How to make plant labels from window covering - Page 3

janezee · April 13, 2012

I'm a Yankee from Connecticut and Cape Cod. I believe in

"Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do.
Or do without."

But I also know that life is not a dress rehearsal, and I buy my labels. It's $2.95 for 100.

I just like them to be the same, easy to read, and not something I have to go and make another one of if one gets broken or goes missing. Gathering and making labels is just too time consuming.

If I'm going to buy Tomato Tone and Sluggo and all those other things for my garden, most of which will set me back nearly $12-20 every time I think about using it, and I have to spend hours setting up lights and watering and fertilizing and such, I think I deserve to have a couple hundred labels that I don't have to use scissors to make. Nor do I have to go around gathering 'stuff' to make them out of.

Life's too short.

j

Tracydr · April 14, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by kath

I sympathize, Tracy- I saw the idea for using a flag marker for jiffy pots and I used glossy self-stick labels and a permanent marker and used numbers instead of writing the names on masking tape which was what was described. Figured I'd be able to reuse them and save some work. Well, by the next morning many of the labels had opened up and dropped off because of the humidity inside the 72 cell "greenhouses"!

The pellets were in numerical order, so at least I know what everything is, but it was scary and double the work- duh.

I also had a pepper mishap last year and many varieties weren't identified until they produced ripe fruit. Hope you can figure out which is which sooner or later.

kath

Thanks, Kath. I'll be able to identify some but not all based on shape and color. But, since I was growing a bunch of sweet habanero types, I'm not really sure how distinct they'll all be.

Tracydr · April 14, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

The ONLY thing that ever (mostly) saves me is a written diagram and marking the top left corner of the planting box so I know where to start. Then I always make at least one copy of my diagram. Sorry Tracy, I hate "mystery" varieties!

This is what I'm going to start doing. Much easier, too!

Tracydr · April 14, 2012

I have been thinking about getting a wood burner. I also saved a bunch of very sturdy metal pieces from when we made 8 foot panels out of a roll of CRW.
Thinking of a way to make cute garden labels out of these, somehow.

halleone · April 15, 2012

My sister, the yard sale specialist, buys white plastic knives whenever she can find them. She writes the name of the plant on the blade with either a grease pencil or a Sharpie, and has a great marker for very little cash. I don't go to yard sales anymore, so my husband bought me a box of 400 or 500 at Costco for about $9, so I am set for a good long while.

dice · April 25, 2012

I collect political signs littering empty lots and so on after elections.
I cut them up into strips a few inches long, and write on them with
black Sharpie Industrial markers. No problem.

(I ran out this spring before I ran out of seedlings, and I had to cut up
an empty Clorox bottle to make a few more. Good contrast.)

bobberman · April 25, 2012

White 5 gallon buckts are everywhere and can be cut up in a 100 strips with tin snipps. Even the bake shops sell the white buckets for a $1. The dollar store has white buckets for a #1. I like the long wide craft sticks at the dollar or craft store cheap. They are about 8 inches long. i cut them in half on a angle and have two 4 inch sticks!

dice · April 25, 2012

These are the markers I use:
http://www.uline.com/BL_1701/Sharpie-Industrial-Markers
(One can get these at Office Depot, Staples, etc, in 3-packs.)

I have also had good success with these not washing off or
fading:
http://www.earthstarproducts.com/PER...KERS_c_18.html

I have not used paint markers for this, but I would expect them
to last as well:
http://www.staples.com/uni-Paint-Mar...duct_SS1003205

April 25, 2012	#36
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	I collect political signs littering empty lots and so on after elections. I cut them up into strips a few inches long, and write on them with black Sharpie Industrial markers. No problem. (I ran out this spring before I ran out of seedlings, and I had to cut up an empty Clorox bottle to make a few more. Good contrast.) __________________ -- alias

April 25, 2012	#38
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	These are the markers I use: http://www.uline.com/BL_1701/Sharpie-Industrial-Markers (One can get these at Office Depot, Staples, etc, in 3-packs.) I have also had good success with these not washing off or fading: http://www.earthstarproducts.com/PER...KERS_c_18.html I have not used paint markers for this, but I would expect them to last as well: http://www.staples.com/uni-Paint-Mar...duct_SS1003205 __________________ -- alias Last edited by dice; April 25, 2012 at 02:48 PM. Reason: shorter URL

April 13, 2012	#31
janezee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Whidbey Island, WA Zone 7, Sunset 5 Posts: 931	I'm a Yankee from Connecticut and Cape Cod. I believe in "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do. Or do without." But I also know that life is not a dress rehearsal, and I buy my labels. It's $2.95 for 100. I just like them to be the same, easy to read, and not something I have to go and make another one of if one gets broken or goes missing. Gathering and making labels is just too time consuming. If I'm going to buy Tomato Tone and Sluggo and all those other things for my garden, most of which will set me back nearly $12-20 every time I think about using it, and I have to spend hours setting up lights and watering and fertilizing and such, I think I deserve to have a couple hundred labels that I don't have to use scissors to make. Nor do I have to go around gathering 'stuff' to make them out of. Life's too short. j

April 14, 2012	#34
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	I have been thinking about getting a wood burner. I also saved a bunch of very sturdy metal pieces from when we made 8 foot panels out of a roll of CRW. Thinking of a way to make cute garden labels out of these, somehow.

April 15, 2012	#35
halleone Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Walla Walla, Washington Posts: 360	My sister, the yard sale specialist, buys white plastic knives whenever she can find them. She writes the name of the plant on the blade with either a grease pencil or a Sharpie, and has a great marker for very little cash. I don't go to yard sales anymore, so my husband bought me a box of 400 or 500 at Costco for about $9, so I am set for a good long while.

April 25, 2012	#37
bobberman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Latrobe Pa. Posts: 142	White 5 gallon buckts are everywhere and can be cut up in a 100 strips with tin snipps. Even the bake shops sell the white buckets for a $1. The dollar store has white buckets for a #1. I like the long wide craft sticks at the dollar or craft store cheap. They are about 8 inches long. i cut them in half on a angle and have two 4 inch sticks!