cambridge wisconsin – Rowe Pottery Blog

December 1, 2021

Simply Home: Simple Centerpieces

Setting the table is one of the simple joys of home. We find planning a tablescape is an interactive, creative process that makes gatherings even more special. With so many vessel options here at Rowe Pottery, it’s fun to consider essential arranging and all the possibilities from designing your table. Whether you enjoy real or faux florals, we find there are five main steps in the formula to creating beautiful centerpieces either to give as a gift or beautify your own space. Owner Bev has experience in floral design and uses those skills when she sets the displays at our Company Store in downtown Cambridge. Here are some tried and true tips:

First, choose a vessel. For casual arrangements, low bowls or platters are a smart choice and make table conversations easy. Our Provincial footed bowl, Ridges large bowl in drift white or denim or our 2021 Historical platter are simple options. For a more formal, stately arrangement, our Historical 2021 yelloware pitcher, seasonal utensil jars or Ridges vases are an elegant fit. Taller arrangements are also perfect on the back of the buffet table or sideboard.

Next, use greens to define the structure and volume of your arrangement. For the holidays, choose evergreen branches or holly to bring volume and intertwine them for a more natural approach to secure your arrangement versus floral foam. You can use floral tape to secure the filler greens into your vessel.

The third step to your beautiful arrangement is adding middle ground florals for texture and color. Consider white or colored berries, sticks or metallic accents to complement your table linens and silverware. If your arrangement is low, add pinecones with fabric-covered or felted spheres to the mix.
Now, it’s time for statement blooms. Choose a few that you love for a pop of color and whimsy. Not a floral fan? Consider a centerpiece of textured beads and ornaments with a few simple greens. Displayed in one of our lower vessels, it’s a festive and bright option. Or, use candles for statement accents instead of flowers to bring light to the table.

Finally, it’s time to edit, a little nipping and shaping will help your arrangement feel balanced. Move stems to create a variety of heights or lengths. Be sure to turn your piece several times to consider all the angles of view.

We find creating the centerpiece is also a fun activity to share with kids and a great way to roll up our sleeves and bring out our inner designer. Ready to be inspired? We have a great selection of vessels, greens, and accents to pick up in our Company store at 110 E. Main Street in downtown Cambridge. There’s also more creativity on Facebook and Instagram. Explore our entire pottery collection at www.rowepottery.com.

December 1, 2021December 1, 2021

Simply Home: Simple Centerpieces

First, choose a vessel. For casual arrangements, low bowls or platters are a smart choice and make table conversations easy. Our Provincial footed bowl, Ridges large bowl in drift white or denim or our 2021 Historical platter are simple options. For a more formal, stately arrangement, our Historical 2021 yelloware pitcher, seasonal utensil jars or Ridges vases are an elegant fit. Taller arrangements are also perfect on the back of the buffet table or sideboard.

Next, use greens to define the structure and volume of your arrangement. For the holidays, choose evergreen branches or holly to bring volume and intertwine them for a more natural approach to secure your arrangement versus floral foam. You can use floral tape to secure the filler greens into your vessel.

The third step to your beautiful arrangement is adding middle ground florals for texture and color. Consider white or colored berries, sticks or metallic accents to complement your table linens and silverware. If your arrangement is low, add pinecones with fabric-covered or felted spheres to the mix.
Now, it’s time for statement blooms. Choose a few that you love for a pop of color and whimsy. Not a floral fan? Consider a centerpiece of textured beads and ornaments with a few simple greens. Displayed in one of our lower vessels, it’s a festive and bright option. Or, use candles for statement accents instead of flowers to bring light to the table.

Finally, it’s time to edit, a little nipping and shaping will help your arrangement feel balanced. Move stems to create a variety of heights or lengths. Be sure to turn your piece several times to consider all the angles of view.

November 24, 2021November 24, 2021

Simply Home: With Gratitude

They say that when you buy from a small business, an actual person does a little happy dance. That’s very true here at Rowe Pottery. Every week when we have our all-staff meeting to go over production, throwing, decorating and firing schedules and talk about the details of each of your orders individually, we are grateful for your love of pottery and for the business partners who carry our handcrafted creations. We care about details like that around here.

This year, we’ve been especially proud of our local sourcing and commitment to Wisconsin partnerships and inspired by the renewed interest in supporting small businesses nationwide. We’re grateful to have cultivated those relationships over time. When you browse our Company Store, you can be assured that the items we carry are carefully selected for you. We hear from people who are struggling with sourcing from overseas and in many cases we are able to provide a local, handcrafted product to fill the need. We feel good about bringing that business home.

With Small Business Saturday on November 27 along with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we will have online and in-store specials for you to enjoy with our thanks. Thanks for helping us remain a successful “Main Street” business here in downtown Cambridge. Thanks for helping us provide for our artisans and staff. Thanks for being committed with us to the legacy of handcrafted stoneware pottery. Thanks for embracing our new creations and ideas. Thanks for your relationship with the Rowe Pottery past and helping us to introduce a new generation of fans to Rowe Pottery. We look forward to helping you with your holiday orders and being part of the celebrations ahead.

In that spirit of gratitude, we want to wish you a blessed Thanksgiving as you celebrate with your family. We hope we’ve earned a spot on your table. For more inspiration, follow us on Facebook and Instagram or explore our entire collection at www.rowepottery.com

October 27, 2021October 27, 2021

Simply Home: Company’s Coming!

We’re sending out the invitations, how about you? It’s exciting to plan the coming holiday festivities and we’re ready to open our doors, set the table and fill our homes with love and laughter once again. This year, it feels especially right to celebrate gratitude and family.

When our owner, Bev, personally sets the store with our holiday offerings around November 1, it’s a labor of love and she has you in mind. We consider our collectors to be family and want to be ready when you walk through our doors with the absolute best experience we can offer. Bev devotes hours to placing each tree, decorating each table and creating each inviting display. At market, she hand-picks each accessory item, ornament and home décor item with painstaking care to ensure that our Rowe Pottery customers can effortlessly shop knowing that everything relates and coordinates to your pottery. She makes the hard decisions to make yours simple. She carefully networks with small and Wisconsin businesses for our dips, soups, spirits, cheeses and new glassware. The other morning, she spent time tasting coffee to discerningly select our new private label coffee collection (which we know you’ll love). These decisions are always made thinking of you.

Preparing our homes for company is a unique process for each of us and we know you think of your guests as you get ready. Some of us will meticulously set a formal table with courses and are already making our Thanksgiving grocery list. Others will stack the tableware buffet style and present a spread of casual food choices in a potluck. From catered to charcuterie, the choices are unique to each family. Here are a few things for each of us to commonly consider:

Plan how to easily move food from the oven to serving. Pie plates, quiche dishes, dip bakers and loaf pans are beautiful on the buffet table directly from the oven.
Evaluate if you have enough spoon rests for each crock or large dish in your buffet lineup. Since these can go directly in the dishwasher, you’ll make your cleanup much simpler. We offer a variety of seasonal patterns, or our neutral Ridges option.
Add charcuterie boards, our ash glaze historical platter and chip/dip platters for an eclectic table. For variety, put the dip bowl under the platter for an elevated visual.
Consider a simple centerpiece to make the people and food the feature. A simple pitcher or small crock of seasonal florals or a bowl filled with pinecones or ornaments sets the stage without being overdone.

When we think about “Simply Home” gatherings, we also think about the times when we are invited to celebrate as the guest of someone we love. In that case, we’ve got plenty of thoughtful hostess gift ideas. For a longer visit, we’ve helped customers create treasured personalized crocks that reignite fond memories. We’re happy to include your gift message with the shipment. Or, it’s a great time of year to stock up on a small supply of spoon rests, candle crocks, soaps or dish towels to grab as you head out the door to seasonal gatherings. You’ll be a welcome guest again and again when you leave a practical, handcrafted treasure in the hands of your host.

However you prepare your home for company, we’re glad to be part of each memorable celebration. For more inspiration, follow us on Facebook and Instagram or explore our entire collection at www.rowepottery.com.

October 14, 2021

Simply Home: Friends and Family

We treasure our legacy collectors and get excited when new collectors discover Rowe Pottery. Some of our new friends find Rowe Pottery by visiting our Company Store or through an online search. When we have a new collector, we always ask how they found Rowe Pottery, and many times the answer is that they fell in love because a friend or family member shared their love of Rowe Pottery. Because we’re dedicated to passing along a quality legacy and heritage, we cherish that family connection among our collectors. It’s a mother sharing her favorite pie plate or quiche dish (with the recipe, of course) with her new bride daughter or “daughter-in-love”. It’s the gift of a handcrafted custom crock to mark a housewarming, wedding, baby or anniversary.

It’s knowing that we have a collection that will appeal to nearly everyone from the woodsy cottage collector to the traditionalist to the modern apartment dweller. Our “Simply Home” focus for 2021 amplifies that sentiment with all the things that make home beautiful.

We hear stories and receive questions every day about pieces that hold memories, and our collectors share stories with us about how they have built their collections over decades. Hearing your story makes us smile. The stamp on the back of each piece of Rowe Pottery tells a story, too. We know the birthdate, potter and decorator from this mark and are happy to help you know the names of the artisans whose hands created your unique pottery. If you have questions about your pottery, we’re happy to hear from you. Because pottery is an everyday item for common use, it collects the memories of our gatherings, dinners, celebrations and life moments. We think that’s part of what makes a handcrafted piece of stoneware so special. It carries a story, and we love to hear yours.

We offer plenty of ways to share Rowe Pottery with your friends and family from small thoughtful gifts like mugs and spoon rests to our bridal registry that encourages the next generation to explore our many collections. And, because we know that all our pottery collections relate to one another, a modern collector can integrate vintage pieces with ease, resulting in an eclectic feel that bridges the years.

Speaking of gift giving, check out all the ready-to-give collections on our website for easy, anytime giving. From a housewarming, birthday or anniversary to a “feel better soon” sentiment, we’ve got a range of ideas that are a click away. These are our “Simply Rowe” Wisconsin-curated gifts that feature our handcrafted pottery along with local soup mixes, dips, cheese, drink mixes and soaps. Our holiday collection is launching on our website now, or give us a call for a custom idea. We’d love to collaborate with you.

For more inspiration, follow us on Facebook and Instagram or explore our entire collection at www.rowepottery.com.

October 14, 2021October 12, 2021

Simply Home: Friends and Family

For more inspiration, follow us on Facebook and Instagram or explore our entire collection at www.rowepottery.com.

October 7, 2021October 5, 2021

Simply home: Raise your stein!

The golden hues of October suggest fall festivals, pumpkin patch visits, and the amber enjoyment of our favorite brews. Whether your “brew” is a morning cup of coffee, or a cold stein of hoppy beer to finish the day, we’re ready to embrace the change of seasons with you here at Rowe Pottery.

Halloween pumpkins in a wheelbarrow background dark autumn mood

With the recent launch of our very popular harvest wheat and hops patterns, we’ve giving a nod to Oktoberfest, the largest folk festival in the world, based in Munich, Germany. Since 1810, Germans have been lifting their steins with “ein Prost” (a toast) to celebrate. The event began as a large horse race to honor the October marriage of two Bavarian royals. Today, visitors enjoy traditional music, tents, rides and of course plenty of beer and food. In 2019, 7.3 million liters of beer were poured out for German visitors, which was actually down from the 2018 consumption.

While the largest United States Oktoberfest is in Cincinnati, Ohio, 40 percent of Wisconsinites boast German heritage, so we have our fair share of celebrations including the largest in LaCrosse and the oldest (and they claim most authentic) in Glendale just north of Milwaukee. We do love beer in Wisconsin with lots of craft breweries and tasting rooms dotting cities across the state.

Fall glazed pumpkin with Farmhouse Ridges

Our fall hops classic beer stein nods to the origination of Rowe Pottery in 1975 and boasts an Oktoberfest vibe. In our liquid gold glaze, it mimics your favorite beer for full enjoyment. Keep your mug in the fridge for an ice cold pour any time. The stoneware will retain the cold for maximum drinking enjoyment. Or, choose our tall pilsner glass in the Ridges collection for a more contemporary pour. We think they are “das beste”.

It’s no surprise that hops production was originally recorded in the region where Germany exists today. While hops adds the bitter flavor and aromas to beer, wheat provides the golden color. Our wheat collection is a natural complement to the hops line, or a beautiful fall accent on its own mixed with our classic or provincial collections. Add a crock or utensil jar to your fall home decor to honor the harvest season until it’s time to decorate for the holidays. In the spirit of abundance, remember to layer and combine the textures and color of your crocks and displays. It’s the time of year when layers of warm colors, fall florals, mixed pottery and seasonal patterns bring stability and a sense of nesting for the season to come.

For more celebrating and fall decorating inspiration, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, or explore our entire line at www.rowepottery.com.

July 21, 2021

Simply Home: Living Well with Pottery

We find ourselves in “re-entry” mode as our calendars fill up a bit more and we are venturing out in ways we haven’t in a while. Summer concerts, a gathering or two and weekend celebrations are pulling us in different directions once again. Simply returning home for rest and repose makes us smile. Relying on our capsule pieces brings stability and beauty throughout the entire home. For both inside and outside living areas, Rowe Pottery adds a cozy touch that fits in with any design style, bringing warmth and texture to your home décor.

Signature Teaberry and Bumble Bee crocks.

Start by using our Rowe pottery crocks for display or storage. Roll newspapers, display magazines or hold kindling or long matches for functional container storage. Traditional collectors know that a curio display of your pottery collection is a stately way to showcase your favorites while leaving it at your fingertips for daily use. We also love to see pottery collections displayed on open shelving for modern farmhouse and transitional design styles. Nothing says modern Farmhouse style like pottery combined with natural finish wood. And, if your main living area is a porch this time of year, open shelving is the perfect touch.

Consider flipping your platters vertically against the back of the display to feature their designs and provide an extra layer of visual appeal. Place crocks and vessels with volume toward the center to anchor the display and vary smaller pieces in height and color to fill in the gaps. If you like a lighter, modern style, group your pottery by color to make a statement. For traditional decorating, mix Classic salt glaze or Provincial ash glaze. All Rowe Pottery can be displayed together since the stoneware aesthetic unifies the display. Be sure your shelving is secure as your pottery will be weighty!

Around the hearth or firepit, Rowe Pottery is the ideal way to incorporate some stone near the fire elements of your home. Plus, pottery can provide an easy seasonal theme. We’re inspired by our summer patterns right now including lemon, bumblebee, wildflower and bloom. When you put some colorful blooms into a floral crock or vessel, the whole area lightens up. During holiday time, simply place pine greens in your crocks and vessels make home feel cozy and bright. For a timeless design that transcends all seasons, consider a custom or personalized crock to fit your home. Our decorator will create the design of your choice, even a photo of your home. A custom or personalized crock also makes a meaningful wedding or anniversary gift featuring the couple’s invitation design or a Rowe Pottery pattern of your choice.

Lighting in the living room is an important capsule that brightens the area. We have several lamp options, from decorated lamps to modern Ridges choices. Of course, we think every living room needs a candle crock or two to add a multi-sensory lighting experience. Our 100% soy candle crocks come in a 1.5 pint crock and burn so clean that you can reuse the crock when the candle is done. We expect a 70-hour burn time from our candles and a key tip is to let the candle burn all the way to the edge with each burn to prevent funneling. If you are a candle lover, choose our candle subscription to be sure that you always have a fresh Rowe Pottery candle crock ready for each season. This year, we are featuring our Wildflower design for summer, Cider candle for fall, Holiday Holly and Simply Rowe crocks for the new year which will become favorites. You can find our candle subscription on www.rowepottery.com.

Pottery adds instant earthiness, warmth and comfort to your inside living room décor. Take a look at your coffee table or larger ottoman and consider a pottery platter to collect random items into one display. When items are placed on a platter, the eye sees them as one unit so it reduces visual clutter. Plus, it’s a great place to put your coffee mug without needing a coaster (in case your coffee mug ever leaves your hand). Or, serve lemonade or sweet tea to your porch guests in one of our beautiful pitchers. Cold drinks stay even colder in our pottery.

Add vessels like vases, low bowls or our utensil jar to hold potted plants, fresh cut flowers or accents like decorative spheres and balls of yarn. Bringing Rowe Pottery into the living areas of your home adds earthiness and handcrafted style to the areas where your family gathers most. For more inspiration, follow us on Instagram and Facebook or explore our entire line at www.rowepottery.com.

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021

Simply Home: The buzz from the Queen Bee

During the summer months when the crops start emerging here in rural Wisconsin, we celebrate all things agriculture. June is dairy month, time for the local Farmer’s Market to kick in and for long hours with plenty of daylight for our farming neighbors. While our farm collection is the perfect rural touch to your décor and we’ve got some great plans with our pottery styles for fall harvest time, we are currently savoring our summer patterns, including our very popular Bee collection.

Affinity for bees and bee designs has grown in the past several years. When we learned that Cambridge native, Anna Evenson, is reigning as the 2020-2021 Wisconsin Honey Queen, we reached out for a chat to learn more from her! Anna studies dairy science and public relations at UW Platteville, works and a local dairy and still makes time to represent the Wisconsin Honey Producers as—well–the Queen Bee.

Honey jar and beehives on meadow in springtime.

Anna shared that one-third of our food supply requires pollination and bees handle 80 percent of that pollination work. Bees are industrious and organized creatures with purpose in mind. Beekeepers range from hobbyists to industrial operations. Some people have a hive or two (Anna herself has a hive) while larger scale operations move bees around by the semi load to promote pollination in key agricultural areas. While one bee colony can product 60 to 100 pounds of honey per year, an average worker bee makes only about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. A strong, healthy hive hosts about 50,000 bees.

Wisconsin ranks 16^th in honey production and we were the first state to have a honey queen program. Most states now have a honey queen and there is a national contest in January where Anna will represent Wisconsin beekeepers. Anna’s favorite part of her reign so far has been online classroom visits. “I love interacting with kids who are just learning about bees. It’s so fun when we get to start with the basics,” she says.

A closeup shot of a honey bee busy collecting nectar from African daisy flower.

Here at Rowe Pottery, we celebrate these winged wonders with our 2021 Bee Collection that includes a crock, platter, utensil jar, mug and of course, a honey pot to hold the fruits of their labor. One of our potters, John, also happens to be a beekeeper! We asked Anna how the average person and can help keep our bee populations healthy, which has been a recent concern in agriculture. “Purples and pinks attract honeybees,” she shares. “Choose to plant flowers like lilacs and lavender.”

She also shared her motto for the year: “Let bees be.” She says that small honeybees don’t want to be around people and are not naturally aggressive. They prefer to do their job and go back to the hive. For more information on the Wisconsin Honey Producers, visit www.wihoney.org. For more pottery inspiration and to see all our summer patterns, follow us on Facebook and Instagram or explore www.rowepottery.com.

December 17, 2019December 18, 2019

Last Minute Gift Ideas from Rowe Pottery

Christmas is next week… WOAH! Where did the time go? It has gone by crazy fast, especially this year as Thanksgiving felt so late.

With the holidays fast approaching, we get how stressful gift buying can be and how many folks are likely scrambling to complete their holiday gift buying. But don’t you worry… we have got your last minute holiday shopping covered and have made it super easy!

Below are a list of great gift ideas that are sure to make your loved ones holiday! An added plus? You are supporting a small business! All pottery is handcrafted by an artisan at our studio in Cambridge, Wisconsin 🙂

All of our recommended holiday gifts have been placed in the Sales category on our website for you to easily shop. Please note: None of the items in the Sales category are discounted.

Quit worrying about what to buy and actually start enjoying the holiday season 🙂

Utensil Jar & Spoon Rest in Teaberry

We love the combination of the Utensil Jars and Spoon Rests! They make great gifts for the Rowe Collector and look amazing next to the stove. We have also included some Pie Plate and Spoon Rest sets for the baker in your life.

$49.95

Rowe Coffee Gift Set – Ridges Mugs

You may have heard we’ve added these Rowe Coffee Gift Sets just in time for the holidays! They make THE easiest gift and come in their own box to make wrapping super simple. The photo shown is of our Coffee Set with our Ridges Mugs but we also have a Coffee Set that comes with Holiday Mugs depending on your loved ones style.

$49.95

Candle Crocks – Fresh Cut Trees

Candle Crocks… you cannot go wrong with these lovelies! They burn clean (made from 100% soy) and are poured in house. There are a variety of scents to choose from but our most popular holiday candle crock is definitely our Fresh Cut Trees Candle Crock seen here. The great thing about these candle crocks is that after the candle burns through, use the crock to hold pencils, a little plant or whatever you’d like! Zero waste folks!

ON SALE FOR $25

Ridges Tall Vase – comes in 4 glazes

This vase is absolutely stunning! We adore it in white for the holidays and really any time of year. This vase comes in 3 other glazes: Kettle Blue, Morraine Teal and Glacier Gray. Your loved one will want to set it out instantly with a gorgeous holiday bouquet.

$34.95

2019 Collectible Ornament

Our Collectible Ornament for this year is ADORABLE! The perfect addition to your loved one’s Christmas tree. It’s the perfect gift as you can start a tradition of gifting our Collectible Ornaments for each year (we release a new ornament each year for the holidays).

$29.95

Collectible Vintage Truck

Our best-selling Collectible, the Vintage Truck. Adorable for any season! Place around your home for an adorable decor piece and add seasonal candy depending on the time of year 🙂

$39.95

$100 Gift Certificate

When you order by December 18th, you’ll receive a BONUS $20 Gift Certificate! A fantastic gift making gifting EXTRA easy for you if you have a hard time deciding what piece to purchase.

Head on over to our Sales category on our website to view our entire list of quick, last minute gift ideas! There’s a wide variety of gift options to choose from at many different price points great for any budget you’re working with.

DON’T FORGET: The LAST DAY to order Stock Pottery to have it guaranteed by Christmas is TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18TH! This will be your last chance to order in time for the holidays so make sure to get your order in online or give us a call at 800-356-7687 🙂

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Rowe Coffee Gift Set – Ridges Mugs

Share this: