Garden Labels: Cutlery and Copper

I bought a letter punch set last year at Lee Valley, but never got around to using it for anything.

This year, however, I have made some garden labels!

I had an idea to make them using wood but didn't like the results.
I then thought that perhaps aluminum sheet might work...

Instead, my colleague at work had some leftover copper from a project she had done, and brought it in for me to see if it was appropriate for what I wanted to do.

With some help from some tin snips, a hammer, and a block of wood, I set out to make good use of my letter punch set.

I tried two ways:
1. Straight on punch, so the letters are indented away.
2. Backwards punch, so the letters are protruding towards.

Although both seem like good options, I quickly realized that trying to do it the backwards way would only work on letters that were symmetrical as they are read the same from both sides. Trying to use an 'R' or an 'F' would have been more problematic.

Having sorted this out in my trial run, I quickly went to work punching out the rest of the labels and then put them on forks that I got from my local Value Village.

Once I stuck the forks in the ground, I groaned.
The natural curvature of the fork meant I had to turn my labels around so that they would be easier to read.

All in all, a cute, quick and easy project that can be re-used every year - Plus the copper will eventually get a great patina on it that will only enhance the overall look.

Advice.
***If you want to try this, just remember, it isn't about being perfect. The letter punches are sometimes hard to place, and remember that 2 or 3 strong whacks with the hammer yields better results than several timid taps.***

Also, my garden boxes look great with plants actually growing in them - you can see our last foray with the garden box HERE.