Someday I will have perfectly manicured gardens; complete with decorative flowers (edible, of course), a quaint stone walkway, and a bird bath with crystal-clear water.
Today is not that day.
Although my garden and I have been getting along much better since I implemented the deep mulch method, I’m still all about just getting it done around here.
A lot of that probably has to do with the fact we are in the midst of a massive remodel project, which caused us to rip off half of our house. That’ll kinda get in the way of your manicured dreams, ya know?
Anyway, in the midst of our chaos this year, I have been feeling the urge for at least a tiny bit of tidiness, and I’ve been waiting all year to put in a kitchen herb garden in the pots near our deck.
It makes me all warm and fuzzy to walk out on my deck barefoot to harvest vibrantly fresh herbs as I cook meals. It’s truly the epitome of farm-to-table, and the flavors of just-picked herbs are second to none.
I fell in love with these hammered spoon garden markers the minute I saw them. Not only are they repurposely a cast-away item (my favorite thing to do EVER), they also are durable and classy way to tell all those green seedlings apart.
And they’re much prettier than the duct-tape-and-rebar garden markers I’ve used in the past. (You think I’m kidding? I’m not… I won’t be posting any pictures of those.)
Here’s how to whip up your own homemade spoon garden markers in a jiffy.
DIY Spoon Garden Markers
You Will Need:
A variety of old spoons
A hammer
Small rubber alphabet stamps
Permanent ink (either an ink pad or marker)
Don’t have a bunch of old spoons just laying around? Neither did I. Thankfully, thrift stores always have bins full of lonely, mismatched spoons. Perfect.
Grab your hammer, and think of something that makes you really angry. Now take out your aggression on the spoon. I found it was easiest if I first pounded on the back side of the spoon on the rounded portion first. (I had a piece of flat metal under my spoon, but a piece of scrap wood will work too) Continue to hammer until the spoon is nice and flat.
Like this.
I got my alphabet stamps at Hobby Lobby for a buck. You can usually find sets like these at craft stores for pretty cheap. (I found these on Amazon (affiliate link), but check your local craft store first– I bet you can find them for a better price.)
Using a Sharpie or permanent ink pad, thoroughly ink the stamp.
Proceed to stamp out the name of the plant you’re marking on the spoon. (One caveat: since you’re using permanent ink, your stamps won’t really wipe clean afterwards. This didn’t bug me, though, considering I only paid a buck for my stamps)
Stick ’em in the garden, and you’re all set! No more wondering which plant is which. And you’ll look all crafty and creative, too. Bingo.
What About Metal Stamps?
Initially, I wanted to stamp my spoons with metal stamps. Because, I dunno, it just seemed cooler.
I ordered this set of metal letter stamps on Amazon (affiliate link) and was excited for them to arrive:
Sadly, when I went to stamp out my spoons, I was dismayed to find the letters were way too small. You could barely read them. Bummer.
Therefore, I decide to just stick to my rubber stamp method. It’s cheaper (the metal stamps were $20), and even if they rub off a bit from year to year, it only takes a second to re-stamp them.
I do think metal stamps would work, though, if you got set with larger letters.
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