Monster Mug

Bring imagination to the pottery studio with this playful functional clay project! In this lesson, students explore the fundamentals of ceramic handbuilding while designing expressive monster-inspired mugs complete with textures, facial features, and creative handles. From furry creatures to scaly beasts, students learn how form, texture, and surface details can transform everyday objects into one-of-a-kind functional artwork.

Download Lesson Plan

Supplies List

AMACO No. 25 White Art Clay
brent Slab Roller or Rolling Pin
Fettling Knife
AMACO Low Fire Glazes
Modeling Tools
AMACO Fan Brushes
Sketchbook
Drawing Materials

Plan Monster

Discuss monster ideas with students. What makes something a monster rather than a regular face? Texture, eyes, teeth, claws, etc. Have students come up with attributes of the monster they want to recreate as a mug. Optional: have students draw numbers and attributes out of a hat as a random monster generator.

Draw

Have students draw their monster as a mug, including planning the handle.

Create & Texture the Slab

Cut out and texture a slab 11.5” x 5”. Fur can be imitated with a comb, scales with net fabric or a roller stamp. Try out different items, like pine cones or rocks, to see what kind of textures you can make.

Form into Cylinder

Curl slab into a cylinder with the texture on the outside. Slip and score the ends of the cylinder.

Attach the Base

Cut a circle from a slab for the base and score and slip to cylinder.

Sculpting Eyes

Make eyes. Roll balls of clay, score and slip and press gently into the mug. Use hollow tool or texture stamp to make iris and pupil.

Adding Eyelids

Use small coils for eyelids, if desired.

Adding the Mouth

Make a mouth. If it’s an open mouth, lightly press the clay inward, and smooth.

Creating Teeth

If there will be teeth, make those and attach them before making the lips. Make lips with thin coils of clay. Score and slip.

Adding Monster Nose

Make a nose, if desired. Nose can be any shape. If it will be large, make it hollow and poke a hole it to vent in firing.

Attaching the Handle

Make a handle. If the handle will be more than ¾” thick (like the claw / horn handle pictured) make it hollow and be sure to include a hole in the base to allow it to vent in firing. For a tentacle type handle, it can be solid. Texture the handle to match the mug.