The Ceramics Studio

San Juan Capistrano, United States

4.9

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 949-412-9241
Website:
www.theceramicsstudio.com
Address:
31878 Del Obispo Ste 106, San Juan Capistrano, CA, 92675
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 miSan Juan Capistrano Depot
1.5 miOCTA
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (San Juan Capistrano) 12:46 Sunday, 1 June 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Wednesday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Thursday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Friday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

A paint-​your-​own-​pottery studio & a full-​service ceramics lab. Drop-​in to paint pottery, sculpt, or throw on the potter’s wheel with the help of our friendly staff. Ceramics classes offered for kids thru adults, as well as holiday & summer camps. Thursdays we have a clay event for toddlers called, «Little Potter’s». We do beautiful baby hand prints in clay & glaze… and pet paw prints too! An award-​winning party venue for kids & adults for up to 50 people. Our private party room & «Coyote Movie Den» for the little ones, make the studio a fun place for birthday, bachelorette, baby shower & club parties. Brownie & Girl Scout troops earn badges while having an enriching experience, & non-​profits create fundraising events that are engaging for all ages & lucrative. We host the popular «Clay & Cocktails» event on the second Thursday night of every month (call for schedule). Studio Memberships available for experienced potters & sculptors who want to use our facilities on an ongoing basis.

History

Established in 2011.

Opened 11/​11/​2011 by Melissa Thomson. A place for the whole family: to paint pottery, play with clay and throw on the wheel. No appointment necessary. Kid and adult classes available too. We do baby hand prints too!

Meet the Business Owner

Melissa T.

Business Owner

Melissa Thomson, whose family roots in San Juan Capistrano extend to the 1800’s, takes great joy in teaching others the art of making ceramics. A highly experienced art educator, she can teach even a 6 year-​old how to throw a pottery on the wheel! Her ceramic classes instruct in hand-​building, sculpting, and wheel throwing pottery techniques for beginners and experts alike. Once the ceramic artworks are fired, she teaches students how to paint their pottery pieces and clay sculptures in a variety of creative and exciting ways. Melissa has 15 years experience teaching college to preschool level and special ed. Adults. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from Cal State University Northridge, and her Bachelors of Arts in fine arts (minor in ceramics) from Pepperdine University. She’s also an accomplished fine artist. Her ceramic artworks have shown at the Laguna Art Museum, America Museum of Ceramic Arts, Cal Poly Pomona «Ink & clay» show.

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20 reviews of The Ceramics Studio

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Spent some quality father daughter time at dueling potter’s wheels competing to see who could make the best bowl. Our teacher was attentive and helpful – making our endeavor both fun and educational. We will definitely be back, both to finish our projects but also to introduce other family members to such a fun creative outlet.
Place rating: 5
Fairview Slopes, Vancouver, Canada
This is the best place to stimulate your creative side. Whether you are coming to paint or play with clay, or have a party, the team at the studio will definitely put a smile on your face. The adult classes are a wonderful way to learn more about pottery. Melissa is a wonderful teacher!
Place rating: 5
Mission Viejo, CA
We had the most amazing Daisy event here. It was such a fun experience for our girls. We had 12 girls attend and the staff was super helpful and attentive. They ran the show and our kids went home very happy. Beautifully decorated. The Ceramics Studio is a great place for a birthday party and girl scout troop to visit, on the other hand perfect for a ladies night out or date night. Cheers!
Place rating: 5
San Juan Capistrano, CA
My husband and I thought it would be fun to try something different for our date night. I thought it would be fun to make bowl like I did in high school. I called and set up an appointment for us, in my mind I thought we would just be doing in on our own.
When we got there I was surprised that we had our own private lesson! It was wonderful! As it turns out it’s much harder then I remember and I now realize we would have ended up with a beautiful clay rock had we not had the private instruction. The instruction was awesome and we both had a really great time! We can’t wait to go back to finish our bowls!
Place rating: 5
Laguna Niguel, CA
This is an awesome friendly creative space. I have participated in their clay and cocktails, a Valentines Day date with my husband, even tried throwing on the wheel! Most recently we had my daughters 6th birthday party with them. Everyone was so helpful and kind. The party space is so nice, cutely decorated so it makes it so easy for the parents. The kids loved it! They got to pick a piece and then paint. We then had pizza delivered and cake. There is also a neat coyote cave where they can watch a movie. I highly recommend for parties! A great value and experience. Melissa, the owner, is so talented and nice. My daughter and I are planning to go back to do some more fun projects soon.
Place rating: 5
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Love this Place!!! I had a Mommy and Children Christmas Party here and it was a hit!!! There were about 13 moms and 25 kids and I was truly satisfied with all aspects of the party. The cost was very reasonable, the ambiance was warm and welcoming, the staff were so helpful and friendly, and best of all I got so many compliments from all the Moms how much they enjoyed coming here!
The Den where the kids huddled together for some TV time after they were done painting was so cool and my friend commented on how her son loved the Den so much she was able to really enjoy herself because it kept him preoccupied. Thank you Melissa and Liz for everything!!!
Place rating: 5
Dana Point, CA
We recently had my daughters seventh birthday here. It was so much fun. The staff was amazing and super helpful. They have a party room that is already decorated, which was awesome because it was one less thing I needed to worry about. I would definitely recommend this place for a party or just to paint a piece of pottery.
Place rating: 5
Orange County, CA
We found this place when we went to the Whale Festival in Dana Point. They had wheels set up so that the kids could try out using the wheel. My son was hooked. He is in a ceramics camp now. He is a very active boy and they are very patient with him.
We have made this a family activity several times. It was very fun.
The studio is in the mall, by Ralph’s and Marshall’s, tucked away in a corner.
Check it out.
Place rating: 5
Laguna Niguel, CA
The staff here are so cool and so patient, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Cool music playing in the background and the tools you need to make your own clay creation.
I brought my daughter here to get her into creating something with her hands and from scratch. We were helped throughout the experience.
They then fire up your concoction and call you again for a painting session which was just as much fun. I can’t wait for the final product.
This place has a great concept, a great environment and an amazing staff. Thank you for everything.
Place rating: 5
Aliso Viejo, CA
A lovely place with really sweet staff. My husband took my 3-​year-​old a few weeks back on a father-​daughter date and they had a great time making a ceramic mug.
We went back a few days ago to paint the little one’s masterpiece and I totally loved it there. The vibe is really peaceful and Natalie took great care of us.
I think the birthday party is a wonderful idea and I will totally look into that.
Place rating: 5
Buena Park, CA
I am glad to have come across this quaint ceramics studio in South OC! A word of advice though, since I had a nightmare finding this place… It’s located in the Marshall’s plaza! Anyway, a friend hosted her sister’s birthday here for a party of 9. Each person got behind their own wheel to create the ceramic concoctions. Everyone was extremely nice, accommodating, and helpful, especially considering none of us knew what we were doing. I came about an hour and a half later than the rest of the party, but they made sure I made something I liked in the short amount of time left. While it was fun getting our hands dirty and trying something new, my favorite part was the group pictures we each left with. We will come back in late February/​early March after our ceramics are baked to paint them!
Place rating: 5
Irvine, CA
Fun fun and fun. I love the wheel classes. The teachers are super nice and very patient with my no art skills lol. I made lots of cool bowls and and fired them with a beautiful glaze.
Place rating: 5
Foothill Ranch, CA
My husband and I went to Clay & Cocktails. We could pick from three options… paint, spin wheel or mold. I used the wheel to make a bowl. I’m a total rookie and Natalie was fabulous and very patient. They were very nice and helpful. We brought our own wine and enjoyed some of their snacks. We look forward to going back again. Highly recommend this tucked away gem.
Place rating: 3
Aliso Viejo, CA
Melissa reached out to me this week upon reading my review.
She apologized for the customer service I received and explained that she’s still learning how to run a small business. While I don’t love the idea of having been a learning tool for her and her staff, I commend her for taking my feelings seriously and apologizing to me.
I’m adding an extra star because although it doesn’t change my experience, I believe future customers will be treated with a bit more courtesy. In her e-​mail, Melissa seemed genuinely disappointed that I feel the way I do about her business. It’s unfortunate that it took a Unilocal review to do it but I believe she’ll put effort in to seeing nothing like this happens again. Her disappointment says a lot and I sincerely hope my experience was merely an anomaly.
Place rating: 5
Los Alamitos, CA
Our Cadette Girl Scout troop had a blast learning how use the pottery wheel. Each participant got to make 2 hand made bowls. We all chose the colors for the studio to fire our bowls. Just picked them up and they are adorable. The staff is super friendly and helpful and we hope to come back for another class real soon!
Place rating: 5
Laguna Niguel, CA
2 years ago my daughter asked me if she could have her birthday party at The Ceramics Studio. We did and had a great time. With the girls 7 years old then, we opted for making clay figures, in this case, Monsters. We had a great time, great photos, great memories. Two Monsters are part of our décor in our living room to date. Again this year, my daughter asked for celebrating her party at the studio, this time spinning the wheel. 8 girls total. Melissa and her staff did a great job. They were patient and made sure everyone could complete a couple of pieces.
Their studio is very nicely decorated, and the party room is super cozy.
Thanks ladies for a great experience. We will be coming back for lessons.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Came here for my Mom’s 60th Birthday along with my wife too. Tucked away in a large shopping center, a jewel to behold.
Very friendly and knowledgeable staff/​artists greeted us right away and helped us choose what would be best for the time we had that day. We chose to paint pre-​made ceramic designs. A butterfly dish, star dish and large square bowl. Gave us plenty of help in choosing colors and techniques of layering the glaze from background up. They also offer instruction and classes on making your own pottery with a wheel or by hand. Wish I lived closer to take advantage of it!!! Lots if glaze colors to choose from, stencils and stamps to help, and very clean and spacious work areas.
They even had a coffee/​snacks/​holiday goodie spread out for customers. You’ll have to come back another day to pickup your new pieces of art after they’ve been fired in their kiln.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
ummm this place is adorable, for all ages. We actually did a dirty date here playing with clay and on the wheel. The staff were patient and entertaining, it’s a really fun and relaxing. I was quite proud of my bowls and am looking forward to going back to paint! Next on the agenda… a chip and dip platter! not sure if you can really spin that… not sure if iiiiii can really spin that, but it’s a good goal. wait I just saw a dog looking bowl in the pics, Scooty’s getting a new bowl!
If i had kids, they’d be here all the time, its super cute and decorated amazingly.
Place rating: 5
Santa Monica, CA
It was my first time throwing on the wheel and I had a blast. My gf and I dropped in on a Sunday and Melissa was super helpful. She was completely patient with us an made the wheel so fun! It was a great daytime date! We can’t wait to come back and paint our bowls!
Place rating: 5
San Juan Capistrano, CA
I love the idea of doing holiday gifts and supporting a local small business. The Ceramics Studio is kid, adult and even dog friendly. The staff is friendly and very knowledgeable. The owner has a Masters in Ceramics. Its more affordable than the franchise chain pottery painting studios. Its big, open and has a relaxed atmosphere.
I loved that they have paint your own pottery AND you can play with real clay. I can really see this as a place for people to take their kids to be creative. I used to do ceramics in high school and college and am excited to have a place that I can hand-​build in clay and have access to a wheel and kiln. Its my new favorite local creative outlet!