Plant Markers: 
Materials


These markers are made of tiles, wire, marbles, and beads.  The wire is 7-stranded copper wire from the electrical department at Home Depot.  Each marker takes around two feet of wire, which at $.09 per foot, costs 18 cents.  The tiles are pool tiles.  I called a tile place and asked about buying small numbers of individual tiles for an art project.  The owner's son said to come in - he had sample boards of pool tiles that had been discontinued and he had been saving them for just such a purpose.  When I went in, he gave them to me for free!  Pool tiles are the perfect size and particularly ornate, perfect for a high-quality project.  I had checked a large craft store, and the tiles there were mostly for mosaics - too small.  But they had beautiful glass beads, which were by far the most expensive items I used, but well worth it.  They also had a bin of interesting polished pebbles in many colors, and packages of flat, colored marbles.  At Pier One, I was able to find more flat marbles, as well as irridescent round ones.  The only tool I had to buy was a pair of round-nose pliers.  At an art store, I found gold paint pens, a small paintbrush, and top coat varnish for ceramics.  Back home, I gathered the rest of my tools: a small flat screwdriver, a small pair of wire cutters, and a pair of needlenose pliers.  Also useful, but not necessary, was a spool of copper beading wire I already had.  (When you need a single strand, you can just separate it from the 7-stranded type.)
 
 


 


 

Next - the Tiles.
 
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