It’s magical: Harry Potter inspired wand shop opens in Rexburg
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REXBURG — A business in Rexburg is allowing people to immerse themselves into the fantasy world by creating their own wands and potions.
Jared Gustin is the owner of the “Wanderful Workshop” on 18 East Main Street. It began operating in early January.
When you open the door to get in, you’ll walk up a large, old staircase that gives an enchanting vibe, then find the workshop upstairs.
The inspiration of the business, which is decorated with a dragon head, a Harry Potter sorting hat and a mini fridge filled with butterbeer to drink, came from Gustin’s five kids.
“When I moved to Rexburg, I noticed there wasn’t too many activities to do. So I wanted to kind of create more of a family fun type of activity business,” he said.
There are waxy candles inside and music playing in the background. There’s quill and ink to write in spell books.
“It’s a Harry Potter inspired wand shop. Me and my kids are huge Harry Potter fans,” Gustin said. “Something that we’ve done as a family for fun is we’ve created magic wands.”
It’s a place to come in and relax while creating something unique.
“You can craft your own wand yourself. You build it and put it all together. You paint it, you decorate it,” he told EastIdahoNews.com.
The wands are wooden and are not the same. All are handmade by Gustin. Then, there’s a special touch added to it.
“We actually put the magical core inside too. So there’s a dragon heartstring, a unicorn hair, and a phoenix feather,” Gustin said.
Each wand receives an end piece, like a crystal ball.
View the video above where Gustin explains the process of making a wand.
Customers will choose paint colors. They’ll take their wand, sit down with an easel and a palette, then design. There are leather and copper wires to wrap around the wand and gemstones that can be glued on.
“Typically for Harry Potter fans or just fantasy fans, they buy the little plastic wands off the internet. They’re fun but they don’t have a personal touch,” he said.
It costs $20 to make a wand.
“That gives them access to all of our material, all of our paint, all of our supplies. The sky’s the limit in terms of what they want to create,” he said.
There’s potion making too, where little vials are used.
“The base is water. Then we just put a special paint. The fun thing is it will actually swirl and look kind of magical,” Gustin said. “The potions are just $4, $5 and $7 for small, medium, large. They’ll actually name the potion. One customer called it ‘Raven’s Blood.'”
In the shop, you’ll find genuine leather products, sheaths, a variety of rings, and metal sword bookmarks that you can buy, along with dice.
“I’m getting customers that are coming in here and requesting like, ‘We love Dungeons and Dragons and games like that, so it’d be cool if you carry dice.’ So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll bring dice into the shop,'” he said.
He said since opening, there have been daddy-daughter dates, mommy-daughter dates and couples have had dates at the Wanderful Workshop. There are even birthday parties too.
The business is open Monday through Saturday. Click here to view the hours.
Gustin invites anyone to come in and give the Wanderful Workshop a try.
“If people would come check us out, I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised at how fun it is. The atmosphere is really nice and a magical feeling that you can get from such a simple shop, you know?” he said.
