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3.31.2020

upcycled wine bottle plant markers

DIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle crafts
i finished planting our backyard 'Victory Garden' on Sunday afternoon.
then realized i wanted some plant markers...
after half an hour of poking around in the garage workbench and shelves,
to find something interesting to make about a dozen markers out of,
i came up empty handed.

the muses, they are kind, though!
as i walked back into the house, my Mom was standing at our wine bar popping a cork
and held up the bottle as she asked 'is it time for wine?'...
and little bells started ringing in my head.

why not use wine bottles to make plant markers? WINE not, indeed!!!

continue reading to see how ridiculously easy this is - and how fun they look!


DIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle craftsDIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle crafts

okay so first, i sat down and had a glass of wine with my Mom. i never say no to that.
then, i took the empty bottle (okay, so maybe it was more than one glass...)
and grabbed several more from the recycling bin, plus an empty olive oil bottle,
rinsed them out, dried them off, and carted them into my studio.

i used big white sticky labels to cover the existing wine labels.
yes, if you are feeling industrious, you can soak the labels off of the bottles.
(i tend to think of an idea and then want to create it FAST,
so i find ways around time-consuming processes.)

next, i wrote the names of the plants in our garden on the labels with a Sharpie marker.
tip:
make sure you have the bottle lying neck-pointing-DOWN when you write.

because that's how it's going to look in your garden.
(i only had to peel the sticker off of one and flip it over)

then i realized i needed more bottles. so.... no, i didn't drink any more!
i looked in the basket where we keep wine that comes in those gourmet gift baskets.
you know what i mean... it's always chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon,
two wines we are not exactly thrilled about. but we keep them, to give as gifts or use in cooking.
i grabbed two chards and a cab, opened the bottles, and dumped the wine into the sink.
yes, i will absolutely sacrifice ho-hum wine for a decorating project!
i rinsed, dried, and labelled THOSE bottles.

in the garage, i found a few bamboo plant sticks plus some bits of thin metal curtain rods...
those went into the ground at various heights, and then i popped the bottles onto them:
DIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle craftsDIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle crafts

DIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle craftsDIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden, plant markers, wine bottle crafts
 they stand out and are easy to read, plus they offer a bit of whimsy to our garden...
we live in wine country and we drink wine (a lot), so it's a perfect fit for us!

now we just need to drink three more bottles of wine so i can finish the project...
because the zucchini, spinach, and strawberries still need markers.
(it's a tough job, but someone has to do it....)

what other items could you use in the same way?
soda bottles, tin cans, old drinking glasses, old tupperware glasses, coffee mugs, small plant pots...
tell me what you've used as plant markers in your garden! 

other fun garden projects:

set up a 'garden bar' potting bench
DIY, garden, outdoors, re-purposing, seasonal, spring, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, garden art, victory garden, spring garden

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