Vintage Yardstick & Scrabble Tile DIY Garden Markers + Free Printable

Hi there! Welcome to this month’s edition of the Thrifty Chicks challenge. Every second Wednesday, I and some of my blogging friends participate in this special DIY event. For July we had to develop a [dazzling and unique] project using yardsticks or rulers. You’ll have to let me know whether we succeeded.

After reading about my project–vintage yardstick & scrabble tile DIY garden markers–you’ll find links to each participant’s post. I hope you’ll take some time to visit them all and enjoy their delightful entries.

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Materials:
Vintage yardsticks or rulers
Scrabble tiles
Sand paper
Hot glue
Large craft sticks
Stain (optional)
Polyurethane or Wood protector
Plants!

Pick out scrabble tiles that will form garden-related words, like “garden,” “herbs,” and “grow.” What other words could you form?

Cut your yardstick/ruler to size for each marker you plan to make. For 6-letter words, use a 7″ piece, for 5-letter words, use a 6″ piece, etc. Basically, cut your pieces 1″ longer than the number of letters in the word. I cut mine with a miter saw and lightly sanded any rough edges. [See below for a saw-free version of this project, using rulers.]

Before gluing the tiles onto the yardstick, rub the backs on some sandpaper to roughen them, allowing for better adherence. Lay out the tiles on your piece of yardstick so you can see where you want each placed. Apply a small amount of hot glue to the back of each tile, one at a time, then press in place firmly and hold until dry.

I decided to stain my craft sticks to give them a more vintage look and to coordinate better with my yardsticks. Allow the stain to dry and then glue it to the back of your yardstick using a small amount of hot glue. Hold firmly in place until dry. To weatherize your markers, apply a few coats of polyurethane or wood protector

Pretty cute, right? Time to tuck them into your flower box, herb garden, or pot of greenery. They would also make an appealing addition to a fairy garden, right?

The “Herbs” marker found its way into my pot of chives.

If you are unable to cut vintage yardsticks or rulers into various lengths as I have, don’t worry! You can make equally charming garden markers simply by using rulers and gluing your scrabble tiles down the ruler, as I have in this photo. Push the end of the ruler into the dirt and your good to go. My sweet sister actually preferred this version to the previous one.

I plan to bring my markers to the Shaker gift shop where I have a line of products for sale. This particular site, only 5 minutes from my home, had an herb garden focus back in the day, when it was a thriving community.

The gift shop manager is therefore interested in providing merchandise consistent with this theme. I think these will perfectly compliment the silverware garden markers I already have for sale in the shop (and which have been selling well).

Please be sure to check out my friends projects below:

You may also be interested in these posts:
Concrete Brick Garden Markers
Aging Terracotta Pots

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