Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Labels For Garden Plants


"Labels" is too pedestrian a term.  The website from which I derived this idea termed this project as "garden jewelry," a term which more adequately describes these pretty (and functional!) garden ornaments.  To get started, you'll need a few supplies:





MATERIALS:

1. Can lids which have been cut so no sharp edges show (I use a Pampered Chef Can Opener which works perfectly for this purpose.
2. Sharpie markers, your choice of color
3. Beads and jewelry loops (optional)
4. Paint (spray paint, or acrylic - I used both at various points in the project)

TOOLS:

1. Needle-nosed pliers (I prefer the kind that have a spring in the middle so that they stay open naturally - it makes this process much easier)
2. Wire cutters (not shown)
3. Drill (not shown)
4. Low-melt glue gun (not shown)

The first thing I did was assemble the "jewels" that I wanted to hang down from the bottom of my lid/label:
 


The next step was drilling the holes, followed by spray painting the lids.  Next I (and by "I" I mean my dad - I'm not strong enough) cut the hangers into cute little "hooks" for the lids to hang on.  You can get 2 - 3 hooks from a single coat hanger, depending on how conservatively you make your cuts and how tall you need your hooks to be:






Finally, the fun part: Writing on and decorating the lids and attaching the jewels.  I used a low-melt glue gun to fill the small gaps in the jewelry loops because they didn't always stay closed and would slip off. 





Here are some "glamour" shots. 









 



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