How to make garden-marker rocks

When you plant seeds in a garden, you know what you expect to grow. As the weeks and months pass, though, you might forget what you've planted in each spot. Nip that problem in the bud with garden-marker rocks. They'll remind you what you can expect to see spring up and where — plus, they'll add cute decor to your garden while you're waiting for your bounty to bloom.
You might feel a touch of nostalgia if you're one of the many people who collected and/or painted rocks in their childhoods. Enjoy the whole process by collecting your own rocks before you begin. As you "plant" them in your garden, notice how much whimsy they add to the space.
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Materials
- Washable craft paint (red, orange, green, white)
- Paintbrushes (at least one fat and one thin)
- Cardboard
- Rocks (approximately the diameter of your palm)
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Instructions
1. Pour out a bit of your paint in a bowl or palette before you begin.
2. Place the cardboard on your work surface to protect the surface from paint.
3. Place the first rock on the cardboard.
4. Apply red paint to the center of the rock in the shape of a tomato using your fat paintbrush. (The tomato is basically a plump, subtle heart shape, although a circle or oval would work as well.) You might have to add several coats to get the right shade of red.
5. Switch to your thinner paintbrush. Apply green paint to the top of the tomato to create the stem. The stem is shaped somewhat like a star, with the top poking out a bit where you would pull the tomato off the vine. Add white paint to the green to create different shades of green; adding more than one shade to the stem will give it a more natural, realistic appearance.
6. Set the rock aside to dry.
7. Paint a strawberry on your second rock. The strawberry also has a red heart-shaped center with a green star-shaped stem, although it's taller and narrower than a tomato. Add white dots to the red part of the strawberry to replicate its seeds. Set the rock aside to dry.
8. On your third rock, paint an orange triangle for a carrot. Mix white into some of the orange paint to produce different shades of orange. Paint most of the rock light orange, then add details with the darker orange color. Add a leafy green stem at the top. Instead of a star shape, three vertical leaves will work for this one. Set the rock aside to dry.
9. Paint your fourth rock with a radish. Mix red and white paint to get a beautiful pink color. Paint a circle of pink in the center of the rock. Add a lighter pink root and a green stem. Set the rock aside to dry.
10. Use white paint to write the word for each plant on the rock, either on top of or alongside your painting. For example, write "tomato" in all capital letters on the tomato rock.
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11. Place the rocks in your garden.
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