Ringel's Ceramics

If you are a crafty-minded person, you need Ringel's Ceramics in your life.Helen's shop features ready-to-sell ceramics for every occasion: Halloween, Christmas, Easter, every Pittsburgh sport, dragons, weddings, new babies, you name it. Her windows on Merchant Street are always decorated with beautiful pieces that she and the other gals have made.However, what's even cooler about Ringel's Ceramics are the weekly classes. On Wednesday evenings (7-10) and Saturdays (10-4), you can come in to the shop, buy an unfinished piece to work on (as well as all the brushes & paints you will need), and hang out in the shop, chatting with other crafty people and creating your masterpiece.Prices are so reasonable. You pay for your supplies as you go. You can purchase pieces for as little as $2.70, paints are just over $2 each, and class itself costs a mere $3 each time. Whatever you want to create, Ms Helen will find the mold for you. If you have a mold that you want to make, they can pour it for you, and then you can come to class and paint it!The classes are informal: everyone works on their own piece, at their own pace. There's a lot of chatting and laughing and oohing & ahhing over each other's latest projects. But you learn the different techniques of ceramics painting, and you get help and assistance throughout the whole process (for example, we all make Ms Helen paint the eyes on our characters, because she rules at this very difficult part of painting). There are often technique sheets available for the project you want to work on, and this can help you see how to enhance the painting as well.I came across the shop first on Nationality Days in Ambridge, and brought in a buffalo mold I had bought on eBay for $15. I really liked what the buffalo looked like, so I bought the mold without knowing how I would be able to use it. And even though it was an old mold in kind of a state of disrepair, they were able to pour it, and then Ms Helen helped me learn how to paint it (my first project!), and now I have a gorgeous buffalo statue at home.And once you start... well, you spend every class wandering around looking at the available pieces and wondering what you will paint next. There are so many options, you'll never run out. If you like to do crafts, even if you don't have any experience with ceramics or painting, please come and hang out and learn a little! It's the best way to spend your Wednesday night.

When I walked in it took me back to the 70s when every grandmother and mother painted the ceramic molds. The store had tons of product they also have classes. If you like ceramic statues or want to paint it's the place to go. It's a dying art