Garden stones

Craft with Resene, from the Australian Women's Weekly

River-stone markers are the perfect way to identify your freshly planted seeds and seedlings, while adding a decorative touch to your vegetable garden.

Painted river stones

What you'll need

River stones, pencil, paper
Paintbrushes, medium and fine
Resene Testpot paint: Resene White, Resene Highland (green), Resene Green House (green), Resene Chelsea Cucumber (green), Resene Black, Resene Golden Glow (garlic), Resene Ecstasy (carrot), Resene Harlequin (beetroot), Resene Cashmere (onion), Resene Mexican Red (capsicum)
Resene Clearcoat UVS (optional)

Hints and tips: For best results, collect river stones that are in good condition, relatively flat and have a good surface area to paint on. If you are having trouble finding the right river stones, check out your local garden centre or landscape supplier.

Painting pointers: You can make these as simple or as detailed as you like. Here are some pointers to make your vegetables look more detailed:

Use a variety of greens. Choose two or three different green Resene shades that will also look good when blended, creating new shades and interest.
Using flicks of Resene White can give nice little highlights to your painting.
Work from lightest to darkest colours when painting.
Finish with Resene Black details. This will really make your designs pop. See the pic below on left compared to the finished result below. You don’t have to fully trace around your vegetable in black – just add some lines, as shown below.

Painted garden stones

With any painting project, preparation is key. There’s not much you have to do to prep your rocks but they will need a really good clean and scrub to remove any dirt. Leave them to dry completely before painting.
Start with the acrylic-based Resene White. This helps brighten the subsequent paint colours and also makes your design clear and easy to read. Paint a shape that follows the contour of your stones, leaving a small border around the edge (pic A). Allow to dry, then apply a second coat.
Trace the stone shapes onto paper so you can practise drawing vegetables to fit. (You can use the templates below to get started.) Step four
Once you are happy with your vege drawing, roughly cut around it and rub the back of the drawing with plenty of pencil. Turn back over and place in the correct position on your stone. Draw over the vegetable again, pressing down firmly. This will transfer the image onto your stone ready for you to paint (pic B).
Paint your stones.
Write the names in pencil first on each river stone, then paint over the writing with Resene Black. Leave to dry.
You can leave the stones as is, or give each one a coat of Resene Clearcoat UVS for extra protection. Now they’re ready to rock’n roll in your delicious vege patch.

Vege template to print out
Actual print size may be dependant on printer settings and browser.

Project by Marsha Smith, April 2018

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