We like to do things that make others feel special around here.  Random acts of kindness happen on a regular basis with my family but these mugs we made for 2015 created something really special.  I love this because it would be great to do with a Girl Scout troop or a class of kids as a service project.

Recently we had friends over and the kids all painted Duncan ceramic mugs as the first step in  a service project.  If you guessed that those friends were the Neimans (Laura from Housewife Hellraiser and her 4 kiddos) then you were totally righteo.  Pablo is the only boy in the gang.  He is in 6th grade and has autism.  Watching him paint and the process he uses is such a treat.  He has a heart of gold and often times his behaviors seem extreme.  It makes me happy that he can come to my home/studio and access his creativity in ways that allow him to express himself and grow.  I am learning so much from him.  Look at him in deep concentration.

And the rest of the gang…

I painted too (and so did Laura).  Here is mine after I painted it, when I glazed it and let it dry AND when it was all done!  The process is so amazing.

Back to the kiddos… When they were all done with their part, which the totally LOVED, I glazed them and fired them in my awesome Skutt kiln.  The fact that the glaze is green cracks me up.  The science behind ceramics is intensely fascinating!  Here are the mugs painted.

And here they are again…glazed and drying.

They came out fantastic.  We are really getting this ceramics thing down…well the basics anyway.

Step two was to fill the mugs with things that elderly people might like.  We put a large tube of Udderly Smooth cream in each as well as tea bags from Celestial Seasons.  Tomorrow we are going to deliver them to our local retirement home with 24 extra boxes of teas.  This is our note that goes with them.

I feel so blessed to be able to do what I love and in the process be able to empower kids, promote creativity and make a difference.  Using our talents and accession our passion to reach out and love others makes life so amazing.

Follow Duncan Ceramics on Facebook and you can learn so much.  Ceramics is such a great form of art.  It is a way to create a masterpiece that you can pass down from generation to generation…a permanent piece of art.

Cheers and Happy 2015,

Laura