How it Works

There are so many different and unique ways to experience You’re Fired. But whether you are creating a family moment with children, or a more adult one with friends, or even a multi-generational moment between grandparents and grandchildren, the process is essentially the same. Click the highlighted links in the following steps for additional detail.

 

Here are the steps!

    1. Choose your Bisque
    2. Choose your Paints
    3. Draw your design – View Our Gallery!
    4. Paint, laugh, talk, paint
    5. Leave the piece (and the mess) with us
    6. We’ll fire it in our Kilns, creating a smooth, glossy, food- safe surface
    7. Come back in 7 days and pick up your amazing work of art

 


 

Bisque

You’re creativity will overflow when you see our wide selection of over 1500 bisque items in our inventory.  While inventory is kept fresh and varied, we also maintain standard items, as we know how exciting it is to create full kitchen sets for either yourself,  or as gifts for friends and family.  Seasonal and  new holiday collection regularly fill our shelves as well.  They’ll keep you in the spirit and change holiday shopping to holiday fun!  At You’re Fired™ we keep both adults and children in mind – whether it’s little princesses or little super heroes you bring with you, You’re Fired™ is prepared to fire up their little imaginations.  And, for you moms, dads and grandparents and guests of all ages, there’s no shortage of variety for your tastes and innovative plans.


Paints

We carry over 70 colors of paint, which when used in multiple coats yields an infinite amount of shades!  Each color is provided in an 8 ounce bottle size as well as in “writers” for more detailed work.  New colors are added by our manufacturer on a regular basis.

Paint colors are given cute names to help you remember what colors you have use in future visits.  Examples include, “What a yolk”, “Smiley face”, “Orange Peel”, “Blue-by-u”, “this li’l piggy”, etc.

Our paints (undergalze) as well as our over glaze are non-toxic clay based glaze.  They dry to powder form, do not stain, and can be easily brushed off clothing.


Kilns

Once you have completed the creative process of decorating the bisque, we allow your piece 24 hours to dry.  We then apply a clear overglaze which will create the shiny sparkly effect over your colors.  This coat also needs 24 hours to dry.

The technical magic of the pottery creating process is then performed by our Kilns.  The Firing process “fuses” the glazes (paint and over glaze) with the pottery itself, on the molecular level.  It is only after the firing that the bisque and glazes become pottery. The technical term is called “sintering”.  Sintering is a method used to create objects from powders. It is based on atomic diffusion. (pretty technical huh!) When the kilns reach 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, the atoms in the powder particles diffuse across the boundaries of the particles, fusing the particles together with the bisque, and creating one solid piece.  However, the way that ceramics bond in our kiln is influenced not only by the high temperature, but also by the length of time and rate of temperature rise during the period of firing.

It takes approximately 10 hours for our Kiln to fully cycle.  But your items are not ready to be handled yet!  After firing for 10 hours, your pottery is 1800 Fahrenheit, and needs to cool.  This takes an additional 24 – 30 hours before the kilns can be opened and the master pieces revealed.

It is this technical and time consuming process that sets our pottery apart from other forms of ceramic painting.  The result yields pottery that is food safe, dishwasher safe, oven safe, and freezer safe. (It is pottery, however, and should be handled with and treated with care!).  The colors will never fade.

As many times as we fire kiln loads, there is nothing as exciting as viewing the freshly fired pottery when the kiln lids are first opened.  It is like Christmas morning to us!