Garden Design | Herb Garden Design Maine.

By Katelyn Thomas

If you drink a lot of coffee, you probably have quite a fewmetal coffee cans on hand. With just a little effort, you canmake a useful and pretty handmade gift for your friends andfamily.

First, wash out your can and peel off any labels. Next, apply acoat of metal primer to your can. Let the primer dry thoroughly.Then, apply a coat of bright acrylic paint to the can.

Once your can is painted, you can decorate it. I like to applycrackle medium and then add a top coat of color. This effect isbeautiful if you paint a deep blue undercoat and a rich redovercoat on your can.

You may want to rubberstamp bugs or garden tools onto the caninstead. To do this, use stamps that are flexible so that youcan stamp onto the curved surface of the can. You can apply alight coat of acrylic paint to the stamp and then press thestamp onto the can, carefully rolling the stamp so that thewhole image is stamped onto the can. If you mess up, don'tworry. You can wipe the stamped image off the can and startover.

Another great decorative technique for decorating cans isdecoupage. Use empty seed packets with pretty artwork or cutpictures from magazines and decoupage them to the can in anattractive pattern.

Once your can is decorated, apply a coat of sealer to thefinished product. If you will use the can outside, you may wantto let this coat dry and apply a second coat of sealer.

Now, you are ready to prepare your can for planting. Turn thecan upside down. Use a 3 inch nail and a hammer to poke drainageholes in the bottom of the can. Turn your can over and fill itto just an inch below the rim with good potting soil.

Next it is time for you to decide which herbs you will beplanting in your can. Chives, basil, oregano, thyme and parsleyall are great choices. Of course, you can also put a lovelyscented geranium in the can, instead.

As a finishing touch, add a tag with information about caringfor the herb and a few great recipes. It is easy to attach thetag with a simple florist pick.

Finally, consider other ideas for your coffee can. For instance,instead of adding potting soil and an herb, add a garden trowel,gardening gloves, a packet of seeds, a box of tea and a packageof tea biscuits for do it yourselfers.

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