Country Garden Plant Stakes

Label all your garden goodies with these Country Garden Plant Stakes from Amanda Formaro.  These sweet garden crafts are perfect for labeling what's in your garden, and when packaged with some seeds and gardening gloves, these make a great housewarming gift!

Materials:

• 3″ wood heart
• 12″ wooden dowel
• Acrylic paint in antique white and contrasting color of your choice
• Crackle medium
• Craft pens
• Material scraps
• White craft glue (Tacky glue)
• Matte finish sealer spray

Instructions:

1. Basecoat the wooden heart and the dowel with antique white (or with contrasting color depending on the look you want, the basecoat will show through the cracks) and let dry completely. Apply crackle medium according to directions (to the heart only), a medium coat works well. Allow it to dry for 15-25 minutes, until tacky but not completely dry. Next apply a medium coat of your contrasting color over the crackle, do not excessively brush! One or two strokes is enough. Let dry, crackle will begin to work within minutes.
    
2. Once the contrasting color is completely dry, you can use craft pens to draw on square patches or small hearts, or draw stitch marks around the outer edges of your heart. Use the pens to write the herb and flower names on using this font pattern.
    
3. When dry, glue the dowel to the back of the heart. Tie a piece of scrap material in a bow or a knot around the dowel, just below the bottom of the heart. Apply two coats of matte finish sealer spray, allow 15 minutes between coats.