Reopening Plan

Embrace Phase four, and paint more! We can’t believe that after 15 long months of uncertainty, Paint Away! made it through the worst of the pandemic, though we’re not quite out yet. We hope that everyone is feeling more comfortable being out and about and supporting their local businesses again. We appreciate so many of you for sticking with us and for supporting us through our pottery to go program, Summer Camp, and virtual events. We tried to pivot our services with the needs of the time as quickly as we could. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all!

During the pandemic, we said goodbye to Katie Hughes after 7 years. She and her husband bought a house in Arizona. She has led our Summer Art Camps and has been the reliable face of Paint Away for the last 7 years. It is an understatement to say that she will be greatly missed. But we wish her and her husband, Josh, the best in their new adventure. If you want to wish her well, please go to visit us page and write your well-wishes. We’ll make sure it gets to her.

We are now looking forward. Here’s what to expect.

• All our employees are vaccinated. They will have the option to continue wearing their masks or not, depending on their comfort level. It will be their personal choice.

• Customers who are vaccinated may now come in to paint without a mask.

• We recommend unvaccinated customers to continue wearing a mask when walking around the store but may remove masks when at the table.

• We will not require proof of vaccination and trust that the adults are doing what they need to do for their personal well-being.

• We recommend children under the age of 12, who are not eligible for vaccinations, to wear masks when walking around the store, but may remove mask when seated and painting.

• We will continue to have parties on weekends only in our temporary space through the summer.

• Parties reserved after August 31st, will potentially be held in our store.

• Any staff dealing with parties and camps will continue to wear masks for the safety of the kids. If you see your party host without a mask, please kindly remind them to wear a mask. It’s easy to forget especially if they have been working at the store with general customers without a mask.

For more information on what’s new with regards to our new protocols, please visit our Health and Safety page. We look forward to seeing you and let’s do our part to stay safe!

Love, Peace, and Paint Away!

We're in Phase 2!

It’s been an interesting few months without seeing people creating those many personalized gifts for the holiday season! We missed the hubbub of a busy season, yet, thankful that we are still here!

We are in Phase 2 as of Monday, February 1, which means that we are open again for in-store painting. Yay! We’ve made a few changes – here’s what to expect:

• We will not be taking reservations for in-store painting, instead, we are going back to seating walk-ins as they come.

• We will offer Glass Fusing in the near future by reservations only. This is the only table reservation we can take, and we will only be taking a limited amount since they have to be seated next to the Glass Fusing Center.

• We will limit in-store capacity to 4 tables only, with maximum 5 people per table from the same party. Phase 2 allows people from 2 different households.

• We will be taking “Party” or “Group” reservations in our temporary space (separate from our regular storefront). This meets the current Phase 2 guidelines of 25% capacity and we are limiting two people per table (5 per table is allowed). For more details, go here.

• Please dress warmly as our doors will be open for ventilation.

• For the safety of everyone – we will require facemasks to be worn at all times even when seated at your table to paint.

• We will continue to ask everyone to wash hands prior to painting and to not touch the items from the shelf, and instead, we will take the items off the shelf and bring it to your table.

• We will also be doing paint explanation from your table and taking your initial paint order from your table. Should you require additional paint or supplies afterward, you may come to the paint center and request the items you need from an employee. Of course, please wait until the paint center is clear of other customers to maximize social distancing and minimize foot traffic.

• Please visit our Health and Safety Phase 2 Policy webpage for the full details.

We will continue with pottery-to-go for anyone who is more comfortable painting at home with in-store or curbside pickup.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all and we can’t wait to see our tables filled with people painting again.

Peace, Love, and Paint Away!

What's New with the Mandate

After reading the Governor’s latest COVID-19 Guidance, we will have to make some adjustments in our store operations. We will stay open for in-store purchases, pick-up and drop-off (curbside or in-store), and online pottery-to-go. However, we will have to cancel all socially-distanced parties and events that have been scheduled and all in-store painting reservations. Also, in-store painting will not be allowed until the mandate lifts on December 14th.

With the COVID numbers accelerating in such a rapid rate, I think this is the responsible thing to do for our employees and community. We’ve always said that we want to be part of the solution in flattening the curve and not part of the problem.

We regret having to take these measures, particularly because in recent weeks, our sales were increasing and we were seeing more people painting inside our studio to the point that there have been times that we have reached our limited allowable capacity and have had a short waiting list. We loved seeing so many of you again!

We love what we do! It gives us such great happiness to be able to provide creativity to all our customers. We also know how badly needed it is for many people who find comfort and fleeting relief from worries and stress to be able to be creative. And we know how much fun it is for kids and adults alike to create personalized gifts or items for themselves. We are determined to beat COVID and be here when it’s all over. That’s our hope. But we cannot continue without this community supporting us.

If you were planning on coming-in to the store to paint, we hope you consider buying pottery-to-go or make in-store purchases and still paint in your home. And we hope you support our local eateries too. We are feeling the impact of COVID in so many ways. Let’s all do our part to buoy each other during this time.

We are wishing you, your family, and all your neighbors good health. Stay safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Grace, Peace, Love, and Paint Away!

I will leave you with this poem by James Crews, from the column American Life in Poetry, curated by Ted Kooser, a Pulitzer-Prize winning Poet.

Winter Morning

When I can no longer say thank you
for this new day and the waking into it,
for the cold scrape of the kitchen chair
and the ticking of the space heater glowing
orange as it warms the floor near my feet,
I know it’s because I’ve been fooled again
by the selfish, unruly man who lives in me
and believes he deserves only safety
and comfort. But if I pause as I do now,
and watch the streetlights outside flashing
off one by one like old men blinking their
cloudy eyes, if I listen to my tired neighbors
slamming car doors hard against the morning
and see the steaming coffee in their mugs
kissing chapped lips as they sip and
exhale each of their worries white into
the icy air around their faces—then I can
remember this one life is a gift each of us
was handed and told to open: Untie the bow
and tear off the paper, look inside
and be grateful for whatever you find
even if it is only the scent of a tangerine
that lingers on the fingers long after
you’ve finished peeling it.

Ready, Set, Paint!

Well, it’s been an interesting few months. And though we’re glad to be doing what we love best – dishing up some creativity via curbside or delivery – it isn’t quite the same without seeing all of you in action creating something that is uniquely you! Opening up is a big deal and we all have to do our part to continue to flatten the curve. And in that spirit and in the anticipation of the opening, we wanted to share with you our Reopening Plan. We have given a lot of thought on how we can open while providing safety measures for our customers to feel comfortable to come back and paint.

created by freepik

Our Reopening Plan goals, in a nutshell, are to minimize in-store browsing, product handling, in-store point of sale transactions, and to keep it clean to stop the spread, and of course - maximize social distancing. Here’s what’s new:

• Though walk-ins will always be welcome, we recommend reserving your table before coming – our easy online system allows you to do this 5 minutes before you arrive, provided there is a table available. In keeping with social distancing and occupancy limitations, we are limiting the number of tables available.

• We also recommend you purchase online, this will allow us to bring your pieces to your table. Of course, you may purchase items you see in the store – either on your phone or at the cash register.

• We will also now have a Paint Bar – but we won’t pour, we’ll give you the bottle! Everything you touch will be disinfected and thoroughly cleaned – we are dedicating an entire staff meeting and training to this. We will also be handing out paintbrushes (of your choosing) and paint palettes to limit the handling of these items.

We have also detailed for you our Employee Expectations here. We are all adjusting to this new way of being, so if you see anything that requires our attention, we ask that you tell us. We all can help each other out to ensure we’re stopping the spread because we’re all in it together.

And good news on the Summer Camp front – we have secured a dedicated temporary space to hold our Summer Art Camp Program. The temporary space is over 3500 square feet allowing ample room for social distancing. Our Summer Camp Safety Plan is posted and it details how we’re keeping campers safe while we still have fun. The main gist:

• Space will be a dedicated space for our Summer Art Camp program. This means there will be no customers in the space, only campers.

• Each table will have a maximum of 2 campers with a sneeze guard in between campers as a safety barrier (but campers will be seated 6’ apart at the same table). In addition, all camp tables will be 6’ feet apart. For a visual guide, see our camp layout on our Summer Camp page.

• Each camper will have their personal supplies and assigned seatings for the week.

With this new dedicated space, we will now be able to offer Regular Parties, in addition to our Virtual Party, Your Way! Our new temporary space of over 3500 square feet complies with County and State Phased Guidelines. See our visual guide to the party layout here (no more than 2 per table with a sneeze guard in between as barrier, and ample social distancing, yet festive)! If you’re missing friends and tired of connecting over video conferencing, check out our Party. There will be no general customer at this space, just your party.

Pottery-To-Go will also stay available for the long haul, perhaps permanently. Who knows? But we’re here to serve you however you need. So if milling about in public is not quite in your comfort zone yet, give pottery-to-go a try, if you haven’t already. And if you have, then you already know how easy our online ordering system is.

We will continue to offer curbside drop off or pick up of pottery-to-go items for the duration. If you want to drop off items ready for glazing and firing, you may drop it off at the table outside (we will check it often) or come-in to the store. If you want to pick up your pottery-to-go or finished items, you can do it curbside or come-in to the store. We expect inside retail to start on June 1st. If you decide to pick up via curbside, please give us a call at 425-861-8388, and we’ll be right out.

So! I think that’s everything we wanted you to know for now. We encourage you to read our Reopening Plan so you know what to expect when you come in.

We are excited to open our doors and see you all again.

Love, Peace, and Paint Away!

Hazel Roos

How-To Pottery-To-Go

We are so excited to offer same day curbside pick-up and delivery for online pottery-to-go orders that we created a little tutorial. Our system is super easy. It's no secret that being creative can be comforting during these uncertain times. It relaxes and quiets the mind. Not to mention, it keeps the kids engaged. Go ahead and try it!

Special thanks to our super-staff extraordinaire Katie and her husband, Josh, for making this video!