DIY Laser-Cut Plant Markers for Roses & Veggie Gardens

Ever plant a rose or veggie and forget which one it is? If you're having trouble telling you're squash from your zucchini—or your Pink O’Hara from your Unforgettable—we have just the project for you.

Today, we'll plugging in the Glowforge, taking a few easily obtainable materials and turning them into our own custom plant labels in just an afternoon.

This way, we not only have every single one of our plants labeled, but we also have them labeled in a way that adds to the beauty of our garden.

Let's dive in and we'll show you how easy it is for you to do, too!

(Affiliate Links)

Glowforge: https://glowforge.pxf.io/justmightdiy

Plant Markers: https://amzn.to/3FJisuG

Engraving Plastic: https://bit.ly/3FGHNFN

Glue: https://amzn.to/4kvmypn

Goo Gone: https://amzn.to/4jHAs6J

Rubbing Alcohol: https://amzn.to/4e1enyQ

Pump Bottle: https://amzn.to/3TrtIit

Clamps: https://amzn.to/458BHYY

Fonts from DesignBundles/FontBundles: https://designbundles.net/plus?pref=PiheTd

Glowforge Template on our Patreon: http://patreon.com/justmightdiy

Affiliate Notification

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, as well as other affiliate programs, which enable us to earn a commission when you click on our links and make a purchase. You don't pay anything extra for the items you buy...we just get credit for referring you!

The great thing about being able to make your own custom labels is that you can design them in whatever style you like. You can use an easy design tool like Canva, or you can use a more robust program like Photoshop.

Tips:

We like to get awesome fonts from DesignBundles/FontBundles so check them out if you haven't already.

Make sure that you save your file with a transparent background. If you don’t know how to do that, follow these instructions for Canva or Photoshop:

If you're using Canva:

1. Design on a plain white background.
2. Save your file as a PNG.
3. Make sure to check the box that says “Transparent Background.”

If you're using Photoshop:

1. Turn off the background layer.
2. Make your design.
3. Save your file as a PNG.

This will ensure that when you drag your file into the glow forge software in the next step it is ready to be engraved.

Because we know we're going to be making a ton of plant labels, we made things easy on ourselves inside the Glowforge software and created a template for a full sheet of plant labels for this particular engraving plastic material. You can find our template on our Patreon. If you just want the dimensions for each individual label to create your own, those dimensions below. Now, let's dive into the Glowforge software

1. Put your material in the Glowforge.
2. Click the Autofocus button to ensure that the screen that you're looking at is appropriately sized and the machine is properly focused.
3. Create a rectangle that is sized to 3.5” by 1.25”
4. Duplicate this rectangle for as many labels as you need to create.
5. Drag your PNG files that you created in the previous step into the Glowforge screen.
6. Size them to the size that you want to have them appear on the labels. Ours were best at a height of 1.05"
7. Use either the snap alignment or the manual alignment tools to ensure that each plant name PNG is centered in each rectangle.
8. Enter your cut and engrave settings. The settings that we used on our Glowforge Pro are at the bottom of this section.
9. Click Print.

Notes:

If this is a new material for you we always recommend that you test the material in your particular machine to ensure that it works for you before trying to cut or engrave an entire sheet.

Glowforge Pro cut settings for the rectangles: 200 / Full / 1x

Glowforge Pro engrave settings for the plant names: 1100 / 18 / 1x

A full sheet of labels on the Glowforge Pro will take approximately 46 to 47 minutes

If you engrave a lot of labels, chances are good that some of them are going to look a little darker than others. Have no fear! That doesn't necessarily mean that your engraving didn't go deep enough. It could just be soot or smoke. We're going to show you a trick or two to help you get them bright white:

1. If the soot is really bad, use Goo Gone to get the initial gunk off them.
2. Next, use rubbing alcohol and lightly tab on the face of the engraving.

Even if you think they all engraved perfectly—or if you've already done one cleaning with Goo Gone—we highly encourage you to use at least a little rubbing alcohol on all your newly engraved labels.

You will be so surprised to see how brilliantly white they will be after a little cleaning!

Next, we're going to prepare for the assembly process. Grab your plant markers with their metal plates, newly engraved labels and sandpaper

1. Slip the plates onto the metal rods first. You will find that the hump that these have to go over may cause your label to pop off if you do this after the glue up.
2. Make sure the metal plates are nice and flat before the next step. The metal is thin and can bend easily.
3. Use an 80 or 100 grit sandpaper to lightly sand the metal plates.
4. Use the same grit sandpaper to lightly sand the backs of your newly engraved labels
5. Wipe all sanding dust off the metal plates and your labels before moving on to the next step

Now it's time to do the glue up! You'll want to have your newly cleaned labels, markers with their plates attached, super glue and clamps ready.

1. Apply a little bit of glue to the metal plate and to the backside of the newly engraved plant label.
2. Press the label onto the metal plate ensuring that all sides are aligned.
3. Clamp the label into place using at least 2 mini clamps.
4. Wipe away any excess glue.

Let that label cure while you are working on the next one. You don't have to leave the labels in the clamps very long because the super glue sets quickly.

Now you get to admire all your great work! We hope this helped you understand how easy it can be to create beautiful, custom DIY plant markers for your garden So you can label every rose bush, veggie, fruit—or whatever you are growing—in style

We hope that this tutorial was helpful. If you’re interested in checking out more of our tutorials, head over to our blog or YouTube channel.