Awesome Ceramic

Real crocodiles can be scary, but artist Jeff Granito turned these normally intimidating reptiles into chill characters. His limited-edition Croc Tails tiki mugs from Tikiland Trading are adorable, with the blue and green duo looking ready to enjoy a sunny day in the tropics. They’re sold individually, but how could you possibly separate the duo?

When stacked, this set of six small plates looks like a shiny ceramic cheeseburger. The colorful plates are great for serving up small snacks, side dishes, dips, or condiments. Fix some real burgers and load them up with ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, relish, and chopped onions (if you’re into that sort of thing.)

Next time you toast your pals with tequila shots, serve ’em up in these abstract skull shot glasses from Mextequil. Each cheerful cup is made from Oaxacan black clay and holds 2 oz. of spirits. We also dig their clay face shot glasses, also sold in a set of four.

This large 18 oz. ceramic mug is a great gift for LEGO fans. Sip your coffee, tea, or hot cocoa from the oversize yellow head of a classic LEGO Minifigure while imagining how big the rest of its body must have been. It comes in four designs: Happy Boy, Winking Girl, Silly Face, and Slightly Less Happy Boy. Collect them all!

This unique ceramic mug makes an excellent gift for builders, architects, DIYers, and Londoners. The rectangular mug features a design inspired by the iconic building material from the London Brick Company. It holds up to 500 ml – about 19.2 ounces of coffee, tea, or other hot beverage. It also looks like a gigantic PEZ candy to us.

Concord Aerospace expands its line of space-inspired goodies with a collection of coasters featuring images of wacky monsters and aliens. The colorful ceramic coasters have magnets on the back to keep them neatly stacked and felt pads to protect surfaces. Buy four or more Monstronauts coasters for a discount. They’re great for geeky or ghoulish get-togethers!

Leave your mark on the beach with these sand spheres from Olander Earthworks. Each concrete sphere is textured to make patterns in the sand. Designs include snakeskin, footprints, greebles, spirals, waves, and more. Available in four sizes, from 1 3/4″ to 3 1/16″ diameter. They also sell trays and microfine sand for tabletop zen gardens.

Lots of questionable things happen in life and at work. Clearly, you require a coffee mug that expresses your continual state of disbelief. Meriwether’s 16 oz. ceramic mug does a perfect job conveying your incredulity with the phrase “What (and I cannot stress this enough) the f**k?” done up in a pleasing script typeface.

Do you or someone you know love tea and science? This black-and-white ceramic mug from Cognitive Surplus is perfect for sipping your favorite hot beverage. It features a chemical breakdown of the compounds found in tea, from energy-boosting Caffeine and Theobromine to aromatic Linalool and tasty trans-2-hexenal.

Geeki Tikis makes all kinds of wonderful tiki mugs inspired by pop culture. Their Star Wars collection is quite extensive and includes this awesome ceramic mug that looks like a TIE fighter. It holds up to 24 oz. of your favorite Star Wars cocktail. They also make a Death Star tiki mug for tipsy fly-bys.

Developed by Good Growing, Gus is a ceramic mushroom planter. It houses the fruiting block that contains the root but lets the rest of the mushroom grow freely outside of the container, either on top or at the side. You can stack up to three units to grow multiples shrooms.

This beautiful ceramic mug from Ecletticos is a truly special way to sip your coffee or tea. Each is handmade with a unique kiln glazing process to give it a patina finish reminiscent of rusty metal. It has a curvy wood handle and holds up to 18 oz. of liquid and is made using food-safe materials. It’s not dishwasher or microwave safe, though.

Coffee mugs serve their purpose pretty well, but ordinary handles mean the cup tends to tilt unless you grip hard. The Moment Mug from Artisan Tide features a patent-pending handle design with a curve that nestles between your middle and ring fingers, ensuring the mug never slips. Available in Cloud White or Sea Foam Green in 1-, 2-, or 4-packs.

Give your gas fireplace or fire pit a fresh look with these ceramic cannonballs from The Cozy Hearth. They’re handmade using molds of real cannonballs using the same high-temperature ceramics NASA uses to test rockets. They come in 3.5″ to 9″ sizes in natural, light grey, dark grey, and black. A flat bottom keeps them from rolling.

These artful ceramic cups are perfect for enjoying a small espresso or cappuccino drink. The conical cups each sit on a small stone base and hold 100 ml (appx. 3.4 oz.) of hot liquid. They come in a variety of colorful finishes for a mix-and-match palette. Kyoto Kitchenware also sells a larger 200 ml size.

This unique tiki mug from artist Tom “Thor” Thordarson and Tikiland Trading Co. looks like an old bottle that washed up on the shore. Look closer, and you’ll see a detailed shipwreck scene surrounded by barnacles and a starfish. The ceramic mug holds about 24 oz. of your favorite rum and fruit juice concoction. Pre-orders ship starting in late 2023.