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Thursday, July 19, 2012

DIY Plant Labels out of Used Canning Lids


Since I am lucky enough to be featured on a local urban garden tour on Saturday, I have been spiffing things upon around the gardens here. Weed-pulling, plant staking- all those fun garden chores that seem to slip past me for weeks at a time! 

One of the projects I tackled today that I'd be meaning to get to for a while is plant labels! I looked at buying plastic or wooden labels, those awesome pinterest spoons, event popsicle sticks, but the idea of purchasing something new to label plants for 3 months just seems a bit wasteful. 


My mom was in town and we were brainstorming creative ways to re-use materials and also create plant labels are functional: Big enough to read, Eye-catching but not an eye-sore, and Tall enough so people don't have to squat down to see them! I'm pretty satisfied with what I ended up with, so I'll share the glory with you!





DIY- Canning Lid Plant Labels


Supplies needed:

Used (already canned-with) Wide Mouth jar lids 
2 pkgs. Floral Cloth Wire 
Duct Tape 
Permanent Marker

Seed Packets for reference 
the internet, to look up latin names if necessary

Directions: (This is real easy, friends!)
  • Sort through your seed packets and set out any that you planted in the garden this year on your table, essentially making a list.
  • Flip all the lids white-side up and make sure they are clean and blemish free
  • On the white-side of each lid write the plant type in large letters straight across the middle of the lid in permanent market
  • Write the variety across the top of the lid, in smaller-sized writing. I chose to add quotation marks too.
  • Write the latin name of the plant across the bottom of the lid, again in a smaller size
  • Once you are finished with the entire pile of lids, get out your floral wire
  • Bend each wire in half, leaving a sort of upside-down "U" shape at the top
  • Flip all your lids over, careful to set them down so the text is aligned and straight
  • Tape a bent floral wire piece to the back of each lid, and press the tape down around the wire so it's secure
Now label up those mystery plants!

3 comments:

  1. Those are inspired, Arika!! Love 'em. I bought spoons from Polliwog Farm. But they are definitely hard to read compared to yours.

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  2. Any problems with tape staying on when they are getting wet?

    ReplyDelete