Are you bored on the weekend with nothing to do? Stressed out because midterms are starting and you’re not even sure what classes you’re taking? Looking for a place to take that special someone to show them that you have a creative side (even though you really don’t)? Or maybe you just need a surefire way to make sure your roommates stop using your coffee mug. Well our neighbors to the northeast have just what you’re looking for.

Located on 2nd Avenue in downtown Albany, Surefire Design is the place to you go to get the pottery you want, with the design you make. The entire point of the store is for you, the consumer, to design pottery the way you, the user, want it.

The process is simple, with a smiling face greeting you at the door to lead you through the process and help you with any questions you may have along the way. It starts like this: first, you pick out a blank pottery piece to design. There is a wide variety of pottery pieces just waiting to be designed, from tea pots to pineapples, you will find it here.

Now comes the name of the game, design. From here you are able to pick between a wide variety of paint colors, with the option to use some specialty paints as well, like puffy or glass paint. Once you’ve got your colors picked out, all you need to do is find a spot at one of their tables and start going to town on your masterpiece. If you decide just paint and a paintbrush isn’t enough to really achieve your goal, they’ve also got specialty items like stencils or sponges that can add a bit of pizazz to your artwork.

Once you’ve put the finishing touches on your piece of perfection you’re nearly finished. Now comes the hardest part, waiting. From here you merely pay for your pottery and leave it with them at the store to be glazed and fired. The wait takes about four to seven days depending on demand, and is longer during the holidays.

After the wait is over, all you need to do is go pick it up. You may find this a great way to say, invite that special someone over for dinner to show them how good of a cook you are (even if you aren’t) using the plates you made. Maybe you can show your brand new mug off to your roommates, explaining how you know of a great place where they can make their own (so they stop using yours). Or maybe you can look at your piece of art and know that, while you may have failed your chem midterm, at least you’re a great artist.

Regardless as to what you do with your pottery, we know the BD staff will be making another trip back sometime this term because who doesn’t want a Santa Claus statue that is out of the ordinary.

Photography by Christy Moyer (via unsplash.com)