DIY With Debi: Stamped Plant Markers and Clay Pots
With Spring in full swing, it’s not too late to start doing a little gardening even if it’s just little herb one like I am showcasing today. I’m Debi Adams and welcome to DIY with Debi, a regular gig on Wednesdays where we create unique projects using stamps and dies. Since “Stay in Place” orders of some sort apply to many of us, here’s a perfect activity to do at home. Fairly certain some of you already have the supplies on hand, and if not, it’s a short list of items to purchase.
Supplies
Hero Arts:
• CM383 Log Letters & Numbers or similar alphabet stamp set
• CM416 Hero Florals Lavender Bunch & coordinating Frame Cuts
• CM354 From the Vault Bugs*
• CM352 Italian Table* (olive branch) & coordinating Frame Cuts
• CM263 Hero Florals Nasturtium & coordinating Frame Cuts
• DI592 Monarch Butterfly Fancy Die
• AF345 Intense Black Ink
• AF249 Unicorn Pigment Ink
• CL082 Acrylic Blocks
• MT310 MISTI Mini Hero Black
• Optional: DC273 Thinking of You Stamp & Cut, PS325 Dove White Cardstock, PS323 Pitch Black Cardstock
* I did not have K6224 Antique Bee and Flowers but it would be a great substitute for From the Vault Bugs and Italian Table.
Other:
• Clay pots of your choice
• White acrylic paint
• Matte medium or glue stick
• Foam brush or paint brush
• Tongue depressors or similar
• Lineco paper (tissue paper but stronger)
• Piece of 18 gauge wire
• Gold cardstock
• Crackle paste (optional)
• Spray Matte Clear Sealer
After watching several friends show off their gardens, or the beginnings of one, I was motivated to do a little gardening myself. I decided to make some plant markers first. I used these paint/tongue depressor/wide popsicle sticks and painted them black. I stamped the name onto the stick using Unicorn Pigment Ink. You can emboss this if you like, however I didn’t because I liked it flat, but I did spray a mist of clear matte coating over the top to seal it in. Lots of Hero Arts alphabets would work great here but I thought these were pretty cute. (BTW, did you know that you can get these plain sticks in the paint department at your hardware store? New to me.)
Happy to have chosen this alphabet too! They are perfect for a garden feel.
Next I painted my clay pots. You can color them all in solid using acrylic paint or you can brush stroke them so they have more of a shabby appearance. It’s up to you.
As for adding the design, I found it easiest to embellish the clay pot by stamping the design onto Lineco paper using Intense Black Ink and the MISTI.
Die-cutting the image out, I attached it to the pot using matte medium. It is much easier to get the design to mold to the pot this way than trying to manipulate a bulky, inked stamp onto a rounded container. In fact, when it dries, you cannot even see where the paper edge is at all and surprisingly, it doesn’t wrinkle. If you should get a wrinkle in it for whatever reason, simply move it out using the edge of an old credit card. Again, when it is dry, make sure to mist this with a matte sealer.
Here is how they turned out…
If the stamp is rather small, you can stamp directly onto the pot as seen here but I much prefer the Lineco paper.
For added fun, die-cut this beautiful butterfly from gold cardstock. Paint with white acrylic paint. When dry, add crackle paint and watch the magic! Adhere to a thick wire and insert into planter.
Or try adding a mini tag greeting to the pot for a kind of faux chalk board look. Die-cut “Thinking of You” from Dove White cardstock, adhere to a piece of 2 1/2” x 3 1/2” Pitch Black cardstock and attach to a small dowel stick.
And that’s it! Fairly easy and lots of fun. I've created a video tutorial that you can watch below or here on YouTube.
What are you up to these days? And if you garden, what are you growing?
Hope to see you back here next week!
XO,
|
Great project! Thanks Debi!
Before I gardened, I stamped. Now I’m into my gardening years – LOL. I started seeds this year and didn’t realize that Sharpie or any ink seems to fade into oblivion. I heard that plain pencil would hold up but my seeds are all up and I don’t know one from the other. Your idea is great for my garden and would make excellent gifts for my gardening friends. I think that I will dip the sticks in that rubbery paint that they sell for keeping garden tool handles from the effects of water and sun. They come in different colors and would help the wooden sticks last for several seasons. I like to mark my flowers, also, and this would help me identify those plants that come back year after year. I often pull them up since I forget they are there when they have died back in the fall. Great idea! Thanks.
These are so clever and beautiful! What a great gift idea too. I’m pinning this post for future inspiration.