This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.
You all know I’ve been hit with the gardening bug lately, so making some DIY garden markers with my Cricut Maker has been on my to-do list.
I adore my Cricut Maker, and people are always surprised that I use it for anything and everything but paper crafts! This was my first time using the Cricut Maker with their cherry veneer sheets, and I was a little nervous about using the wood sheets, but it was such a breeze.
Cricut Maker: A Cutting Powerhouse
Today I’ll be showing you all my simple DIY garden markers using wood, but did you know the Cricut Maker can cut a whole smorgasbord of materials?
Here’s some examples of materials/mediums you may not have thought of along with an idea or two next to each type to get your creative wheels turning:
- Leather: make cute coin purses or wallets
- Felt: create your own cut outs for simple sewing projects like felt vegetables for children
- Crepe paper: perfect for those beautiful, delicate tissue paper flowers used for party decor
- Adhesive vinyl foil: add decorative, metallic elements to votive holders, vases and wedding decor
- Basswood: create model airplanes or wooden monograms and die cuts you can paint
- Cherry Veneer: DIY garden markers (see tutorial below!)
- Various fabrics/interfacing: perfect way to cut out a bunch of strips to make your own festive garlands or speed up creating sewing templates
- Iron-on vinyl: add custom designs to pillows, t-shirts, baby onesies, aprons
- Outdoor vinyl: personalize your mailbox, add a decal to your car window, or something cute to your front door
What Else Can the Cricut Maker Do?
All of the projects I just mentioned focus on the cutting aspect of the Cricut Maker, but I would be doing this fabulous crafting machine a disservice by not mentioning the non-cutting things it can do.
- Deboss: create a letterpress inspired finish on gift tags or add monograms to some stationery
- Perforate: perfect for creating tickets or tear-off chore charts
- Draw: add any design imaginable to paper for your own greeting or note cards
- Score: useful for creating envelopes, origami art or anywhere you need a crisp fold
- Engrave: beautiful for gift giving and home decor projects
Cricut is constantly innovating and finding ways to add more tools and features to the Cricut Maker arsenal to make it even more versatile. These options are what make this machine such a great value and investment.
Cricut Design Space & Cricut Access
I work with vectors and SVG files as part of my day job, so I am comfortable making my own designs.
BUT, nothing beats the convenience and ease of Cricut Design Space (software used to tell your machine what to do) and Cricut Access (where you can find tons of images and fonts).
I have an annual subscription to Cricut Access, and I love the access it gives me to thousands of high quality images and fonts that can be cut, drawn, etc. It’s well worth it to not have to hunt down an SVG file. In fact, all of the images I used for the DIY garden markers can be found in Cricut Access.
I love that you can use Cricut Design Space on your computer or your smartphone.Yes, your smartphone! That’s how simple and quick it is for whatever project you can imagine.
What I also like about Cricut Design Space is how easy it is to use. I don’t feel overwhelmed when I’m working on a project, and it is very simple to weld, slice and group my artwork to get great results once I send the project to cut, draw, etc.
The images, assets and fonts are easy to mix, match, and customize with Cricut Design Space to put my own spin on anything I make.
DIY Garden Markers
Label your plants for function and style with this easy DIY garden markers project using cherry veneer sheets and a Cricut Maker.
Materials
- Cricut Strong Grip Mat
- Cricut Wood Veneer Sheets
- Masking Tape
Instructions
- Open up Cricut Design Space, and find a garden marker image in Cricut Access under images. I used image #M408B2. Hide the top layer that says "Mama's Garden" in the menu on the right hand side.
- Now, let's find a pagoda. I used image #M2ED29. Select the entire pagoda and click "Weld" to make it into one solid shape.
- Stack the pagoda center horizontally over the plant marker. Select both images and weld the two shapes together into one. This will create the basic outline of our DIY garden markers.
- Resize your newly welded shape to anywhere between 4-6" tall. Mine are 4.5" tall. Copy/duplicate this image for as many plant markers as you will need. You can fit about 4-8 per sheet depending on the size.
- Using the font "Cricut Sans" (which is easy to read and perfect for this kind of project) type out your plant names and center it in your garden marker. Once it's in place, select BOTH the text and the garden marker and click on "Slice". This will add in your text into the shape itself.
- Delete the top layers of text until you're able to see through to the canvas board.
- Repeat steps 5-6 until you're done with the plant names. Using a Strong Grip Mat (purple) place a sheet of veneer onto the mat and secure the edges all around with masking/washi/painters tape.
- Load it into your Cricut Maker, click Make It, verify all your settings are correct and press the flashing button on your machine. Wait for the magic to happen.
- Once it is done, unload the mat, weed away excess material and carefully peel your garden markers off the mat.
- Put on some sunscreen and go label those gorgeous plants of yours.
Notes
For letters such as A, B, D, O, P, Q, R, you will have to weld little supports in using a basic rectangle to ensure you're not left with just the outline of the letter. Essentially, place the rectangles, select all the shapes and weld. 
I have tested these by leaving them out in sun and rain and they hold up fairly well. They do curl slightly when damp and then flatten back out. 
DIY Garden Markers: Backyard Patio
Here’s the whole gang in my backyard container garden. These DIY garden markers make a fun statement and incorporate my signature chinoiserie style even in the great outdoors.
How great would these be for gifts or party favors or a project with your children to start your own veggie garden? It’s so simple and versatile!
The only bad thing is that you’re going to want to make these for all your plants, and then you want to buy more plants and it’s a vicious cycle. But when your plants can look this chic and pretty, then why not?
If you want to get more Cricut inspiration for your at home projects, you’ll definitely want to head to inspiration.cricut.com. They have some amazing ideas that will have you creating beautiful things for all the rooms in your home.
Happy crafting!
