Painting Rock Garden Markers

Every year I try to mark which plants are which in the vegetable garden and always end up with something missing or mislabeled.  While this might not solve my problem, it’ll jazz up things a bit for sure.  It’s also a fun project on a cold, wintry day.

Here’s how I made these cute garden markers.

First gather the supplies:

• smooth rocks
• acrylic craft paint
• set of good brushes; at least one thick brush for painting the background and a fine tip brush for painting letters
• Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating Spray-#1303

• Paint your background color.  Usually takes 2 coats.  Dry thoroughly before turning over if you are painting the back.

• Once dry, use a fine tip brush to paint on the letters.   Hint: I investigated using a sharpie type pen, but have had mixed results when spraying with acrylic sealer.  It can run and ruin your design.  Safer to use the acrylic paint.  With practice it’s not too hard!

 

• Now comes the fun part, decorating your stone.  Depending on your artistic talent, you can embellish the stones any way you want.  Me, I went with simple geometric designs.  I know my limits 🙂
• You can use the back of the brush to paint dots, use different thicknesses of brushes to do lines, or just paint whatever your imagination can think up.

 

 

 

•  When you are finished let them dry completely, preferably overnight.  Then spray them with an acrylic sealant (I used Krylon Crystal Clear #1303) outdoors, or in a well ventilated location.  Be sure to let it dry completely before turning over to spray the underside.

Ready for the garden!