$20 Wishing Well Planter

This planter looks awesome and it only cost $20 to make!!!! I made this as a gift for my mom on Mother's Day. We used to have one in our yard when I was little and decided that would make a great gift for her. She totally loved it and wants me to make more. This project was super easy and you could do it all with limited tools if you wanted to.

1. Table Saw

2. Miter Saw (optional)

3. Jig Saw

4. Drill

5. Cedar fence posts

I bought some fence posts from home depot to use for this project. I chose cedar because it withstands outside elements like a champ. I used my saw horse as a stop block and cut all my pieces to 18". You don't have to use a miter saw here you could just use the table saw or the jig saw. I then took them to the table saw and cut a 22 degree bevel on each side of each piece.

I figured it was easier to sand all the pieces now before I glued them up. I used 120 grit sandpaper and used duct tape to clamp it all together. As the base was drying my intern Elsa decided she needed to check it out to make sure it was up to her standards for my mom.

Once the base was dry I glued in two side supports to hold the lever and roof of the wishing well. I used a spacer in the planter to raise the pieces up to the same height. I then removed all the tape and did a final sanding.

I took some of my left over 18" pieces and cut them in half at the table saw. I then glued them to get with wood glue and ca glue. I used the CA glue as a sort of clamp so I could move on with the project. For the inside pieces I took a whole scrap and cut in half diagonally.

I used a hole spade to drill a hole in the side pieces for the dowel to go into. I didn't glue this part in because I wanted it to be removeable for future planting. I then took another scrap piece and drilled two holes in it for thehandle part. I then used a roll of duct tape to make the curves to cut out for the handle. I used the jig saw for this and it was pretty rough so I brought it to the sander to help smooth it out. This is an optional step.

I then glued the dowel pieces to the handle and just used CA glue for this. Once it was dry I used a flush cut saw to flush it up to the handle.

I originally cut too many pieces for the base and had a few left over with the bevels on the side. I glued these up to make the base. i then set the planter on top and traced the outline to cut it out. I used a jig saw for this and then attached the base using brad nails.

Once everything was dry and sanded I used a few coats of polycrylic to protect the wood a little more since this would be constantly exposed to water.

I don't know a whole lot about planting but my mom loves it and since this was for her I wanted to at least try and plant it myself. I bought some petunias to put in the planter. I filled the base with soil close to top. I then took the flowers out of their pot and broke the soil that was on the roots a bit. I then added them to the well and added some more soil. Once I liked the arrangement of the flowers I put the handle in and the roof on.

Overall this planter turned out great and whats even better is my mom loved it!!!!! She was happy and loved the flowers that I had picked out. It looks great in our yard and just looks cool. Let me know in the comments if you make one or have any questions and if you liked this instructable please consider subscribing to my youtube channel or follow me on instagram

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