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DIY Vegetable Garden Markers

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These DIY vegetable garden markers are inexpensive and so easy to do with supplies from Dollar Tree.

Spring time is always a busy season here at the cottage. You can usually find us outside every weekend working on a project or two. The past two weekends we’ve been busy making a DIY raised garden beds with scrap wood from the deck demolition. 

do it yourself raised planter beds with plants and DIY garden markers in them

After we built the garden and added the soil, I planted some seeds. 

You can’t very well plant seeds without marking them so I set out to make some quick and easy vegetable garden markers…cheap!

Supplies for DIY Vegetable Garden Markers 

  • plastic serving spoons – I found my at Dollar Tree but these are similar 
  • permanent markers – My markers came from Dollar Tree but these are like the ones I have
  • spray polyurethane
  • spray paint (optional)

Like I said, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for garden markers so I crafted a few. I made my own DIY garden markers before, out of clothes pins, but I wanted to try out something different.

I found the perfect solution at Dollar Tree in the kitchen utensil aisle…a pack of 4 white plastic serving spoons. They are plastic, which makes them waterproof, there’s a surface to write my seed name and they have a tall leg to put in the ground. Best of all they were $1. 

So…let’s make some easy waterproof garden markers!

white plastic spoons and pack of markers on cutting board

I already had a pack of Dollar Tree permanent markers at home so I just used those to write the names of my crops. That was good but the writing faded after a rain storm. 

I wasn’t ready to give up so I sprayed a coat of clear poly on the lettering on each spoon and that did the trick.

white spoon veggie garden marker in garden with lettuce

They did their thing in the garden for a week until I had an idea to add a bit of color to the greens in the garden. I pulled a couple cans of spray paint out of the cabinet and spray painted them different colors.

No rhyme or reason, just a couple of fun, bright colors. Whatever you have in your stash. 

2 white plastic spoons stuck in a box top wiith a spray paint can on either side

Painting your veggie garden markers

One coat of spray paint for each was enough.

To easily paint them, without making a mess, I just cut two holes in a box and stuck the handle of the spoon in. Worked like a charm!

After they dried, I used the permanent marker to write the name of my seeds and then coated it with poly again, just for added protection.

There’s so many possibilities with these. You could be as crazy or as plain as you want. For me, simple lettering with the bright color does the trick. I still even like the white.

spraying poly on red plastic veggie garden marker

We’ve had rain showers and I’ve watered the garden several times, and the veggie garden markers are still standing bright and tall.

turquoise plastic spoon with sunflower written on it in flower bed

They aren’t fancy but they do the trick and they’re fun to look at. Maybe they’ll inspire my garden to grow. 

collage of 4 plastic spoons in different colors laying on wood mulch and spray paint and white plastic spoons in a box

Yield: 4 veggie garden markers

DIY Vegetable Garden Markers For $1

4 plastic spoons in different colors laying on wood mulch

How to make these easy DIY vegetable garden markers with plastic serving spoons for the dollar store. You can even paint them fun colors to brighten up your veggie or flower garden.

Active Time 10 minutes
Drying Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Difficulty Easy/beginner
Estimated Cost $1

Materials

  • plastic serving spoons
  • waterproof markers
  • spray polyurethane
  • spray paint, optional

Instructions

  1. If you aren't going to paint the spoons simply use a permanent marker to write the name of your plants on the spoon.
  2. Spray spoon with polyurethane
  3. Let dry.
  4. If you're painting your spoons, use spray paint on front, back and sides.
  5. Let dry.
  6. Use permanent marker to write name of plant on spoon.
  7. Spray polyurethane.
  8. Let dry.
  9. Mark your veggies or flowers.

Did you make this project?

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