to say the least. I needed to approach three staff members who were simply too lazy to spend the time to search for my pieces. I waited for an hour before leaving empty-​handed.
Will never, ever be returning (except of course to pick up my items).

Review solely based on my painting experience here, has little to do with the service and coaching I had during my visit.
So basically you gotta choose your own ceramics, either a plate, cup, glass or whatever and they will bring you to a table. Choosing your own color and style and realizing your thought through your own work will be the fun part. Nevertheless, the painter that they had provided was not nimble enough to make detailed painting, especially for writing charactors, a little bit disapponting…
Overall I had a good time here, and I would recommend this place for anyone who wanted to test out their creativity using candles, gingerbread, soaps, etc.

Love Make Meaning.
Saturday nights they have a great deal for two people to go and it’s BYOB.
I want to come back and do some glass world.
It’s great.

My kids love this place so I’ve come several times despite the fact that I really don’t enjoy it at all. As a parent, I have to constantly step away from my kids (which I hate doing) to find someone to help us and give us the supplies we need.
Despite being a huge space, it always feels cramped and uncomfortable and you’re constantly jostled by staff and other customers.
Finally, it’s really expensive for about 20 minutes of actual arts and crafts — not exactly great value.
Today was even more frustrating as at checkout they decided they needed to know my full name, phone number, email address and zip code — supposedly to make my check-​out faster! Seriously? You mean to fill your database with my demographics? Oh and the staff looked thoroughly disgusted when I didn’t feel like screaming my personal information over the heads of other customers waiting to check-​out. Do yourself a favor — don’t bring the kids and they’ll never know what they’re missing. You’ll be happier for it.

I’m a little upset because I had the groupon and in the details and «fine print» it says you can make WHATEVER you want– everything is included. When we got there they had selected 4 pieces to chose from: a sushi bowl, frame, dip bowl, and an olive oil bottle. All I wanted to paint was 2 tiles, TILES! 4“x 4″ tiles and they told me no, it would be an additional $ 20. WHAT? I showed them what it said in the groupon and it they refused to honor it. Very upset because otherwise I would’ve said 5 stars, the place was cute, decent paint selection, and over all a fun time. But the workers– very very rude.

My girlfriend and I came here with a Groupon for BYOB pottery painting. The Groupon really brought down the price and was a great value. I would not recommend such an event here without a discount.
The person managing the event had a loud, booming voice. It was sort of annoying at first, but at the same time, she was managing about 50 people who had come for this event, so she needed a camp counselor voice.
We definitely felt like just another person in the crowd, which, again, is ok with the money we paid via the Groupon. Once the event really started, there were minimal lines for paint, which was good.
They definitely have a system down when it comes to payment and labeling pottery. Again if you don’t mind feeling corralled, then this set-​up is fine and efficient.
They do have a strict cut off time, so be sure to be done before 2 hours are up!
This location also has other types of crafts, like candle and soap making.
I noticed lots of kids and families here, so I appreciated that this BYOB event was held in a separate area upstairs.

Super kid and adult friendly and a lot of fun. We reserved a table for us to paint some ceramics. They have a vast array of ceramic figurines to choose from. You have the option to glaze or not glaze. The paint they use super easy to remove from tiny (and big) hands. They also have a soap making and a cake decorating option.
This place is super clean and the staff is very friendly. They have a candy and beverage station in the back incase anyone in your brood gets hungry or thirsty. The bathroom is very clean.
That being said this is not a budget operation. It is on the pricey side, but hey this is the UES!

Hubby and I took our kids here since it was our daughter’s 6^th birthday and she wanted to paint plaster/​ceramics.
When we arrived around 2 in the afternoon on a weekday, it was packed and had to wait for an hour or so. I didn’t mind at all for the wait but my kids especially my son was getting antsy. Next time I will reserve in advance since they do that, lesson learned. Anyway as we waited my daughter and I were picking out what we wanted to paint. She picked a unicorn and I picked a stackable cup and tea pot which was absolutely cute. My son picked a robot and hubby just helped all of us paint our picks. We finally got our table and we were given paints, brushes and aprons. The lady helping us was informative and helpful but she was like all over the place catering to everyone since the place was packed.
My daughter had a blast painting and so did my son but by the end of the painting part as the lady was writing our names on our ceramics she accidentally dropped my son’s robot which was sad. My son really didn’t care and luckily we didn’t have to make another one for him. It was no big deal and she apologized but I told her it was totally fine. Anyway we didn’t pay for the robot but we did a fun Photo Booth which will always be memorable for us.
We will definitely come back and try the other fun arts and crafts they offer.
Thanks for a fun time!

My girl friend and I went to Make Meaning today. We chose to paint ceramic mugs. For $ 20 each, we were given everything necessary to paint a piece of pottery to our liking.
They have an abundance of paint colors and even some specialty, textured paints. They let you use as many paints and as many brushes as you want. I loved that the workers didn’t rush me in the slightest and told me multiple times to take my time.
They had a good assortment of ceramics to paint ranging from dish ware (plates, cups, measuring cups) to hello kitty trinkets. Someone of any age could find something that interests them.
You can also make soaps, candles, glass ware and jewelry, as well as decorate cakes as cookies.
Go here on a rainy day!

Hey Christine Y. we were there the same day! I also bought the Groupon, booked a month in advance, had a party of 6 and we had a great time.
Booking: Was annoying because the online booking system does not include the 7PM time slot for adult classes. You will most likely have to call them, took me three tries because there never seems to be anyone manning the phone.
Groupon Included Ceramics: Dog shaped cookie jar, plates of varying sizes (square & circle), Bowls, Measuring Spoons (set of 5?), An artsy vase/​bowl, Baseball Cap coin bank, Beer mugs, Coffee mugs.
Ceramics were first come first served but we didn’t know, I had two friends who got there on time at 7PM and they sat down with no directions. Half an hour later I arrived and realized that some people had ceramics on there tables so I asked an associate if I could grab some off the table and she said yes — HELL BROKE LOOSE — all of a sudden everyone started grabbing stuff at the same time. Lesson? Get there early and grab what you want. Also if you’re patient, people who are holding more than one piece will return it to the ceramic table so just stalk them lol
Seating: Was a bit tight — they probably overbooked that day, thankfully me and my group were seated in the corner by the elevator. I heard someone spilled paint on someone else’s jacket when grabbing their paints.
Employees: They were nice, polite and completely overwhelmed. I think there were only 3 people working with this huge group. They tried to get more ceramics from the basement but the popular ones ran out so they had to get replacements — Christine Y. I’m glad they allowed you to substitute for a non Groupon included ceramic, I wish I knew earlier for my friend :(
BYOB: Bring booze! My group brought two bottles of wine and a 6 pack of Coronas. When we finally started painting we were already 45 minutes into the 2 hour time limit, we freaked out and barely drank LOL — I hope you manage your time better than us.
Bottom-​Line: I would totally go back again with the deal price $ 55 for 4 people. It was good clean fun and I didn’t think the noise level was so crazy, maybe because we sat in a corner. Also the employees do not kick you out at 9PM, you can continue to paint all the way till 10PM if you wanted while they clean — very accommodating.