DIY Wood Veneer Plant Markers

Now that spring is in sight, I’m starting to get excited about planting my container gardens and growing herbs again.  One of these summers, I’d love to build a raised bed garden but until that happens, I’ll stick with the variety of container gardens I have growing on my back porch.  And I’ll keep coming up with fun ways to mark what I’ve got growing out there.  These DIY wood veneer plant markers are easy to make with a Cricut machine and add a cute and colorful element to a pot or the garden.

I used my Cricut Maker to make these garden markers but if you don’t have a Cricut Maker, don’t worry!  The Cricut Explore Air 2 can also cut wood veneer.  Check out the wood veneer floral wreath and wood veneer bunny napkin rings that I made with the Explore Air 2.  Click on those links to take you to the posts to see the full instructions for each project.

Supplies for Wood Veneer Garden Markers

To make these garden markers, you’ll need wood veneer or another type of thin wood, a deep point blade or knife blade depending on the type of wood being used {the Cricut Maker will prompt you to insert the correct blade when you select the material}, a strong grip mat, a spatula tool, one wooden skewer for each marker, colorful craft paint, a paintbrush, and a glue gun.

How to Make Wood Veneer Garden Markers

I created the file for these garden markers in Cricut Design Space and you can click on that link to use the same file to make your own garden markers.

The font I used is Babette , a script style font {check out this post to see some of my favorite fonts}. When using script, you’ll need to move the letters together {either by decreasing the space between letters or by using the advanced feature of separating the letters and manually moving them together}.  Once the letters are positioned where you want them, select the entire word and weld the letters together so they cut properly, as one piece.

If you do change the font, don’t choose anything that has really thin lines because it’ll be really hard to remove them from the font without breaking them.

Place a piece of wood veneer on a strong grip mat.  It’s also recommended that you secure the wood with masking tape and move the rollers to the side although I’ll be honest, I don’t always do that.  You’ll definitely want to move the rollers if the wood you’re using is soft and will be marked or damaged by the rollers.  

When cutting this project, the machine will make multiple passes over the design so be prepared that the cut will take longer than normal.  I sometimes stop the cut before it has completed all the passes if I can tell that the wood has been cut through completely.

Once the design is cut, carefully lift the tags using a spatula tool so you don’t crack or break the wood.

I like to remove the outer pieces and discard them first, then carefully lift the text off the mat, beginning at one end and working slowly and methodically.

Once the words are removed from the mat, you’re ready to add a little color, if desired.

I chose to add some colorful paint to the bottom half of each word.

I simply used a brush and did light brushstrokes down the bottom half of the letter then let them dry completely.

If you’re planning to use the garden markers outside, you may want to also spray the wood with polyurethane to help it weather better.  If you’ll be using them indoors, you don’t need to do anything extra.

Use hot glue to attach a wooden skewer to the back of each garden marker then place them in the appropriate pots.

These wood veneer garden markers would make a really cute gift idea as well. 

Make a special word or even a name and place it in a pretty houseplant or flowering plant for a gift that endures.

Are you excited that spring is almost here?

For more creative garden marker ideas, be sure to check out these upcycled knife garden markers embellished with vinyl …

… upcycled chalkboard frying pan garden markers inspired by one of my favorite restaurants …

… wood burned plant markers …

… and colorful painted twig garden markers.