The Wishing Well, Part I

This is kind of a long project, but so far it's been relatively simple, and we'll call it a labor of love. I was wandering around the blog-o-sphere a few weeks ago (still swathed in my Newborn Bride clothes) when I started seeing references to creative guest books at weddings. I'd seen the more traditional kind, as well as the ever-delightful signable picture mat kind, in person. At first, I was content to just do the signable picture mat. But then, as is wont to happen when you're me, I got an idea.

What better, cuter place to have guests write up their well-wishes and thoughts than... a wishing well?

A quick internet search revealed that if I wanted a well that matched my vision for the wedding, I was going to have to build it myself. There's this lovely beauty on Amazon, but it's four feet tall!


Source

A lot of similar results popped up. Also, some small, cheap-looking miniature versions that were a.) too small, and b.) totally wrong. It's okay though, because I love a challenge, and when I explained to S. what I was thinking for making my own, he was all for it.

So, a trip to Michael's and Home Depot later, I had this at home:


Supplies: A trash bag so you don't ruin your work surface, a bag of small river rock pebbles (you can use whatever type of rocks you prefer, but that's what I used for mine), a tub of air-dry clay, wooden dowels (not yet pictured, I used 1/4") black and brown craft paint (I used acrylic), paint brushes, and a 5" PVC piping thingamajig-I'm-so-sorry-I-don't-actually-know-what-it's-called. Found it in the PVC section of Home Depot, it's a connector of some sort and black, with a thin band running around the inside (this actually becomes important later). You'll also need saran wrap and a rolling pin (not pictured til later), and a lazy susan (optional).


I also got a small dish and mixed together some black and brown paint and a few tablespoons of water (with one of my handy dandy wooden dowels, now pictured) to create a wash. You may want to wait to do this or cover it with some saran wrap so it doesn't dry out and thicken up while you're working.


I covered my rolling pin in saran wrap since it is primarily used for food, not crafting. I tore a chunk of clay out of the bucket and kneaded it to warm it up.



I rolled the clay out til it was approximately big enough to cover the outside of the black plumbing dealy. It was about 1/4 - 1/3" thick at this point.


I rolled it over and painted the ends with water so they would adhere to each other better (this is a super-duper secret of clay-- be sure to do this every step where we're joining pieces to together).


Then I rolled the pipe dealy around on the table to sort of smush the ends down, kind of like another rolling pin action. I didn't take as much time with this as I should have and it came back to haunt me later in the form of over-lumpy areas. Don't do this too much or you'll expand the clay and have to smush it back down anyway, but try to even out the lumpier areas if you can. Don't worry about leaving finger indents, either.


I tucked the edges in all the way around.


And using extra bits of clay and some brushed-on water, filled in the open spots, mushing it all together really good with my fingers.


I began to brush the well with my wash. I wish I'd done on the outside what I'd done on the inside-- dabbed instead of stroked. It looked much more natural and "stony" on the inside than the out, which is actually okay since the inside wasn't covered and will be visible.



You can see the differences between the two here.


I inserted the dowels directly across from each other into the top of the well, pushing down along the inside wall until I hit the lip across the middle. This lip is a good thing as it will support the dowels from sinking under the weight of the roof in the future. I then mushed the clay around them after standing them as straight as I wanted them, to hold them in place. You will have to adjust these periodically while your well dries. I also re-painted the areas that I had just smashed with my fingers as most of the paint got worked into the clay.

At this point, I un-taped my trash bag from the table and lifted the whole thing onto a lazy susan so I could turn it while I worked. I cut the trash bag into a circle.


Then I began to cover it in the small river rock pebbles I had bought at Michael's. I only bought one bag, and this was plenty, though I only covered the outside and top of the well. If you were going to cover the whole thing, you might need two. I wish I had spaced the stones closer together to start with. I discovered about 1/3 of the way through that if you pushed the next stone down right onto the edge of a stone already in the clay, it would situate itself just about the perfect distance away. Be sure to push them in firmly, but not so firmly you bury them.


Et voila! Pretty cute, huh? This only took me about an hour. Well, so far. Next up-- making the bucket!

Tips To Learn From My Mistakes:
-Make sure you take the time to evenly coat the pipe dealy in the clay so you don't wind up with lumpy areas.
-Dab the paint wash on instead of brushing it.
-To get a more "even" and natural looking coverage of the rocks, push them in directly next to each other.

I did this about a week ago, and it's still drying. However, it's been pretty rainy and muggy here since. I don't recommend this as a project to do a couple weeks before your wedding. Give it a few to dry, at least.

All photos unless otherwise noted are personal photos.