DIY Painted Garden Rocks

A simple springtime gift for gardeners.

Now that it’s warmer outside and the days are longer, I’ve been itching to get started on my vegetable garden. Unfortunately, the weather here in the Portland area hasn’t been cooperating lately. We’ve had tons of rain and wind, so I’m getting creative with indoor-friendly gardening activities in order to feel like I’m actually accomplishing something.

Truth is, I’ve been wanting to paint rocks to use as garden markers for years now, and this rainy weather has given me the perfect excuse to get the job done. I’ll be using these rocks all over my garden for an added pop of color, and I’ll be making several extras to give to friends of mine as a gift of encouragement for growing their first garden this year.

DIY Painted Garden Rocks

Step 1: Get your hands on some rocks. I prefer rocks that are hand-sized, with a smooth, flat shape. Make sure they’re totally dry by setting them outside in the sun, or, if you’re short on time, use a blow dryer.

Step 2: Coat the top half of your rocks with a solid layer of acrylic paint and let dry. This will be your base color, and you can use it to go back and “erase” mistakes if you make any in the third step.

Step 3: Using a color that will show up nicely over your base coat, paint the word of your plant. You can stop here, or you can continue to embellish your rocks with added doodle-y flourishes. If you make a mistake, use the base coat color to cover over it, and then just allow the paint to dry completely before making any corrections.

Step 4: Finally, once all of your paint is dry, add a coat of varnish over the top to keep your newly painted rocks protected from the elements so they’ll last as long as possible. [printfriendly]

Once all your layers are dry, you can go ahead and use them in your garden, or package them up for friends and family if you’re giving them away as gifts. For my packaging, I kept it simple with long strips of paper that I cut from grocery bags. I sealed the ends of the paper around the rocks with yellow personalized labels in the style Modern Museo.

Used In This Project:

• Circle Labels • I chose the “Modern Museo” style in Sunburst.

More garden-related gift ideas:

Chalk Painted Seed Starters	Bulb Favors	Pressed Fern Wall Art	Simple Gift: Fresh Eggs

Shop Our Food/Craft Collection:

Food/Craft Labels Food/Craft Hang Tags Entire Food/Craft Collection

Lindsay (125 Posts)

Lindsay is a writer/blogger from Oregon who loves crafting, cooking, gardening, and simple living. You can find her writing about all of this and more on her blog A Wooden Nest.