After a Chuck E. Cheese celebration last year, Sloan wanted to do something a bit more unique for her 6th birthday party. For a girl who begins the countdown to her birthday months and months out, you better believe she didn’t make her decision lightly. After brainstorming every possible idea under the sun, she made a decision.

Sloan wanted to celebrate with her friends at Polka Dot Pottery. For those who don’t know (like I didn’t), Polka Dot Pottery is a place where you paint pottery, not make it. You pick a pottery mold and then you paint it. After you have released your inner Van Gough on the piece, Polka Dot Pottery beautifies it via a firing process. You then return a week later to pick it up.

In addition to girls from Sloan’s kindergarten class, her cousin, Mikayla, also attended the party.

We made our Polka Dot Pottery reservation about a month prior to the party at the chain’s Spokane Valley Mall location. We chose between a few different packages and put down our deposit. The next four weeks flew by and in no time I was confirming our reservation with a PDP employee the day before the party.

Sloan invited the girls in her kindergarten class and her cousin, Mikayla, to the party. Sidney and I chaperoned the celebration and a Polka Dot Pottery employee, Brittney, was our party host. Brittney was patient and descriptive as she explained to the girls the entire process of creating this special kind of art.

Polka Dot Pottery employee and party host, Brittney, explains the creation process to the girls.

After everyone was briefed on how the experience would transpire, Brittney allowed the girls to leave their seats and follow her. Our party host showed everyone in Sloan’s party the different paints that were available and then she took them over to a corner where the different pieces rested. The girls chose what they wanted to paint as a selection of mermaids, unicorns, and cupcakes made it back to our table.

Brittney showing the girls the different paints they can use on their pottery pieces.

The girls then got to work. Sidney and I streamlined the process by retrieving the paints. As Sloan and her friends painted away, Sidney couldn’t resist the fun they were having. She went up and selected a bunny piece for her to paint.

Sidney painting away at the Polka Dot Pottery in the Spokane Valley Mall.

Our kindergarten Picassos showed no signs of timidness. After they applied the base paint layers, they were applying the glittery and bumpy paints as well. Once each of them had their piece designed exactly as they wanted it, Brittney placed the painted pieces in a box for firing.

Sloan busy at work painting her unicorn.

With the pieces in the box and the paints put away, it was time for cake and ice cream. Sloan’s friends performed an enthusiastic rendition of “Happy Birthday” and then it was time to dig in.

What an awesome afternoon it was with Sloan and her friends.

Parents came to pick up their daughters and we transported the very generous gifts they brought to the car. It was then time for the waiting game.

Sidney’s finished bunny and Sloan’s unicorn.

The seven days it took for the firing process to be completed eventually passed and on Saturday I went and picked up all the pieces. Each piece was individually wrapped with the name of the artist written on it. Back at home, Sidney put each finished piece into a gift bag along with a thank you card from Sloan. This morning, Sloan brought the gift bags to school and her kindergarten teacher placed each one in the respective cubbie of the girl who it belonged to.

We sent these gift bags to school with Sloan today. They contained the pottery pieces that the girls painted.

Overall, the Polka Dot Pottery party was a hit. There are some advantages and disadvantages to be pointed out—please feel free to ask me if you are interested. We thank Brittney for being our party host AND all of Sloan’s friends who attended and made her feel so special. Don’t Blink.