Introduction: Painted Rock Garden Markers

About: Army Vet. I love learning & being creative. I am back!
You know those plastic things you get with plants that you buy from the store? Well, those things tend to get lost or you might not have any garden markers for the plants you've grown from seeds. It's important to know what you're growing! So, I decided to create some painted garden markers - from river rocks which I painstakingly dug out one by one as I was creating my garden and tilling it by hand last year. Since I live across from a river and my land used to be under water, I dug up so many of them and have since had a pile of them  - I'm happy to find a new use for them!

Items Needed:
  • A Variety of large rocks - the smoother the better
  • Acrylic Paint, paint brushes & sealer spray (ie: clear polyurethane)
  • Optional: Sharpie Markers and/or Puffy Paint
First, wash your rocks and scrub them to get the dirt off of them. If you have a really smooth, light colored rock - those work well with using Sharpie Markers to draw on them. They have to be light enough though - otherwise your drawing or writing won't be visible. To be honest, this is much easier than trying to paint the name of the fruit or vegetable on it. But it's up to you!

I found it easiest to use the Sharpies and Puffy Paint - although painting on pictures of the items was the most fun! The puffy paint - is something I remember using as a child to draw designs on clothes. Since the stuff is meant to last through lots of clothing wash cycles, I figured it would be a good thing to use for these rocks in the outdoors. It worked well and was easy to draw and write with. I didn't have a ton of colors - but if I did I probably would have used this on all the rocks!

If your rocks are darker in color - it's a good idea to paint a solid background color on them. Then, let that dry (it doesn't take more than 10 minutes usually) and then go over that with the Puffy Paint or regular Acryclic paint.

Writing with a paintbrush is a tough task - if you have problems, you could always just try to paint something that looks like the thing you're growing. It's easy enough and looks awesome!

Once you're done decorating your garden rocks - then spray or brush on several coats of sealer - clear polyurethane works well. And, you're done!