Perfect Presents for the Clay Lover in Your Life
By Lucy Alexander
The holiday season is here, and if you have a potter in your life, you may find yourself wondering what on earth to get someone who spends half their time covered in clay. Whether they’re a hand-builder, a wheel-thrower, or a little bit of both, this guide covers thoughtful, practical, and genuinely exciting gifts that any ceramic artist will love.
Feel free to share this guide with friends and family — it’s designed to make gift-giving easy, fun, and perfectly tailored to the clay-obsessed people we adore.
Gifts for Any Potter
Great for potters of every skill level and style — wheel, hand building, sculptural, or mixed.
Flexible, beautifully designed ribs for shaping, refining, and smoothing. Every potter benefits from having multiple sizes and shapes. I specifically recommend the new pink ribs, the new red edgy rib, and shape ‘O’ shape ‘1’ and shape ‘3’ of the red ribs. I personally use all the red shapes as well as the shape ‘4’ for both yellow and green. Tell your story online can make all the difference.
This ultra-durable sanding material lasts years and is the absolute best. Great for smoothing, refining rims, or softening rough edges on bisque or after glaze. I use this sand paper on the feet of all my pieces after the glaze firing for a smooth finish to avoid scratching tables and other surfaces. Other people love the sanding pads but I prefer the sand paper as its flexible and can wrap around handles and get into small crevices and edges. I’ve had the same set of sandpaper since 2020 and its still going strong!
An online streaming platform packed with pottery tutorials, demonstrations, and technique deep-dives. Perfect for potters who love learning at home.
Perfect for smooth, even glaze application — and a major upgrade from the generic brushes most potters begin with. These brushes are great for any brush on glaze application. They hold lots of glaze and make brushing on glaze more enjoyable and give better results.
Year-round inspiration, glaze chemistry insights, technical tips, and artist features delivered to their doorstep. I covet these magazines. Each issue contains tons of inspiring info, descriptions of techniques, tools, materials, and more. In every issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, both up-and-coming and established potters and ceramic artists share their techniques, tips, and information for the studio in a beautifully illustrated format.
Gift Certificate to Mill Valley Pottery Studio or Amphora Ceramic Studio
Give the gift of making pottery! Redeemable for anything: classes, workshops, memberships, clay, tools, firing fees, and more.
-Click here for: Mill Valley Pottery Studio
-Click here for: Amphora Ceramic Studio
Our fantastic little local pottery supply store for tools, materials, and specialty supplies. Find them in Richmond for Gift Certificates.
If you’re looking for a delicious, thoughtful gift that anyone will love (potter or not!), I highly recommend nut butters from Handsome Carver, our favorite local small-batch nut butter maker — and yes, it also happens to be my husband’s company! He makes a wide variety of flavors, including: Cinnamon Honey Cashew, Maple Almond, and Vanilla Cashew, Pumpkin Pie Cashew Butter and Chocolate Hazelnut are a few of my favorites. Current members of MVPS and ACS use code: NUTS4CLAY to get free shipping and have your order dropped at the studio for you!
An online platform and community of potters run by ceramic artist Jessica Putnam Philips. Explore hundreds of classes and thousands of HD videos designed to inspire and elevate your pottery skills. Her tutorials cover everything from wheel throwing to handbuilding, carving, sulpting, glazing, studio safety, and more. Its only $13/month or $130/year!
Gifts for Wheel-Throwers
Many of the gifts listed in the ‘Gifts For Any Potter’ section are great for wheel-throwers, but this section of gifts are specifically for potters that focus on wheel-throwing.
Reliable, durable bats that make throwing and transferring pieces effortless. The convenient 6" x 6" inserts take up minimal space on your shelves while your pots are set aside to dry. The MDF material absorbs moisture from the foot of the pot so they dry evenly. I use these everyday in my home studio. I’ve used many different bat systems and this is the easiest, most functional, and affordable option I have used.
High-quality trimming tools that glide through clay like butter. A potter will treasure these for years. They’re very well made, don’t rust and can be sharpened. You can find these at Clay People or other online suppliers. They also make excellent knives.
Gorgeous, thoughtfully designed wooden ribs that help shape and refine forms with elegance and precision. I also really love their mushroom anvil tools. I use them all the time to make small bowls and lids in my home studio. All Garrity tools are durable and well made to last and perform with excellence.
A genius little caddy that clips onto the splash pan so all their tools stay within easy reach while throwing. Sturdy & Stable – Made from 100% recycled plastic to withstand daily use.
Multi-Slot Design that holds a variety of pottery tools for maximum efficiency. Easy to clean and designed for convenience, with smooth surfaces for quick cleanup.
A fantastic wheel-throwing book filled with techniques, exercises, and beautiful inspiration. Also checkout Ben Carters’ podcast Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. He also produces the For Flux’s Sake podcast which is another fantastic resource for potters interested in ceramic material science.
Gifts for Hand Builders
Many of the gifts listed in the ‘Gifts For Any Potter’ section are great for hand builders, but this section of gifts are specifically for potters that focus on hand building.
High-quality hump molds used for slab building. Perfect for creating consistent forms like platters, trays, plates, and more. I have tons of these and love using them to make quick and easy plates and bowls and dishes of all shapes and sizes. The OG series are so fun because they stack so you can make deeper shapes but the newer RD2 series have round edges for a smoother interior curve which is also really nice. Click here: GR Pottery Forms
Best-selling ceramics author Sunshine Cobb shares all the necessary fundamentals, including a thorough discussion of clay as well as helpful tips for keeping your body and mind in top shape in this book.
Develop new skills and unlock your own creativity as you explore:
• Sculptural projects like miniature animals and plants.
• Functional items like scoops, a citrus reamer, and a coffee pour-over vessel.
• Mixed media projects including a candlestick holder, mobile, and a soap dish.
Jen Allen has been awarded the 2026 ceramic artist of the year by Ceramic Arts Yearbook. She’s a fantastic potter and ceramic educator and she makes and sells templates for making so many wonderful things. You can download her templates and print them out yourself or have a premade set mailed to you. She also sells her digital downloads of her book ‘Put a Lid on It’ which is an instructional book complete with drawings and diagrams all about the many many different types of lids.
As someone who lives and breathes clay every single day, I hope this guide brings a little inspiration to your gifting season. Whether you’re shopping for a potter you love or treating yourself to something special, may your holidays be full of creativity, rest, and moments that feel genuinely nourishing.