Announcement    We are very happy that you have found Nichols Pottery on Etsy. We have been making hand made, wheel thrown pottery in the Seagrove, NC area for over 30 years. Much of making pottery can only be learned through trial and error and we are very proud of the quality, beauty and functionality we are able to consistently produce thanks to that long learning curve. We are a small, family run company that makes each piece on the wheel from a lump of clay. There are no short cuts. It is wonderful to hear from so many pottery people and people who are new to pottery. We think it is an art form that can be enjoyed and used every day and feel blessed to be able to share our work with so many. We only recently decided it might be interesting to share just how many steps go into making a mug. Thought it might be interesting:

Steps to Make a Nichols Pottery Mug

1, Process Clay through the mixer
2, Run Clay through the Pug Mill for de airing
3, Measure Clay to desired weight
4, Turn Clay on wheel into desired shapes
5, Let Clay harden until ready to apply handles
6, Shape and then attach handles
7, Let piece dry until completely dry
8, Hand sign and sand pottery
9, Load greenware into kiln and "candle" for 24 hours
10, Let cool for 24 hours then remove bisqueware from kiln
11, Wax bottom of pots to keep glaze from adhering to it and prevent sticking to shelves
12, Blow pottery off with air hose to remove dust from pot
13, Apply glaze that is made from a recipe developed over much time and test
14, Let glaze dry overnight
15, Clean bottom of pots to remove any glaze that may have stuck to bottom
16, Correct any imperfections such as tong marks, or pin holes
17, Carefully load pottery into kiln for firing
18, Fire kiln to desired temperature
19, After cooling slowly for 2 days carefully remove pottery from kiln
20, Stone off bottom of each piece
21. Clean, Box and Ship to one of our amazing customers

Care & Use: This pottery is microwave, oven and dishwasher safe.
Pottery should never be placed on direct heat, under a broiler, over direct flame or on the stovetop.
Avoid extreme temperature changes when using pottery. Start pottery in a cold oven when baking.
Let cold pottery warm up if its been in a cold refrigerator, before heating in the microwave. Do not set hot pottery on cold countertops.