Make Funky Plant Markers from Silverware

Silverware plant markers are by no means an original idea, but I sure love how they look!  I'm getting ready for a Spring Garden and Crafts fair on my family's farm next month and I've made a few of these both for my garden and for the fair.

I've got some "serious" ones for actually labeling plants:

And some fun ones that say more clever things:

Read the rest to check out how I made them:

How to Make Silverware Garden Markers

Step 1: Gather supplies

 You will need a hammer, silverware, a Steel Metal Stamp Kit, a wood block, nail file/emery board, sharpie and a concrete or other very hard surface to work on

Step 2: Flatten Silverware

Pound your selected piece of silverware flat. I recommend doing this on the wood block so as not to damage your concrete surface.

Step 3: Mark Letter Placement

Count out the number of letters in the word you want to stamp and mark them out on the spoon with a sharpie.

Step 4: Stamp Letters

Use the sharpie dots as your guide and stamp each letter in it's place. I recommend doing this on the concrete to help provide better resistance behind the piece and to get a better impression. Once you're done stamping, it will look like this:

Step 5: Finishing

To help patina the letter impressions, color over the stamped letters with a sharpie (sorry about the sudden switch to forks....I forgot to take a picture of this step with the spoon). Let dry for about 5 minutes, then buff the piece with a nail file you're not planning on using on nails again. This will buff off any surface sharpie and leave only the backs of the letters inside the impression colored in.  Like so:

These are super fun and would make great mother's day presents for a gardening lady in your life (or yourself!).