Fired Up: Paint Your Own Pottery — Attraction in Peoria Heights

First of all we never received a text stating our pieces (a pumpkin tealight holder, a skeleton vase, and a witch hat ring holder) after two weeks even though we called the first week and we were met with attitude over the phone telling us to wait until the following monday. We go to the store the following Friday after we still never got a text to see what was up and as we arrived we ask where our pieces are and they are already done but we couldnt find the pumkpin tealight holder that we painted and to our surprise it was never written down on our order we paid for and we were hit with an unexpected $38ish dollar charge to cover our pumpkin because they never wrote down when we already painted it and we handed in our order which AFTER it was initialed with my initials. It was not our fault and we wouldve gladly paid for it at the time but after the less than satisfactory experience we had in obtaining our pieces after two weeks and the attitude we were met with when we had questions about the charge we will not be back. There shouldve been more they could do about the unexpected charge like a discount for the inconvenience customer service wise. But its a very poorly managed version of artful designs in bloomington which has more selection and a friendlier staff. I get places get busy but thats no reason to meet customers with an attitude after we were understanding...

SO MUCH FUN! I wish I could live here!

Pick one of the ceramics you'd like to paint (what's in stock changes with the season and as new items become available from their supplier), pick which colors you'd like to use, then spend the next 10 hours painting and forget that you were supposed to eat food at some point in the day. Or pick your kids up from school. Or that you were supposed to go buy groceries. Who needs to do any of that when you can have fun painting ceramics all day long?

The cost is actually really good compared to other similar studios I've gone to: you are charged a flat studio fee ($8 at the time I'm writing this) plus the cost of your ceramic. That's it. Most other places I've seen or been to charge you a studio fee by the hour - but not at Fired Up! They seem pretty content with me trying to move in for an entire day. (I guess they make their money back on all the stuff I'm painting, right?)

This is great for a date, after work get-together with co-workers or friends, birthdays, bringing your kids (I especially like when I see the dads with their kids, who don't paint anything the entire time, but are there because it's an easy thing to take their kids to while their wives are away for the day), or really any composition of social group.

Also, there's an ice cream place next...

Fired Up turned out to be a great way to keep my dad occupied when he and my mom dropped in for a surprise visit, and I've also been on a girl's night, so overall I am grateful to have a business like this in town. However, on my recent visit the staff was less than friendly. I was told off for not making a reservation, despite there being plenty of space. Nobody stopped by our table to see how things were going. I was told that I would be called when my pieces were done, within a week, but more than two weeks later I hadn't heard anything. So I called to check and was told that obviously they were done because my receipt would have said so, and I should come get them immediately since they were "lying around somewhere". Finally, the prices seemed pretty steep to me. For three adults painting 3 of the smallest pieces they offer, the total came to just under $80. None of this will stop me from going back, but I won't be in a...