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 to Renee's Ceramic Cafe, located in Iowa City's Sycamore Mall. Renee's stocks an assortment of paint-ready plaster and bisque artifacts that customers can personalize using the studio's high-quality pigments and brushes. There is no studio fee; guests simply show up and select something from the store's shelves of mini magnets ($1.99), figurines ($9.99), piggy banks ($14.99), coffee mugs ($14.99), and more, and then proceed to transform its outermost layer into a creative color explosion that will last millennia, or at least until a clumsy kitchen poltergeists bumps into the hutch.

Only valid for regularly priced merchandise; not valid with other offers or toward classes or repairs.