DIY: Chalkboard-Style Garden Markers.

This year, I've attempted something big: planting every bit of my summer garden from seed. For the tomatoes and peppers, I gave the seeds a head start by planting them indoors - but for the rest, I've planted them straight into our newly built raised garden beds. As a very amateur gardener, this feels ambitious. 

So to celebrate (and because I can hardly remember what I planted where without clear markers), I made these quick and easy garden markers. The supplies are readily available at any craft store, and they end up costing less than a dollar each. Score. I love the white-on-black chalkboard style, but creating them with chalkboard paint and actual chalk (which I've seen done on Pinterest) seems so impractical. Wouldn't the chalk just wash right off in the rain? With this method, you create a chalkboard look without it being an actual chalkboard. Same effect, much more durable.

Supplies: 

+ Wooden garden markers - purchased at A.C. Moore for $0.69 each, or available at other craft stores

+ Black outdoor acrylic paint + foam brush

+ White paint pen - Sharpie brand worked great

+ Polyurethane

1. Using a foam brush, paint the top portion of each marker (both sides) with black outdoor acrylic paint. I loved the brand I used because it only took one coat to cover the wood well. Let dry completely.

2. Use your paint pen to write each plant onto one side. (If I'd done this over again, I would've written the words on both sides so I could see it at any angle.) I freehanded these, but you could easily write them in pencil first, then trace over your pencil lines with the paint pen. Let this dry completely, which shouldn't take long.

3. Once dry, use the foam brush to coat each side with polyurethane, which should keep them looking great, rain or shine. Let these dry completely, too. It helps to prop them up in a jar so that both sides dry at once.

4. That's it! Plant them in your garden and enjoy.