Cuteness in the Garden: Spoon Plant Markers

• Tweet
• 
• Sharebar

• Tweet
• 

I consider myself a pretty creative person, but not so much a crafty person. So when I tell you this is an easy craft, I mean exactly that!

A couple weeks ago I stumbled on this blog post which explained how to turn spoons into adorable plant markers for your garden. I decided to give it a try this week, and wanted to share the results with you!

Here’s what you’ll need and where I got it:

• Spoons for markers (Found at Dollar Tree 2/$1 – I bought 15 sets)
• Outdoor Mod Podge (Found at Michael’s for $6.99 – asked for a discount and paid $3.49!)
• One small paint brush (Found at Micheal’s for $0.49 – anything you have on hand would work)
• Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Finish (Found at Fred Meyer for ~$5. Michael’s should have it too)
• Total spent: $23.98

You could also look for the spoons at a thrift store or repurpose old ones you have on hand. I thought the Dollar Tree was a good option!

I started by making a list of all the plants I wanted markers for, and then drew small illustrations and labels, much as Domestic Simplicity had done in her post. I then let my kids color them in! I wanted mine to look handmade and authentic, so I wasn’t concerned about perfectly colored-in drawings or even 100% accurate drawings for that matter!

Cut out the illustrations, making sure they will fit on the insides of the spoons.

From here, I took my craft outside since it was such a lovely day! I gathered some newspapers since I suspected the next part of this craft might be messy.

Coat each spoon with a layer of the Mod Podge and let it sit for about a minute.

The Mod Podge is like a really, really thick glue. I’d never worked with it before and found it crusting on my fingers pretty quickly. Since my kids are a bit on the young side, I tackled this part of the project by myself.

Add the cut out images and coat with a layer of Mod Podge and allow to dry in a well ventilated area.

At first you may wonder if you’ve ruined your plant markers, but I can assure you that it dries clear! I ended up using about 3 layers of Mod Podge, allowing each layer several hours to dry.

Très mignon, n’est ce pas?

I let mine dry for a good couple days and then this morning I sprayed with the Acrylic finish. Do this outdoors and away from littles. It’s pretty harsh smelling. Let them dry a few more hours in a well ventilated location.

Now the Mod Podge bottle said that you could add more layers every few months to extend the life of your craft project. I’m thinking at the end of the gardening season, I’d be likely to add another layer or two and repeat with the finishing spray just to keep these ship-shape!

It’s so fun to finally be at the phase of my garden where I can “cuten” things up! I’m hoping to add some colorful containers, perhaps a water feature, and a stone bench gradually over time!

I hope some of you will consider doing this craft. It requires few ingredients, little work, and little money.

Remember that I can’t take credit for this one! For that reason, I highly recommend you read the original instructions at Domestic Simplicity before attempting this project. (While you’re there, poke around – she’s got an amazing blog!) You might also want to follow my Garden Inspiration Pinterest board for more ideas like these I’m finding.

Anyone think they might try this?