I'm going to make so much caprese this summer!
Finally, I can stop feeling guilty about mentioning the amazing Southern California weather to my friends and family in the Midwest. Spring’s in town! Sweet words for the green thumbs among us, or even the wannabes, like me. Keeping plants alive and thriving does not come naturally to me, but that doesn’t stop me from trying! When spring rolls around, I can’t buy just one plant or seed packet at the garden center … my head fills with dreams of creating salads entirely from homegrown veggies, and suddenly I wake up with $40 worth of seedlings and bags of soil in my trunk.
Thankfully I don’t have to spend a dime on plant markers, because I figured out a way to make cute ones out of stuff I had on hand: wine corks and bamboo skewers! No more trying to remember which seeds I planted where … these guys are functional and keep the garden looking great! (Plus, if you have corks left over, you can use them to make these wine charms!)
What you need:
wine corks
bamboo skewers
drill and drillbit about the size of your skewers
finepoint permanent marker
plant trimmer
Labeled
1. First, write out your plant names on each cork. I started out with a regular fat Sharpie, and the results were a bit sad. Then I used a finer Sharpie, and the results were only slightly less sad, because guess what? I have terrible handwriting!
Drill, baby, drill
2. Carefully drill into the bottom of each cork–make sure to drill directly into the center of the cork so you don’t drill out the side into your hand! I drilled a little over an inch deep into mine, or about the length of the corkscrew part of the bit.
Trimmed down
3. If you’ll be using these for potted plants, trim the bamboo skewers to a length that will fit using a pair of plant trimmers.
Wiggle room
4. Insert the end of the skewer into the hole you drilled–it should be a tight fit, so you’ll need to twist and push the cork onto the skewer so that it goes all the way in.
Garden party
5. That’s it! Your seeds and plants are all name-tagged up and ready to go! Now all you have to do is keep them alive …
Tomato, tomahto
Minty fresh
20 Comments
LOVE this idea!! I’m definitely going to use it. It’s great because I’m always having to buy new stakes and I feel there is always a cork around. Good thinking!
I love this idea and cannot wait to try it in our garden!
Brilliant and simple- I love it! Been looking for something more natural looking than cheap plastic tags.
What a cute idea! Just shared the link with my Facebook friends.
Perfect. Not a bit too fussy or expensive. “Just right,” said Goldylocks.
Smart idea and just the activity I need for my tiny tots and the hundreds of corks I was recently gifted. They can decorate their cork w/ sharpies. We’ll plant radish seeds in school-size milk cartons (that I was also gifted) since radishes sprout quickly. Mahalo for the fabulous recycle craft.
Hi I am doing my GCSE coursework and I am just wondering whether I could use this as part of my project, I will be sure to give you full credit! Many thanks
Love it Rachel! Great idea ~ I am going to link to your blog from mine… Thank you for sharing!!!
This is a really cute idea!
I love this so much that I included it in my roundup of awesome wine and champagne cork projects here. Feel free to grab a featured button if you want! Thanks for sharing!
-Mel the Crafty Scientist
Love this idea! I wanted to stop by to let you know we featured you today.
http://theupcycleblog.com/?p=2626
Thanks!
Hi Mandy,
I’m a writer putting together a story about reuse for iVillage.com, and I’d love to include your image of the wine cork garden markers in the slide show. You & your blog would, of course, be credited.
Please email me at deblevine@me.com if you’re willing to grant me permission to use the image.
Many thanks!
Deb Levine
deb levine
writer . editor
347.668.9396
deblevine@me.com
Hi Mandy! I’m the Editorial Community Manager for FaveCrafts.com and I just came across this project–I love it! I was wondering if you’d be interested in letting us publish it on our site? You can email me for more information. I look forward to hearing from you!
a few times, we ordered sushi for our family. for 5 people, they gave us about 40 chopsticks each time. we saved them, and we drill into the corks, and push the chopstick through, then write the name of the plant, and put into the garden next to the matching plant.
Ingenious or so simple. I’m doing it!
Amazing idea!!! It’s cheap, fast and so practical!!! I love this kind of stuff!
Thank you for sharing this with us, I will try to do it in my garden!
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A number of my blog readers have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for oyster dog clippers
I also have terrible handwriting. I found an ultra thin felt marker that works great at Walmart called the Precise V5 made by Pilot. They come in a six-pack and last a very long time. They make great gifts also, made in Japan, so what it is Walmart, what else perhaps China?
Your method of describing all in this piece of writing is truly
nice, every one be capable of without difficulty know it, Thanks a lot.
23 Trackbacks
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