Design

First, it may help you to watch the YouTube video in which I explain how I created the living hinge that is the brick wall around the well, as well as the bucket. That video can be found at: https://youtu.be/dh_KL2UyNyg

You'll need to cut out all the parts for the design on 1/8 inch (3mm) plywood. I used Baltic Birch. It took me a little more than an hour to cut out all the pieces. You can also see this in the video.

Cleaning

Now is the time to remove the parts from the laser engraver and clean them up. This is the time to do any sanding that may be necessary, or other cleanup that you deem necessary.

Soak the Wall

The "brick" wall that will make up the round part of the well is a living hing, and technically it is able to bend to form the curve around the base and top of the well, but it will be easier if you soak it in water first. As the plywood is not very thick, it doesn't take long. I let mine soak for about 15 minutes. Technically you could skip this step, but it does make life easier.

Painting

Now it is time to add some color. This step is optional, as you could leave the wood natural, and it would give you a rustic look, but I wanted to add some color to make it really pop. If you watch the video in the first step, you can see how I came up with a color-washed look on the shingles of the roof, and on the bricks of the wall. I did this by watering down the paint of the colors I wanted, and using a very large brush, applying the extremely thinned paint quickly to the surfaces.

Assembly

Now is the time to start gluing it together. I've used superglue and activator, but you could use wood glue, craft glue, or pretty much any glue you wish. The type of glue is not critical in this instance.

Most of the pieces will go together in an obvious manner. The wall going around the well has holes in it for tabs in the base and top, so they'll fit together. You may need to work with this as the wood is wet, to get it to work well. I've used rubber bands around the wall to hold it in place overnight as it dries, to give it the shape it needs.

The bucket is also a living hinge, and while wetting it won't hurt, I didn't need to do so. It is quite flexible as it is. I've included holes in the bucket to run some twine through for the handle, and I've used a piece of dowel rod and toothpick for the spool and crank for the bucket. You may need to adjust the size of the holes in the crank adapter in order to fit whatever dowel rod you have, and/or the toothpick for the handle.

Gluing the roof on is straightforward, and once everything is put together, you can glue the words to the roof. As I've included the LightBurn file, you should be able to easily change the words to whatever you want to. I've used the Magic Love font, as I liked the hearts that it uses for dotting the "I"s in the alphabet. I used it at 25mm height and bolded to make the letters stronger. I had to add little tabs to hold the hearts in place above the "I"s, and to attach the Ws to the first two words. If you want to customize with your own words, this should be simple enough.

I also included several hearts, which I also painted red before gluing on, and they are just there to "bling" things up.

When assembling the wall, if you leave the last part unglued, as in the video, you can actually open the back side to access the money that you have put in this little bank.

I hope you love it!