Admittedly I’m more interested in garden crafts than I am with gardening… but I might plant something this year just so I can use these plant markers! I have to say I think this is one of my favorite projects I’ve ever come up with!
I sat today and tried to think of every vegetable that I might possibly plant in my garden, and drew them up for this craft pattern download. I believe I only scratched the surface of what vegetables are actually out there though:
Tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins, broccoli, potatoes, corn, lettuce, peas, onions, orange peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, beets (or radishes, I suppose), watermelon, beans, red peppers, yellow peppers and squash.
Download the printable plant marker artwork
So suffice it to say that if you see some fruits or vegetables that I’ve missed, please leave them in a comment and I’ll try to create a plant markers garden craft “version 2.0”.
What you Need to Make these Plant Markers Garden Craft
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Plant Markers Materials
- Download and print the fruit and vegetable illustrations on a color printer
(You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader) - Sticks from your yard, cut to about 6″ – 8″ inches tall
- Raffia
- Rubber cement or glass glue
- Small clear glass aquarium pebbles, the approximately 3/4 inch size. As tempting as it is, avoid the larger glass pebbles that are over an inch in diameter. They seem like they will work, but the way they are made, they always have wrinkles in the glass on the flat part, which makes it very hard to see the pictures beneath the glass
How to Make these Plant Markers Garden Craft
Glue the paper between the glass pebbles
Carefully cut out the circles of the plant markers you plan on using. I used a 3/4″ hole punch at first, but it was a little too big and I had to trim them down.
When I made these recently I used rubber cement, but in the past I have used this awesome glass glue called Eclectic Adhesive E6000 that I think actually worked better. It’s thicker and left less bubbles between the paper and the glass, and is totally weather proof. Glue the paper veggie circles between two glass pebbles and let dry.
Attach the glued pebbles to the top of the sticks
If you’re using that E6000 glue, you can use it for this next step, too. Otherwise grab a hot glue gun, and attach the two glued together pebbles to the top of the stick. If you’re really picky about what works best, I would use the E6000 for the first step and the glue gun for this step and the next one.
Wrap the raffia around the base
After the glue is dry/cooled off, wrap a 6″ – 8″ inch piece of raffia over the glued area to cover it up. Wrap it in a few layers so that the top layers hold the starting end in place. Then grab that glue gun again and put a dab of it on the back side of the raffia to secure the finishing end in place. This may sound tricky or hard, but it isn’t. It’s super-easy. Trim the ends of the raffia that are still sticking out.
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Waterproof the crevice between the pebbles
Now you’re almost done, but you still have paper in between two pebbles that could possibly get wet when it rains. So you need to put a thin layer of glue in the crevice between the two pebbles to seal out the water. You can do this with the rubber cement brush (or more easily with a smaller pain brush), or use your fingers to spread the E6000 glue. It’s ok if it turns out just a little sloppy, because it’s really hard to see anyway.
I LOVE these! Such a great idea, and so quick! I can’t wait to try it. I featured this on my blog at http://whittskitsfabricscrafts.blogspot.com/2013/04/find-it-for-free-lets-hit-garden.html
Thanks,
Carrie
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Hi there, just wondering if you made any more of these for other vegetables and fruits? How about strawberries, kale, cabbage, silverbeet/chard, beetroot….
They are so cute!
Can you make a strawberry cut out!
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okra, pumpkin, canteloupe, watermelon, and banana peppers. Thanks so much…these are adorable.
Thanks so much for the downloadable pictures! This morning we planted our garden and this afternoon my daughter helped me make these. She was so excited to make them and so proud to place them next to our plants! Wonderful idea!
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I made these using Shrink Plastic for the tops – you can cut to shape, draw the vege and shrink in the oven. saves all the gluing 2 sides together and it is waterproof. only drawback is that words/pix are reversed on other side.
This idea is really unique & inventive. Thanks for sharing! I have a really big garden, but not a lot of pebbles. So, what I did was glued the label on faced up to the back of the pebble & then laminated it to make it waterproof!
When we have worked with these glass marbles and paper (‘though not for plant markers), we used clear silicone sealant from the kitchen plumbing department of the hardware store.
I love this idea and just linked it to my blog. Thanks for the great idea.
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I saw these and thought they were perfect! My creativity ran a little wild, though, and my adaption of these has turned out fantastic… I used the larger stones (even at your warning not to) and they worked out great. I made these for a mom’s day gift, and can’t wait to hear how MUCH she loves it. Instead of veggies/herbs as pictures, I cut round pictures of my kids’ faces and on the flip side of the paper printed a scripture and the name of the veggie/flower/herb. Then I got some more creative juices and wrapped the space between the glass with 18 guage wire — made petals and added beads on one, on another made it into a butterfly… all with the wire and some beads I had around the house. Used the wire to attach it to the stick, and they look amazing. THANKS for the idea!
How flippin cute are these?! 🙂
Love these! I can’t wait to make my own. The only one I don’t see that I’m planning on planting this year is a strawberry.
Did you add any veggies from last year? Can I make the graphics any bigger? Darling idea and getting ready to make it for my garden!
What a clever idea! Could you also include purple and brown peppers for lilac and chocolate peppers.
Thank you!
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I receive these for my birthday. What a fun gift.I am missing my favorite – green beans. Would love to see more and to have some flowers included. I have friends that would love them for their flower beds. Any plans for that?
This is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Love it…..would love to see herbs and rubarb……Thank you so much I am going to make them with my daughter. This is her first garden
These are so cute! I made them, blogged about them, and linked to you in my post.
Thanks for sharing!
Could you do something for herbs — maybe just a “generic herb” marker? Such a cute idea! Thanks!
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GORGEOUS!
Oh my these are so incredibly cute, what a great idea!
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LOVE THIS!
Very cute. Great idea.. even a few flowers would be fun
What a great idea!