This Christmas, Designs Café at the Cider Press Centre in Dartington has something on almost every week from November to 23 December: bauble painting and hot chocolate for children, hand and footprint keepsakes, Sip & Paint bauble evenings with a glass of bubbly, and a watercolour Christmas card workshop. You can also paint a present yourself over coffee and cake, or give a gift card. Here is everything on, with dates and prices.
What's on at Designs Café this Christmas?
Hand & Footprint Pottery with a free Christmas bauble — Tuesdays, 9am–11am, 3 November to 8 December.
Christmas Bauble Painting & Hot Chocolate for children — Wednesdays, 4pm–5:30pm, 11 November to 9 December, £15.
Sip & Paint Bauble Painting Workshop — Friday and Saturday evenings, 14 November to 18 December, £35.
Christmas Watercolour Cards & Metallic Details — five 3-hour sessions, 16 November to 5 December, £54.
Coaster Painting for children — Wednesday 16 December, 4pm–5:30pm, £18.
Night Before Christmas Story & Bookmark Painting — Wednesday 23 December, 4pm–5:30pm, £15.
Pottery painting every day we're open — pieces from £7 to £50+, plus a £5 studio fee.
All dates and booking are on our Workshops page.
What Christmas activities are there for children?
Christmas Bauble Painting & Hot Chocolate is an after-school session for children aged 4+, every Wednesday from 11 November to 9 December (not 4 November), 4pm to 5:30pm. It costs £15, which includes a bauble to paint, a children's hot chocolate and the kiln fee. We fire the bauble and let you know when it's ready to collect.
Hand & Footprint Pottery runs on Tuesday mornings, 9am to 11am, on 3, 10, 17 and 24 November and 1 and 8 December. Choose any pottery piece, like a plate, mug or tile, and decorate it with your child's hand or footprint. You pay for the piece as usual, and we add a hand or footprint Christmas bauble free.
Coaster Painting on Wednesday 16 December, 4pm to 5:30pm, is £18 for two coasters, paint, the studio fee and a children's hot chocolate, for ages 4+.
Night Before Christmas Story & Bookmark Painting on Wednesday 23 December, 4pm to 5:30pm, is the last children's session of the year: a Night Before Christmas story, a hot chocolate and bookmark painting with acrylic paint, £15, for ages 4+. Devon schools break up on Friday 18 December, so it falls in the first week of the holidays.
These sessions are part of After School Creativity, our creative workshops for children. More ideas for families are on our Kids & Families page.
Is there a Christmas night out for adults?
Yes. Our Sip & Paint Bauble Painting Workshop runs on six evenings: Saturday 14, Friday 20 and Saturday 28 November, and Friday 4, Saturday 12 and Friday 18 December. Fridays are 6pm to 8pm and Saturdays 5pm to 7pm. It costs £35 per person and includes one bauble, glazing and firing, all materials, a glass of bubbly and nibbles, and you can bring your own bottle. Booking is essential, with up to 25 places an evening, so it works for a Christmas party with friends or colleagues. Baubles painted on Friday 18 December will be ready after Christmas.
Christmas Watercolour Cards & Metallic Details is a 3-hour guided workshop where you paint four Christmas card designs in watercolour and finish them with metallic detailing. Choose from Monday 16 November (9am–12pm), Thursday 19 November (6pm–9pm), Saturday 21 November (4pm–7pm), Thursday 3 December (6pm–9pm) or Saturday 5 December (4pm–7pm). It costs £54 with all materials included, up to 10 people a session, and beginners are welcome.
On our walk-in Friday evenings, two sessions run from 5pm to 7pm and 6pm to 8pm, and you can bring your own wine or prosecco with no corkage charge. You pay a £5 studio charge plus the piece you choose. The Watercolour Club meets fortnightly on Friday evenings, 6pm to 8pm, for £21 with materials and tea included. Dates for both are on the Workshops page.
Can I paint a Christmas present myself?
Yes. Choose a piece from our shelves, a mug, plate, bowl or ornament, and paint it at your own pace over coffee and cake. Pieces cost £7 to £50+, plus a £5 studio fee per piece that covers paints, brushes, glazing and firing, and a session is about two hours. You get 10% off hot drinks while you paint. No experience is needed, and walk-ins are welcome whenever we have space.
After you paint, we glaze and kiln-fire every piece, and it's ready to collect within two to four weeks. So if it's a Christmas present, come in early: November is ideal. Ask us when you visit if you're cutting it fine. Booking a table is on our pottery painting page.
Is a gift card a good Christmas present?
Yes, especially if you've left it late. Designs Café gift cards come in six amounts, £20, £30, £40, £50, £75 and £100, and you buy them online as an e-gift card. They can be spent on pottery painting, our workshops and events, and the handmade gifts and homeware in our shop. A £20 card covers any piece up to £15 together with its studio fee. See our gift cards page.
What else is on nearby at Christmas?
Totnes holds its Christmas Markets and late-night shopping on Tuesdays 8, 15 and 22 December, 3pm to 9pm. A painting session at the Cider Press Centre in the afternoon pairs well with an evening at the markets.
Where are you, and when are you open?
Designs Café, Unit 3A, Cider Press Centre, Shinner's Bridge, Dartington, Totnes TQ9 6TQ. The Cider Press Centre car park is free for the first two hours, and the café is wheelchair accessible with a step-free way in. We serve speciality coffee from Voyager Coffee in Buckfastleigh and cakes from Exploding Bakery in Exeter, with gluten-free and vegan cakes, decaf and oat milk. Well-behaved dogs are welcome.
We're open Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday 9am–4pm, Friday 9am–5pm and Sunday 10am–4pm, and from 1 November we're open seven days a week.
How do I book?
Book workshops and Sip & Paint evenings on our Workshops page, and pottery painting tables on our pottery painting page. If you're coming as a group of more than six, email info@designscafe.uk first so we can set up seating. You can also message us on Instagram at @designscafeuk. We don't have a phone line, so email or Instagram is the quickest way to reach us.
