pottery wheel fun

Dennis got a pottery wheel as a gift from Gran and Pop on Christmas Eve. He waited a day or two (what with all the gifts from Santa that came much later that night) before he began to tell us "I want to make a pot out of clay." The past 2 days, it's been a constant refrain. Yesterday I had the migraine and today we had another obligation scheduled for the afternoon, so it looked like tomorrow was the big day. The Tire Gods had other plans. After loading Dennis and his minimal accessories into the Tracker, I rounded the back end and discovered a VERY flat rear tire (and a fairly flat spare). There's a compressor here, but I'm a wuss, and I didn't want to deal with it with Dennis running in circles around the car while I attempted my first tire change. I've always wanted to know if I could do it, but I didn't have enough gumption today to find out, not when I have such a capable husband due home in a few short hours.

So, we had some hours opened up to us, and we set up the pottery wheel. Yes, it is as messy and as fun as you imagine it will be beforehand. Dennis had seen a show once about it, so he was demonstrating to me what we had to do with our hands to make a pot. He was right. And though it said it was for older kids on the box, he handled it as well as I did just about, and we got equally messy, the 3 year old and the 35 year old. You can't always go by those recommended ages (though he did ask me if he could taste the wet clay, most probably because it looked in color and consistency exactly like a Wendy's chocolate Frosty).

We worked at it for over an hour, trying out different shapes, wetting our hands with the cup of water I'd set out beforehand, happily splattering wet clay all over our disposable plastic "art project" tablecloth (it's on at least its 5th or 6th use, excellent for a $1 purchase). We made some seriously ugly pots before collapsing the clay back into a big lump. Dennis was ready to be done, though, so we left the last one intact to dry. Dennis noticed all the wet clay splatters drying all over his clean new wheel, and he stopped shaping the pot to grab baby wipes and begin scrubbing the machine! He said "we need to clean this before we do any more." This is not usual for him, but he does like a clean house and room. He scrubbed and scrubbed. It took LOTS of baby wipes to clean the wheel AND ourselves. The directions said it was easy cleanup with water, and it was, but they also warn you that clay WILL clog your plumbing. So no handy-dandy sink rinsing for us! Dennis can hardly wait for the pot to dry so he can paint and decorate it!