Art is hard, especially when fortified by the flames of a sintering kiln. Make a piece of sturdy ceramic eye-candy with today's Groupon: for $12, you get $25 worth of paint-your-own pottery at Meg-Art Pottery, Inc. in Huntersville.

Meg-Art’s ceramic custodians help customers dress up bare wares chosen from a paint-ready selection of over 1,000 plates, pots, mugs, and vases. After selecting a subject, artists decamp to supply-filled tables and send paints flying. Grab a blank plate or bowl ($15–$25) and paint a well-balanced meal, stencil an ornament ($6–$20) with springtime flowers, or decorate a bank ($20–$30) with international currency symbols representing America’s dollar, England’s pound, or Italy’s fossilized raviolis. Meg-Art’s friendly staff stand watch, awaiting cries for assistance or invitations to design-brainstorming sessions. After the brushstrokes settle, Meg-Art’s kilnmasters whisk pieces away for a final firing, protecting delicate images with preserving glazes and mug-sized football helmets before clearing them for pick-up a week later. Though not included in today’s Groupon, mugs of coffees and teas ($1.75+) whisper temptations into the ears of thirsty artists from their perches behind the studio’s in-house espresso bar.