Seven years ago, I took on my biggest craft project to date and today I’m finally ready to share it with you.

To help with my auntie and uncle’s wedding, they assigned me the task of sourcing a wishing well. (I wrote about their wedding here if you’d like to catch up or refresh your memory.)

After several days of searching and research, I called it quits. All the wishing wells that were on offer were carbon copies lacking character. There wasn’t anything that stood out and felt like the right fit, so I offered my craft skills to create one using a DIY kit from my favourite craft store, Kaisercraft.

‘‘I can do better,’’ I assured them. And I believed I could, so I did.

However, this project wasn’t met without uncertainty and doubt as it was my first time crafting for a wedding and someone’s particular taste. This project was fraught with what-ifs. What if I’ve over-committed myself and don’t finish it in time? What if it doesn’t look as good as it does in my head? What if I stuff up? What if they hate it?

Doubt aside, I accompanied my auntie to Kaisercraft. We picked out papers and embellishments from the Violet Crush Collection as purple is my auntie’s favourite colour. Once we had done that, I could see the vision of what I was aiming to create. Luckily for me, purple tones are some of my favourite colours to craft with, so this gave me a much-needed confidence boost.

This project turned out to be a little more work than I expected, but it was very worthwhile. Seeing what I had envisioned in my head come to life was exhilarating and satisfying. The vision of the end result kept me going through every challenge and frustration I encountered.

I took several detailed photos of this project from beginning to end for this post, but sadly, they were accidentally deleted. I stored them on my father’s computer and also backed them up on an external hard drive, but somehow my father wiped ALL OF THEM. I’m devastated and still grieving this loss. Pray for me.

The frustratingly funny thing is that my father didn’t delete this photo of me at the wedding. 

Of course he didn’t! Of all the photos, I would have been thrilled to have this photo obliterated instead. I can see I was struggling with my health after making sure the wishing well looked better than I did. Despite the smile, my eyes reflect the pain. Was it worth it? Heck yes!

It’s a shame that I only have professional photos from the day, but at least I have these. I feel this is one of those projects that looks better in person, but I think the wedding photographer did an amazing job of encapsulating the little pops of magic. I’m thankful that I purchased these photos to help remember and celebrate this epic achievement.

Suffice to say, I no longer entrust my craft photos, or any photos, to my father. I have my own computer and laptop now. Phew. I can’t be mad at my father though because, as you’ll find out, this project would have been an utter failure without his help.

To prepare the MDF kit, I did what felt like endless sanding and applied a coat of gesso primer. I opted to hand paint the MDF panels white on the advice of my brother, who is a fully fledged artist. This was a lot more work than I expected when considering that I’m not the best at painting. I can manage smaller projects okay, but the amount of obvious brush strokes and patchiness on this sized project gave me so much grief that I ended up getting my brother to help with a few coats. Everything but the box panels were painted as I covered those up with paper.

I’m a perfectionist, so the imperfect paint job stressed me out… But that’s the thing about handmade things, there will always be imperfections—and the beauty of craft is that you can cover your mistakes with embellishments and no one is none the wiser. And that’s what I did with this project; I did my best with the paint job and covered areas of noticeable patchiness with embellishments.

After painting, I covered all side panels of the box with 12x12 paper in the pattern Musk using Mod Podge. I coated both the panels and backs of the paper with a paintbrush and stuck down the paper with the help of a ruler. I love Mod Podge because it’s the best adhesive for sticking down paper and it’s forgiving. It’s also easy to smooth out any kinks or bubbles and the best thing is that after you’ve stuck your paper down, you can also paint a layer over the top to act as a sealant. (Sponsor me puh-puh-puh-please Mod Podge.)

I thought covering the box panels with paper would be the most challenging part of the project, but the paper was the perfect size and I didn’t have to worry about cutting the paper and getting the damask pattern lined up. For a little extra pizzazz, I placed adhesive pearls in white onto the damask pattern because, hey… it was for a wedding. This helped give the base some subtle dimension, which you could only see when studying it up close in person. It’s these little details that bring me so much happiness.

It turned out that the hardest part of this project was assembling it. MDF swells when painted and this kit swelled terribly. It was so bad that it was impossible for me to get the pieces lined up and sitting flush. I had a disheartening moment where I thought I was going to have to pull the pin, but by some miracle, my father was able to help get all the panels interconnected after a lot of banging and hammering. My glue of choice to aid in assembly was super glue, which worked well combined with my father’s hammering.

Once constructed, it was smooth sailing. It was all about embellishments and cute little details—the fun stuff. I wound flowers up the sides of the wishing well, alternating between shades of purple. To make this process quick and easy, I used a hot glue gun. I’ve become quite the whiz with this crafting tool over the years.

Looking back, I wish I had done flowers all the way to the top and wrapped flowers up the inside of the panels as well, but I was mindful of keeping it simple, which was what my auntie wanted. I painted some petals with glitter to make them pop, so it’s not like it lacked detail. If it were my wishing well, I would have gone all out. I’m an over the top crafter—less is not more; more is more.

My favourite part of this project was finding spots to incorporate butterflies, as I am obsessed with these beautiful embellishments. For me, banning butterflies from a craft project is like saying no to cake; it’s often irresistible. I live by the craft motto: When in doubt, just add butterflies!

To finish, I lined the outside strips with silver self adhesive rhinestones. I took them right up to the roof and under the scalloped border, because it’s not a wedding without a little bling. Then to tie the roof in with the base I stuck down some butterfly and floral die cuts from the Violet Crush Collectables pack along with a rhinestone classic flourish, also from Kaisercraft.

Oh, and I couldn’t resist adorning the envelope slot with two gorgeous doves from Spotlight. They are beautiful perched on the sides of the slot. After using one in a Christmas advent calendar, I’ve been looking for another opportunity to work them into a project and this was it! This made my soul sing. 

To compliment the wishing well and to decorate the table, I also decorated matching initials which were super fun to do. I painted them in white like I did the wishing well except I used a paint roller to save time and effort and then I went crazy with decorating. My favourite thing for this side project was incorporating MDF hearts. I painted these silver to match the silver rhinestones used on the wishing well and outlined the hearts with purple rhinestones to match with the purple colour scheme.

Looking back on this side project, I wish I had used a purple butterfly on the and sign instead of a white one so that it stood out more, but again I was trying to keep it simple. I’ve come to accept that there will always be times when I look back on a craft project and wish I did this or that, so I’m pretty pleased with how my first attempt at setting up a wedding gift table turned out. It looks like what I had envisioned in my head and the bride and groom loved it, which makes all of my blood, sweat and tears worth it.

My uncle actually didn’t see the wishing well until after I had set up the gift table before the ceremony begun. He came and found me to express his thanks and disbelief I had made such a thing. ‘‘You made that?! It looks like something out of a boutique!’’ he shrieked.

Whenever someone is in disbelief that I made something, I’m never sure whether to take it as an insult or a compliment. Like guys, come on, I don’t make ugly things. I guess I need to learn to take it as the ultimate compliment?

To make this project possible, the bride and groom covered the costs of materials and the time I spent putting this together was my wedding gift to them. It was really special to be involved in their wedding in a unique and creative way. And you all know I’ll do anything to craft for free.

Now that I have decorated a wishing well, I am exploding with next level ideas. It’s a project I’d love to do more of in the future, though Kaisercraft no longer sells these DIY kits (I’m also still grieving this loss, pray for me) so I’m up with the challenge of finding one just as good.

My ultimate crafting goal is to get my foot into the wedding industry. I’d love to make wedding invitations, table centerpieces and decor. I’m even hoping to sell at wedding expositions one day. Am I crazy? All I want to do is make beautiful things that make people happy, but for now, that has to remain a pipe dream.

In the meantime, I’m finding contentment in making the occasional thing for family and friends.

Image credit: All photos by Enhance Photography Studios