GREAT PLANT LABELS - Homemade, from soda cans

The best homemade plant labels come from aluminum soda cans.


They are inexpensive, durable, attractive and fun to make. And in the garden their reflective qualities act as rabbit repellents!

You can have them dangle on supports ( made from clothes hangers) or tie them with twine on a pot.

CUT THE CAN AND ROLL OUT ALUMINUM.

Put on your gloves. Use the tip of your scissors to punch a small hole on the side of each end of the can. You can also use a steak knife or screwdriver to get the hole started.  Cut off the top and bottom of the can and discard.


TRACE THE SHAPES AND CUT OUT.

Next, unroll the metal as best you can and place the metal on a flat but flexible surface, printed side up. A pad of paper, a top of a notebook or a thick stack of newspaper are all good bases. Use a template tool to trace a shape with a ball point pen onto the metal. Press firmly to leave an indentation. Cut with a pair of scissors as shown here. (you can also use a punch maker...for defined shapes. Like EK punch on amazon)

photo from childmadetutorials blog


 
photo from Twiggstudio


WRITE OR STAMP THE NAMES.

To write names of plants on your labels, press down hard on each and write with a ball point pen. Make sure to press hard enough that the name stays imprinted in the metal.

YOU HAVE TO WRITE IT BACKWARDS - Just write it on a piece of paper and then turn over and trace hard onto the metal.

Don't forget to leave room to punch a hole for hanging.  Create a hole using a paper punch (or a hammer and nail).


photo from childmadetutorials blog


photo from childmadetutorials blog

You can also use a metal stamping kit for more vintage looking labels.  Harbor Freight sells them inexpensively. http://www.harborfreight.com/36-piece-1-4-quarter-inch-steel-letter-number-stamping-set-35121.html Then you can go over them with a black sharpie to make the letters stand out.



TIE THEM ON POTS OR HANG THEM OFF SUPPORTS IN THE GARDEN.

Grey Luster Girl tied the tags around a 4 inch clay Terra cotta pot using a piece of twine, as shown here.


 If you want to hang the labels from support sin the garden then use a wire cutter or tin snips to cut 7-8 inch long support pieces from wire coat hangers. Make an "S" hook at one end using a needle-nose pliers, hang the label on the hook, and pinch the "S" shut to keep it from falling off.


These websites also have great tutorials on making plant labels :

http://www.sustainable-media.com

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf39410479.tip.html




Comments

  1. Castlerock landscapeMarch 26, 2013 at 1:37 AM

    I'm impressed how you used the recycled materials in order to make a creative homemade plants label. And using this, you can now easily determine what types of plants are they.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownFebruary 5, 2014 at 8:59 AM

    I am also impressed this is one of the best DIY so far. I was looking for a DIY on making a metal tags or clothing tags on my stuffs and I found this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan JohnsenFebruary 9, 2014 at 11:25 AM

      Thanks Pierre Angela!
      I wrote it because I researched it for myself ...and then thought "I have to share this!"

      Delete
  3. UnknownMarch 4, 2014 at 7:31 AM

    Your welcome Jan Johnsen! Looking forward to your another posts :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Katherine HeiglJanuary 20, 2015 at 3:54 AM

    It's such a amazing post on garden markers. using tags and labels for plant identification is a great idea. You can also use wood plant markers and steel stakes for signs. Idealgardenmarkers is a US based company, offers plant markers, nameplates and tags at reasonable price.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alecia BaneFebruary 5, 2015 at 3:50 AM

    Really this is so knowledgeable about gardening. I impressed much while reading this and looking for such post ahead. Before some time, after reading such type blog of Ideal Garden Markers I bought degined markers from for my little garden's plant. That was also so durable, weatherproof and charming to look at.

    ReplyDelete
  6. go nowMay 2, 2019 at 1:31 AM

    This much informative article I didn't read Anywhere thanks for sharing such a good article.

    ReplyDelete

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