Jacki Mravinec had almost all the fixings for her bachelorette party. Bottles of wine, appetizers, a “Soon Be Mrs. High” tank top. “We couldn’t have a stripper, so we brought porn,” said her friend Jen Carroll, 31, of Ross, pointing to a TV and VCR in the corner of the pottery studio. “Just kidding.” Mravinec, 27, of Wexford, and her 14 guests were having a relatively tame bachelorette party this month, choosing to skip the bars and nightclubs and sip wine while painting clay at Color Me Mine pottery studio in Squirrel Hill, which has a Saturday-evening Bring Your Own night. Mravinec, who got married over the weekend, has about 10 weddings to attend this year — which means 10 bridal showers and 10 bachelorette parties. “We just wanted to do something different and fun,” she said. Another plus: Mravinec didn’t have to drag her older aunt and a couple of pregnant invitees from bar to bar. “It’s G-rated,” Mravinec said. “Except for Jen, she’s R-rated.” The bride-to-be is the perfect target for local pottery studios that offer BYOB nights to lure in the bar- and nightclub-wary. Kiln-N-Time in Lawrenceville has BYOB all the time, but it’s most popular on Friday nights, when the pottery studio offers a 2-for-1 deal on studio time, said owner Sandy Simon. “I always say, if the date doesn’t go so well, at least you have a piece of pottery,” Simon said. Guests don’t have to pay a cork fee at Kiln-N-Time, and they can bring anything from six packs to cocktail fixings. “We’ve even had people do a margarita party,” Simon said. And don’t worry about having to bring a blender or cocktail shaker. “We have all the tools here.” On a recent Friday evening, couple Brandi Booth, 27, and Joseph Greback, 28, both of Bloomfield, shared a 1.5-liter bottle of merlot as they painted pieces for their home. “We came here for Valentine’s, actually,” Greback said. “Personally, I don’t like bars, so BYOB places are my thing.” And for the artistic couple — he’s a photographer, she’s a graphic designer — painting pottery seems like the perfect Friday evening. “Art’s a better stress reliever than alcohol, but when you combine them,” Greback trailed off as he applied a base coat of paint to his soap dish. The worst that can happen is regretting a couple of painting decisions, he said. “And we can just walk home,” Booth said. Additional Information:

Color Me Mine

Where: 5887 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Wed. Studio costs: $6 hourly rate Fri. and Sat.; $9 flat rate for during the week. Specials: $5 flat studio fee for college students 7-10 p.m. Fri.; $9 BYOB special 7-10 p.m. Sat.; $6 flat rate 3-6 p.m. Sun. Price of the pottery not included and will vary. Cork fee: None Details: 412-421-2909 Additional Information:

Kiln-N-Time

Where: 3801 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Thur.-Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.; noon-6 p.m. Mon.-Wed. Studio costs: $15, includes up to five paint colors and firing and glazing of the pottery. Price of the pottery not included and can range from $2-$100. Contact the store for details of making your own clay pieces. Cork fee : None Details: 412-687-0383

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---