Introduction
We already spoke about the Iceberg rock planter that I took out last week, well this week we are going to try to reuse the rocks (mostly so I can lessen the load I have to haul to the back field! But also I am trying to be thrifty around my property and not spend $1000’s of dollars on new stuff when I have amazing natural resources I can repurpose.
The Rock Pile and Original Plant Marker Idea
To recap, this is the pile of rocks that I took out of an old garden planter that sat on the edge of my back patio. After years of neglect, it was falling apart and just an eye sore. I decided to take it out and voila, a huge pile of rocks.
Involving Malcolm in the Project
What I want to create is plant markers for our vegetable garden. I had some old stakes that I was going to use my glow forge to engrave (let me know if you are interested in purchasing a glow forge; I have a killer coupon code, that also gives me a small kickback at no cost to you.) the names of the plants in that row, but realized that the stakes were cedar, and cedar can let out toxic/irritating fumes when engraved, so back to the drawing board. I wanted to find something that Malcolm would be able to help with as I am trying to include him in more of the garden/ outdoor activities. After some thought, I figured well, why not let Malcolm paint these rocks and then I can write the names of whatever I am planting down that row after they have dried. Hopefully, this will give him some agency in the garden as well when he sees how he has contributed.
Preparing the Rocks: Cleaning and Selecting
Unfortunately, most of the rocks in my pile are still encrusted with tons of old concrete and dirt, so I brought out the rock hounding hammer again, and yes, put some eye protection on… then got to work. I tried to be picky about which rocks I was taking over to be washed, looking for the larger ones that would be easier to write on after being painted.
Malcolm decided that washing rocks was not as fun as trying to walk on top of the big pile of them and quickly abandoned his job, in came Joe to the rescue, he very generously washed 21 rocks for us. After the rocks were dry, we set them up along the edge of the patio and brought out the colors for Malcolm to start creating.
Malcolm’s Sensory Adventure with Painting
Now my son takes after my husband in many ways, and one little quirk is that he is very much a sensory kid. He is very in tune with tags in his clothes, pinches in his shoes, whether his socks are on straight or stickiness on his hands. He is not normally one to just put his hands in things and make messes, even when we try to encourage it.
While we did start with a paintbrush or two, soon it devolved into whole hands in the paint and mixing of colors, and while my own control issues seemed to be stressed out, I was so incredibly proud of him for just getting in there and getting a little messy.
Adding Final Touches and Sealing the Rocks
After the rocks were painted and dried in the sun, we brought them into the house where I added some vinyl lettering that I cut out on my silhouette and then hodgepodged over the top to seal the letters and hopefully the paint from the rain. I let Malcolm and myself have a little fun with some puff paint over the top, even if that doesn’t stay, it’s something we could keep decorating every year.
The Beautiful Results and Family Bonding
The end results were beautiful – we have many rocks that are brightly colored. I even have a couple of special ones with clear handprints on them that I may or may not put in the garden. It was a super entertaining activity that altogether killed several hours on a Saturday for us. We got to spend the majority of the day outdoors, and it was a task that we did together. I love that as he grows, he will be able to see himself in our property.
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