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Terms of Service

  • How does Pottery Painting work?
    It is always recommended that you reserve your table by using the booking facility within the calendar. Walk ins are possible, however due to the volume of parties, mobile events and workshops it may not always be possible to accommodate you - and I hate to disappoint anyone! When you arrive you have some time to choose your items We have over 300 'blank' items in stock including money boxes, tablewear, jugs and photo frames. We also have a number of children's ornaments. There are no added extras or studio fees on top. The price you see is the price you pay! Paint your piece using stencils, stamps or freehand designs you can start to make the item individual to you with specialist ceramic paints. We are on hand to offer advice and tips along the way! Younger children are encouraged to release their creativity and make bright and colourful masterpieces. They can also do handprints or even finger painting. Painting time usually lasts an hour to an hour and half depending on the complexity of your design and the age of those painting. When you are finished, we will glaze and fire your item on site. This takes approximately a week to ten days depending on the seasonal changes. At busy times it may take 2-3 weeks. If you give us a call in advance, or ask when you arrive we can give you an up to date estimate. By the time you collect them they are not only beautifully vibrant decorative items but fully useable and food safe too. The most common comment heard in the studio is 'but I am not creative, I could never make anything look good!'. My answer to that is GIVE IT A GO! We have so many hints, tips and tools to advise you on and you don't even have to be good at freehand drawing. We have special clay carbon paper to trace a design that you may have found in a book or online. Just bring it along and we will help you with the rest!
  • When can I collect my pottery?
    We give the guideline that your pottery is ready for collection approx. 1 week after it was painted - however we will contact you to let you know so please wait to get the text notification from us before you travel. If it's a particularly busy period or if it requires personalisation it may take a little longer but we can tell you this when you paint. If you need to check before you come please give us a call! You can find our opening times page from the menu above. Please do not turn up outside of these times 'on the off chance' - we might well be running a party, out on an external booking or up to our elbows in the glazing bucket! Please note that due to a shortage of space we can only keep your pottery for one calendar month before we have to dispose of it, unless you have made prior arrangements with us to keep it for longer. PLEASE BRING A BAG TO COLLECT YOUR POTTERY!
  • How long do you keep my pottery for?
    We will keep your pottery for one calendar month from the date of painting unless otherwise agreed. We will contact you prior to disposal to give you a gentle reminder!
  • I can't make my table booking! What should I do?
    Go to your account in the members area on this website and reschedule in the 'my bookings' section. You are only able to do this up to 24 hours in advance. Shorter notice requires you to call us and let us know. Please see the cancellation policy for more details regarding deposits and bookings.
  • How do I look after my pottery?
    That's a very good question! We have written a blog post on this very topic to ensure that your pottery is kept in tip top condition. Please have a read: Pottery Aftercare Please note, we ask that you check all pottery thoroughly before you leave to ensure that you are happy with it and there are no damage/personalisation issues.
  • I saw an item I'd like to paint. Is it in stock?
    Stock varies all the time and we cannot guarantee we will have your chosen item ready for your design when you arrive. Space is limited on the shelves but on any given day there are 300+ blanks in the studio. If you have your heart set on something specific give us a call and let us know what you're after. We can tell you if it's in stock or when we might expect a delivery. That said many people come in expecting to paint one thing and then something else catches their eye!
  • How much does Pottery Painting cost?
    It's entirely dependent on the items you choose. To make life really easy (and particularly for those on specific budgets) we don't price pottery individually. Our shelves go up in £5 increments from £10 to £35+. We sometimes have Add-On items for £5 and there is a sale shelf with one-offs, discontinued items and those with imperfections that are looking for their new home. Items vary but can be priced from £5 up depending on availability. Please note we do not charge anything extra - for example: glazing and firing. Some pottery studios opt for a 'studio fee' which is charged on top for your paint, glazing and firing. For the sake of being upfront and keeping it simple, we have only have one cost that includes absolutely everything with no surprises at the till!
  • There's a problem with my pottery!
    Oh no! That's something we never like to hear.... however, nothing is perfect, and doubly so when dealing with organic material that is hand made, hand designed, glazed and then heated to over 1000 degrees, twice! You have 3 days from collection to inform us of any issues with your pottery. We encourage you to inspect it BEFORE leaving the studio so that we can get onto any issues as soon as possible. Please note that once your items have left the studio we assume no responsibility for it. Whether the paper bag breaks on the way home, the pottery get knocked about in the car or whether little Freddie drops it on the kitchen floor, Dixie Dot Crafts liability is only for the structure of the pottery when it's with us, during glazing processes and design/personalisation work. If we have picked up the problem prior to you collecting it: we will contact you to let you know and if it's not rectifiable we will give you a 'damage waiver' in the bag for you to come and paint a whole new one for free. If we have missed something and/or you are not satisfied with the glaze fire or the personalisation please do contact us immediately on our specific customer care email address which is thehappinessteam@dixiedotcrafts.com. Where possible please attach photographs. We will reply with next steps as soon as possible so that we can either fix, or redo your pottery at the earliest possible time. This is especially important when it comes to baby prints, we want to capture those little hands and feet while they are small and will offer you the soonest appointment available. Due to the nature of our items we are unable to provide full refunds for personalised pottery. Dixie Dot Crafts urge everyone who has painted pottery to adhere to the Pottery Aftercare advice which can be found here: Pottery Aftercare No liability will be assumed by Dixie Dot Crafts if it is likely that the pottery aftercare advice has not been adhered to.
  • How do your children's parties work?
    Please click on the parties page on this website for complete information and current pricing. You are able to book directly on the website if we have the availability. We currently run parties on a Sunday, and have recently extended this to after school parties on Wednesdays and Fridays. If this doesn't work for you please do give us a call and if we can make it work, we will!
  • Can we cancel/reschedule a party booking?
    If you wish to cancel your party booking: Please let us know immediately. If you cancel before 5 days of your booking you will be entitled to a full refund. If you cancel after 5 days of your booking and up to 24 hours prior to the party you will be entitled to 50% refund. If you cancel within 24 for hours of a party for any reason 100% charge will be incurred. Should your party be unable to proceed for any reason pertaining to Dixie Dot Crafts: We will offer you various alternative dates as soon as possible. If these do not work for you, you have to options of transferring your booking cost to another Dixie Dot offering (pottery painting, workshops, retail items) instead. If this is not an option you will be offered non-expiring Dixie Dot vouchers to the value of your party price. Should a party be cancelled permanently you will be offered the above first before then being able to claim a refund.
  • Do you do parties for Adults?
    Oh yes! And we LOVE them! We are happy to accommodate you on any evening, or a Sunday. Head to out 'Adult Celebration' page for more details.
  • Can we add more guests?
    You can! Our parties are for Up to 8, Up to 14 and Up to 20. If you'd like to add more guests we will invoice you for the next party bracket. All party guests include the birthday child so the 'up to ' numbers are the maximum you can have in that bracket. After 20 guests you have the option of adding on one child at a time at a cost of £15 per head. We do not offer this for the smaller parties due to needing to reconfigure the studio for the number that are coming - for instance, if you book an up to 14 party but want 15 guests we are unable to run certain parties without reconfiguring the whole studio which we do not have time to do between sessions. It also means the group will be split and cannot sit together which kinda ruins the fun of the party is 7 of your friends are sitting on different tables! After 20 guests we cannot reconfigure the studio and every table will be used by guests so you use the space for up to 36 people.
  • What times are you open?
    Please see our current opening times from the link in the menu!
  • Can I buy drinks and snacks?
    Yes! We have a range of hot and cold drinks and pre packed snacks such as crisps and chocolate bars. We would ask that you do not bring your own food and drinks into the studio please. Apart from anything else, Costa don't need your money quite as much as small independent businesses like ours do! Fancy a free cuppa while you are with us? Leave a review or photo tagging in Dixie Dot Crafts while you are in the studio and show us at the till - we will happily exchange that for a cuppa on the house!
  • Do you sell Gift Cards?
    Yes! We offer e-cards delivered to your inbox or hand painted ceramic ones you can collect from the studio. There is no expiry date on them. Please buy yours here: https://www.dixiedotcrafts.com/giftcard
  • Where can I park?
    Dixie Dot Crafts is very fortunate to have loads of free parking directly outside the front door - making it easier to load and unload children, park up for a pottery collection and not have to worry about traffic wardens!
  • Can you accommodate wheelchairs?
    Yep! We are all on one level so there are no tricky stairs or uneven floors to negotiate.
  • What payment methods do you accept?
    Cash is king. Cards are welcomed - contactless or otherwise! Gift cards Apple/Google Pay and you also have the option of using KLARNA at checkout to pay for bookings in instalments. I think it was Tesco that said 'every little helps' - and in this case they're right!
  • What if I need to cancel a booking
    For Cancellations of pottery painting tables please advise us 24hrs in advance to avoid being charged. Please note you can manage your own booking in your Members Area and this also allows you to reschedule your booking for a time that is more suited to you. We operate a cancellation policy due to the significant impact of costs of opening for each session specifically and we fully appreciate the efforts that our customers make to help us in our management of this. If you wish to cancel your WORKSHOP booking: Please let us know immediately. It is your responsibility to resell your ticket. If you cancel before 7 days of a workshop you will be entitled to a full refund. If you cancel after 7 days of a workshop and up to 24 hours prior to the workshop you will be entitled to 50% refund. If you cancel within 24 for hours of a workshop for any reason 100% charge will be incurred. {This does not apply to 'externally' hosted events whereby another business is hosting their workshop at Dixie Dot. In these instances the moving/cancellation terms are what's stated by that company and has no standing with Dixie Dot Terms and Conditions.} Should your workshop be unable to proceed for any reason: We will offer you various alternative dates as soon as possible. If these do not work for you, you have to options of transferring to another workshop instead. If this is not an option you will be offered Dixie Dot vouchers to the value of your ticket price. Should a workshop be cancelled permanently you will be offered the above first before then being able to claim a refund.
  • What workshops do you do?
    We run LOADS of workshops every year. You can click on the workshops page to see everything we have lined up.
  • Can you accommodate food allergies in the studio?
    As always we will do our best to accommodate your needs while you are in the studio. However, it is important to understand that we unable to check the food/snacks that other customers may bring into the studio. We are able to provide you with allergen information on our own drinks and snacks as they will be on the packets but we do not police what is bought into the studio. It goes without saying that if, for example, you are a Coeliac or have a severe nut allergy we want to keep you as safe as possible and we would appreciate it if you think this might be an issue for you BEFORE you book anything so that we can also assess the risks and see what we can put in place so that it's a comfortable session for all involved. Please note: as per the information on the Pizza and Pottery evenings, we are unable to offer Gluten Free or Vegan options as we cannot guarantee our supplier has these in stock. You are very welcome to bring or order your own of course.
  • Are you open?
    Here is the Dixie Dot Roadmap to reopening after Covid April 12th 2021 - open for 1 to 1 baby prints and pet prints. Each appointment is personal to you and only you/your family can attend. May 17th 2021 - we are opening for socially distanced tables. Only 4/10 tables will be bookable. June 21st 2021 - We are reopening with more tables as the restrictions lift. Workshops are resuming from July 2021. All of the above is in line with current government guidelines and will be reviewed as necessary UPDATE: from July 2021 we are now open at half capacity tables (total of 5) UPDATE: from Sept 2021 we are increasing the number of tables slowly. If Covid numbers appear to increase or there is word from the Government we will revert to their guidelines.
  • Do we have to wear masks when we come to paint?
    Yes please - for your safety and ours. Masks are to be worn as you enter the studio and while you browse the pottery. They may be removed once you are sat painting however, we ask that you put them back on whenever you may need to leave the table. This is not required for those with breathing difficulties or those under the age of 11. This information will be reviewed in accordance with government guidelines. UPDATE: Sept 2021: We are advising continued use of masks as you move around the studio but essentially it's 'whatever makes you most comfortable'. We will choose to wear masks on an individual basis and are more than happy to put masks on at your request.
  • How are you managing the Covid-19 restrictions?
    We have allowed for a minimum of 1m distance between anyone seated at a table (more like 2m). To ensure that you don't need to leave your table often, paint will be provided at your table via 'waitress' service once you are sat and ready. We ask that you don't touch the pottery on the shelves while making your selection - have a good look and we will bring it to your table. Payments will be made at your tables before you leave. There are bottles of hand sanitiser about the studio which we ask you to use upon entering and leaving. Toilets will be cleaned regularly and disinfected after use. Baby prints are managed on an one to one basis with our handprint specialist and your family to minimise the risk. Every table is thoroughly cleaned and sanitised after a family has left, as are the paintbrushes and utensils. Our doors are automatic so there is no need to touch a surface that someone else has touched previously, expect for the staff at Dixie Dot who are all following guidelines and are sanitising regularly. Please respect others in the studio at the same time as you. We are all in this together so we ask you to exercise awareness and caution around the other families also enjoying their time with us. Thank you.
  • What's the process for collecting our painted pottery during the restictions?
    When you come to collect the pottery you previously painted we ask that you come to the till and remain in the till area while we head to the shelves to get it. Please make sure you 1) have your receipt ready 2) don't wander round the studio while you are waiting 3) touch anything in the till area We will hand over your bagged items across the till for you to take. There is hand sanitiser on the till if you would like some. UPDATE: July 2021: Collections are back to 'normal'! Please check the opening times to see when you can come!
  • Do you have a Covid-19 cancellation policy?
    Yes! Our Cancellation policies for all table bookings, workshops and parties include for Covid-19. If you wish to cancel your workshop booking: Please let us know immediately. It is your responsibilty to resell your ticket. If you cancel before 5 days of a workshop you will be entitled to a full refund. If you cancel after 5 days of a workshop and up to 24 hours prior to the workshop you will be entitled to 50% refund. If you cancel within 24 for hours of a workshop for any reason 100% charge will be incurred. Should your workshop be unable to proceed for any reason: We will offer you various alternative dates as soon as possible. If these do not work for you, you have to options of transferring to another workshop instead. This is virtually the same for a birthday party booking - please see the parties FAQ To cancel a table booking please see the Pottery FAQ If this is not an option you will be offered Dixie Dot vouchers to the value of your ticket price. Should a workshop be cancelled permanently you will be offered the above first before then being able to claim a refund.
  • How long does my subscription last?
    Currently our only subscription plan is Baby Club. Whether you are a free member or VIP member your subscription lasts for 2 years form the date of joining. After this you are able to rejoin with other babies you may have.
  • I haven't used my special offers
    If you have not managed to make use of the special offers within your 2 year subscription Dixie Dot Crafts cannot extend the term, nor offer any kind of exchange, refund or alternative uses. Please make sure you use all special offer appointments within your subscription plan. If your plan expires and you have offers to claim they will be forfeited.
  • I forgot to claim my discount!
    Please remember to let us know that you are part of the Baby Club and therefore get discounts on your pottery BEFORE you pay at the till. We are able to do a check online if you haven't got your VIP card. We are sorry but we are unable to retrospectively amend and receipts and/or provide refunds. If you need a new VIP card please do let us know.
  • There are no appointments available!
    We run VIP appointments all year round however please be aware that we sometimes get very busy during seasons such as Christmas. Buying a baby club subscription does not automatically guarantee you an appointment - please understand that we can't and won't move other customers who have pre booked and paid a deposit in order to make way for a VIP member so we urge you to book in advance for when you might want to come. For example when it comes to baby's 1st birthday keepsake, you are able to book a year ahead in our online calendar to secure your space. Once you have this space you can reschedule nearer the time if we have slots available. This is only really an issue Oct-Dec.
  • Can I use my baby club subscription On Tour
    Unfortunately we are unable to offer Baby Club members opportunity to use their subscription gifts and get prints done On Tour due to the complexity of managing the appointments system and making sure that your allocation of free appointments is adjusted. All Baby Club appointments must be booked online and taken at our studio.
  • I want to cancel my subscription
    According to the Terms and Conditions of service you are able to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase providing you have not yet been to an appointment and had your pottery prints done as part of this service. After this time no refund is due. If you wish to cancel mid way during a term and have remaining appointments still to be made we will remove the full price pottery that you already had printed from the total of the subscription and the remainder will be made to you in the form of a gift voucher for Dixie Dot Crafts. The subscription auto cancels at the end of the term so no further payments will be taken. A VIP member will be downgraded to being a free Baby Club member and retain those benefits unless otherwise requested.
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