Ceramics
Making a ceramic project has many steps and takes some time.  When you see a hand made ceramic project, you are seeing many hours of work. Below is a simplified explanation of some of the steps.

Creating-  preparing the clay, using your mind, hands, and tools to get the shape you want.  Scoring, slipping, appliquéing, blending, smoothing, etc.

Drying-   giving your piece time to dry (days to weeks).  Sometimes you slow the drying time down by covering your project.  If it drys too quickly, it may crack.

Firing- the first heating of a piece is called the bisque fire.  The piece is heated to cone 04 (1915-1971 degrees F) in a kiln.  It usually takes a day to "fire" and a day for the kiln to cool off enough for you to take your pieces out.

Glazing- special "paints" called glazes are used to give that baked on color and finish.  Glazes are often a different color before they are fired than when they come out of the kiln.  This makes getting the color and look you want a little tricky. Glazes dry leaving a powdery finish.

Glaze Firing-   This firing solidifies the glaze giving that hard, and sometimes glossy, finish depending on the glaze used.  I have heard of potters doing up to eight glaze firings to get the color and look they want.  Again pieces are put in a kiln and brought to a very high temperature.  These temperatures vary from 1798 degrees F to 2381 degrees F depending on the type of glazes and clay used.  Each firing takes approximately two days, one to reach temperature, and one to cool down.