Wednesday, May 22, 2013

DIY Faux Chalkboard Garden Signs


What a treat to be a guest blogger today at Alderberry Hill

I want to extend a HUGE thank you to Sarah for inviting me to be a guest blogger at Alderberry Hill.  It is truly a sweet honor and I'm thrilled to share with you and your readers.

Spring has finally arrived (did I hear everyone shout FINALLY!!) and here in Southern Ontario I have been busy putting in my vegetable garden. Once all the seeds and seedlings were planted I wanted to be sure to mark the varieties of veggies so there was no mistaking what was to be growing and where. Hence, I needed to whip up some garden marker signs. With chalkboard art being ever so popular I created some markers that have the chalkboard look but the lettering won't wash away in the rain.
 
These garden signs were such fun to make. Let me show you how I made them.


If you happen to have an old picket fence that would work great for the boards.  Wood pallet boards would work great too.  I dug out from under the deck some very weathered 1" X 4" boards (knot holes and all) and cut them approximate lengths, rounded one end and cut a point in the other to go in the ground easily.


Next, grab a can of chalkboard paint (Black...not green).  A can of matte spray paint will work great too.  Paint the boards and let them dry.

 
I have horrendous handwriting so I used stencils and a white paint pen to outline the vegetable lettering.  Definitely do it freehand if you are gifted in the art of penmanship. 

 
I filled in the letters with a fine paintbrush and a little white acrylic paint.  Then I got brave and with the white paint pen I freehanded a scroll flourish and drew an outline around my signs.


Now the last step:  paint a picture of the vegetables.  I freehanded the veggie pictures using the seed packets as picture inspiration.  These were all painted using acrylic craft paint.   This was such fun. 


Time to go "plant" my signs.  The garden looks pretty stark and bare at the moment but slowly I'm seeing the seeds beginning to sprout.  Do you think maybe the garden markers will encourage the veggies to grow?  Ha!


It was only recently I realized how MUCH I love beets.  Seriously!  They are a very neglected vegetable.  I have great plans for my beets so I surely do hope they will grow well.


My cucs haven't sprouted yet but I'm watering and talking to them daily.  Let's hear for cucumbers!  Grow baby grow!


This year I planted green and red bell peppers. 

 
We had a heavy frost shortly after I planted my beefsteak and Roma tomato plants.  I lost a few plants and have had to replant quite a few tomato plants.

 
Besides the main garden I have several of what I call "tub gardens".  Peas are just starting to sprout in this container.  I'll be putting up the net for them to climb on very soon.


I have two varieties of squash: orange winter squash and Patty Pan summer squash.  Look!  My patty pan squash has begun sprouting!  YAY!
 
If you are a gardener I'd love to see and read about how you mark your rows.  I had a blast making these garden signs.  In another month or so when the garden is in full swing I'll post photos of the garden with the signs doing their job with their vegetables surrounding them. 
 
Now that the signs are in their places I had better get outside and do some weeding.
 
Until next time,
Cheers!
 
Jennifer

 

I was featured on:


  From The Farm Blog Hop Rooted In Thyme




 




A Stroll Thru Life  "Inspire me Tuesday"

 

15 comments:

  1. These are just darling! Clever and pretty. Wish I had your artistic talent!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I love this idea. We have a garden and this would be so perfect. So creative. Thanks tons for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww Jennifer what a clever idea xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a totally fun project Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stopping in from your guest post at Alderberry Hill to pin these garden markers, I love them.

    Bliss

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great idea! Would love for you to share at Simple & Sweet Fridays. Have a wonderful weekend.

    Jody

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your garden markers! I think you did a great job of free handing the veggies. Congrats on being a guest host for Sarah. Thanks for sharing with SYC. Not seeing a link back to the party.
    hugs,
    Jann

    ReplyDelete
  8. these are great! you did a super job on them, love that they're so unique. Love anything with a "chalkboard" look!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jennifer, Congrats! You'll be featured this week at Simple & Sweet Fridays. Have a wonderful weekend!

    Take Care,
    Jody

    ReplyDelete
  10. I LOVE this! I'm sharing it on my facebook page today.

    I also LOVE LOVE that you have newfies, my all time favourite breed (& leonbergers)

    Glad I found your site through the barn hop, I will be sure to check back

    ReplyDelete
  11. These look great! I love the idea. Thanks for sharing. I'm hopping around on the Farm Blog Hop.

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are AMAZING!! We don't have a lot of space for a garden but the few plants we do have will be getting similar signage soon... love this!

    And, hello... from another Jennifer in Ontario :)

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)
    (¸.•´ (¸.•`¤... Jennifer
    Jenn's Random Scraps

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for sharing these at FrugalFitFamily.com! I am doing my first garden this year and forgot to mark the plants!!! I totally meant to but somehow got excited that they were planted and thought I would remember....GEESH! FOLLOWING YOU NOW! maybe I won't make this mistake again!

    ReplyDelete
  14. These are just fantastic! I have dreams of being a real gardener someday...I would love to do something like this (when that day comes!).

    -andi

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jennifer, those signs are beautiful! What other type of signs do you create? Do you take special orders and sell them? Get paid for your creativity! They are way too pretty to go out in the garden soil and all kinds of weather1 Thanks for sharing your DYI with us.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment. I truly appreciate them.