The Potting Shed

Guides, gift ideas and honest answers from the people who hand-pack every kit.

All articles Kintsugi Cheese making Gin making Meat Chilli sauce Wine making Kimchi Gift guides

Two jars of gin botanicals infusing on a kitchen counter beside a mended bowl with a gold seam and a glass of tonic.

Gifts for a husband who has everything: an evening's project instead of a thing

Buy him an evening rather than an object: gin, meat and kintsugi kits for a husband who replaces his own things, and what to buy alongside each.

A bowl of fresh homemade ricotta on a kitchen table beside a ceramic plate mended with a gold seam.

80th birthday gifts: small, doable projects for a big milestone

Three kits sized to one sitting for an eightieth: five fresh cheeses, a gallon of country wine and a golden pottery repair done at the kitchen table.

A ball of fresh homemade mozzarella on a plate beside a bottle of homemade gin and a ceramic bowl mended with a gold seam.

70th birthday gifts for dad: gentle, satisfying makes with something to show for it

Three kits sized to a single afternoon for a seventieth: ten fresh cheeses, a gin that infuses in under a week and a golden pottery repair.

A demijohn of hedgerow wine bubbling through an airlock beside a bowl of blackberries and a bottle of homemade gin.

60th birthday gifts for him: a new hobby in a box

The best sixtieth present is one that repeats. Hedgerow wine, bacon and gin kits that turn into a habit, and what to buy so the first batch happens.

A demijohn of fruit wine with an airlock beside a bottle of home spiced rum and a board of home cured bacon.

50th birthday gifts for him: slow projects for a man with a bit more time

Three kits at three speeds for a fiftieth: spiced rum in under a week, bacon in about a week and country wine in eight to twelve weeks.

A board of home cured bacon and strips of beef jerky beside bottles of homemade chilli sauce on a kitchen worktop.

40th birthday gifts for him: kits for the man who has stopped wanting stuff

At forty the scarce things are time and space, so give a project rather than an object: meat, gin and chilli sauce kits, and what to buy alongside.

A jar of kimchi fermenting beside a bottle of homemade gin and a repaired bowl with a gold seam on a kitchen worktop.

30th birthday gifts for him: something to make, not something to own

A man turning thirty buys his own things, so give him a skill instead: gin, kimchi and kintsugi kits, and the fresh half to buy alongside each one.

Two bottles of home spiced rum with handwritten kraft tags beside a small bowl of dried spices on a kitchen table.

Gifts for a step dad: thoughtful without being too much

How to pitch a step dad gift, and three make-your-own kits that are specific enough to feel considered but easy enough to share round the table.

A kitchen table set up for a weekend project with a jar of infusing gin botanicals, a mended bowl with a gold seam and a small dish of juniper berries.

Gifts for a dad with no hobbies: kits that start one

Three kits that hand a dad a ready made first project, with the ingredients weighed out, the method written down and a result at the end of the weekend.

Home cured streaky bacon rashers on a wooden board beside a jar of infusing gin botanicals in a bright kitchen.

Gifts for the dad who has everything: a project, not another gadget

Three make-your-own kits for the dad who buys his own things, with the one extra ingredient to add to each so he can start the weekend he opens it.

A broken bowl, a mixing card and a small dish of gold powder set out on a kitchen table beside an instruction booklet.

Kintsugi kit or a kintsugi workshop? Cost, time and what you learn from each

A workshop buys you a teacher and a date in the diary, a kit buys you materials, practice bowls and repetition at home. How to decide which suits you.

A tidy work table covered with a cloth, with gloves, a mixing card, a spreader and the pieces of a broken bowl laid out beside an open window.

Kintsugi kit safety: epoxy, gloves, ventilation and keeping it away from children

Why a kintsugi kit is adults only, how to handle two part epoxy and broken pottery safely, how to store the kit and what a repaired piece can be used for.

A hand sized ceramic bowl in two pieces on a work surface next to a mixing card with freshly mixed adhesive and a spreader.

Is kintsugi hard? What a first repair is really like for a complete beginner

Kintsugi is easy to do and hard to do perfectly first time. What beginners find difficult, what a first repair really looks like and how to make it easier.

An open kitchen cupboard shelf with a chipped bowl, a cracked side plate and a broken mug set out on the counter in front of it.

What to repair first with kintsugi: the best and worst candidates in your cupboard

The pieces that make a good first kintsugi project, the ones to leave alone, and what to do if nothing in the house is conveniently broken.

A kitchen table set up for a repair project with a broken bowl, a mixing card, a spreader and two mugs of tea in evening lamplight.

Kintsugi for two: mending something together as a date night or anniversary

Kintsugi splits neatly between two people, one mixing and spreading while the other holds, so here is how to run it as a date night or anniversary evening.

A pale ceramic bowl mended with a soft gold seam resting on a windowsill in quiet morning light.

Kintsugi as a gift after a loss or a hard year: why it lands, and how to give it

Why people find a gold seamed repair meaningful, how to tell whether it suits the person you have in mind, and how to give a kintsugi kit kindly.

The contents of a kintsugi kit laid out on a table: two tubes of adhesive, a jar of gold powder, a spreader, a mixing card, gloves and two plain white bowls.

What is in a kintsugi kit? Epoxy, gold pigment, practice bowls and what you need to add

Everything in a kintsugi kit and what each part is for, from the two part epoxy and gold effect pigment to the spreader, gloves and two practice bowls.

A white porcelain plate, a chunky stoneware mug and a clear glass tumbler on a work surface, each showing a gold repair seam.

Kintsugi on glass, porcelain and stoneware: how the material changes the repair

Porcelain breaks cleanly and takes a fine gold line, stoneware drinks more adhesive and suits a bolder vein, and glass needs the most careful handling of all.

A pan of fresh curds and whey beside a colander lined with cheesecloth and a bowl of ricotta on a farmhouse kitchen table.

Cheese making with kids: the kitchen science project that ends in lunch

Curds, whey and the clean break explained for a rainy Saturday, which cheese to make first with children, and how to split the jobs safely.

The fragments of a broken ceramic bowl laid out in order on a tea towel, with one section already rejoined and showing a gold seam.

Kintsugi on a bowl broken into four pieces or more: order of assembly and holding it together

How to plan the order of assembly for a bowl in four pieces or more, hold each join while it sets and rescue a repair when the last piece will not fit.