How-To: Easy Plant Markers

This summer, I’m working 50+ hour weeks between a full time job and an internship (I’ll be finishing my Master’s in Library Science this December). A schedule like this seriously limits my crafting time, so I’ve been trying to use what little creative time I have practically and wisely. This is a good project for someone who really needs to scratch a crafting itch, but only has about 20 minutes to do so.

Supplies

packing tape

swizzle or chop sticks

index cards (I used leftover wedding thank you postcards)

sharpies

scissors

Directions

Cut your index cards in to small isosceles triangles, one for each plant marker desired. The fastest way to do this is to cut out a rectangle that is as wide as you want your triangle to be, then cut as shown. You’ll have to trim off the left side of the rectangle at an angle to form the side of your first triangle. Otherwise, your isosceles triangle will be a right triangle. Yay, geometry!

On each triangle, write the names of your plants. Using a thin strip of packing tape, place one of your triangles face down on the sticky side of the tape. Place triangle+tape on swizzle stick, fold the tape around the stick, and stick the tape to the back of the triangle so the sticky sides of the tape are together.

Trim excess tape, making sure there is no place for water to get in to your plant marker. Keep in mind that these will get wet & muddy!

That’s it! Now you can put these in your garden and enjoy how cute they are for about two minutes before running off to your next activity. Oh wait, that’s what I did.

PS: I realize my garden is full of weeds and coffee. As far as the weeds go, my garden is under a tree. If anyone out there has tips for dealing with weeds, please pass them along in the comments! As far as the coffee, I read that it makes a great fertilizer, adding nitrogen to the soil. Since I live in the city of Chicago, I didn’t want to use composting techniques that I used when I was in Lansing. There are signs everywhere warning people to pick up after their dogs to avoid rat problems, so I figured that if dog doo was enticing to rodents, I can only imagine what rotting food would do!