Production Schedule

Blog New

  • A fall glaze palette works beautifully in this context because these colors echo the natural landscape outside. They bring a sense of harmony into the home and create a feeling of coziness that customers are drawn to. Customers instinctively gravitate toward items that reflect this mood, whether that’s a pumpkin-spiced latte served in a handmade mug or the deep, earthy tones of seasonal décor....

  •   Recently I was working with Sarah Stotts, from BedandBreakfast.com, on an article about my family’s Custom Pottery Mug business When she asked me for any new images of our handmade stoneware Jumping Rocks popped into my head. So I got on the phone and......

  • As my family has been making mugs for customers for over 30 years from time to time we hear from folks like Vince Smith of Houston, Texas: Dear Niles: Approximately 12 years ago, my wife and I were in Ithaca, NY and had the pleasure......

  • If you requested a catalog and didn’t receive one in February or March your information did not makes its way through our website to us. We apologize for this miscommunication and failure to send you our catalog. The problems have been fixed and the “Catalog......

  • Spring is finally in the air and I had a few minutes this morning to take pictures of the firing that took place yesterday. We fire the kiln 4-5 days a week, each glaze firing heats the stoneware inside up to about 2350º F and......

  • Not sure where you were from the March 30th – April 2nd… My family (mom, dad, aunt and wifey) spent 4 days in Atlanta talking about our custom handmade stoneware mugs with some of the best innkeeping professionals in the country. We’ve been working with......

  • On February 13th we shipped an order of custom handmade mugs to Christina and Charlie Ward in Yanceyville, NC and on February 18th we received this email: Hello Niles, Yesterday I received the handmade mugs, they’re PERFECT! it’s exactly what I was looking for. I......

  • No early retirement for Peter Deneen. At the start of this year with all of the economic uncertainty we decided to head out to more bed and breakfast conferences in the hopes of attracting new customers. A few weeks back my dad attended the Illinois......

  • With each order that we ship, we hope to meet or exceed our customer’s expectations… Now and then we are lucky enough to have a reaction like this: Dear Niles and Teena, I want you to know that our new custom mugs are simply spectacular. ......

  • It was a cool and sunny weekend here in Minnesota and we had a firing that took place. Today I photographed a few pictures of some of the handmade stoneware custom mugs that are just about to be shipped....

Here is a story about a recent order that we completed about an amazing innkeeper named Kathy Hartley, and an annual retreat that she hosts at her inn. The three-day retreat is offered to those who are undergoing treatment for any type of cancer, not just breast...

Making handmade stoneware mugs by hand is just what we do. My family has been at this for almost 40 years, our anniversary is coming up in 2012, and each mug that we make has a story. Every custom stoneware mug that we create is done so for a customer, innkeepers for their  bed and breakfasts, banks, insulation companies, or even National Parks like Valley Forge. The style of the mug that we are focused on today is our latest and greatest called the patriot. This 12 oz. mug was designed by our potter Wade, who has been throwing pots here for coming up on 15 years. He is also fast becoming our glaze chemist, and we will have some new matte finishes very soon thanks to him. Anyway, back to the story, the Patriot mug! This mug was named on in honor of Independence Day with help from a close knit group of our fans on Facebook.

Two Patriot mug, one blue and one brown

Continuing on the topic of 'mug collecting' is at the center story of today's blog... This one is a good one about the custom handmade mugs that we proudly create!

Photo of multiple mugs from different places

Did you say all 50 states?!? "Yes - A round belly mug from each of the 50 states."