In addititon to my large Garden Rocks I paint some of the small rocks as Plant markers.. I use a white paint pen for the lettering.. Ive learned the hard way ( aka from experience...lol..) that you need to prep the surface of the rock by sealing it BEFORE you paint on it, being clean and dry isnt good enough... It will wear off in a season or so if you dont..
I use a matte finish non yellowing polyurthaue spray. I coat the entire rock front and back not just where Im painting. Reason being that if you dont do the entire thing water can work its way up under the leading edge and it will start the flaking progress, so do the entire rock. Once dry then I paint . After the paint is dry then I seal it with a glossy polyurthane spray giving it about 3 coats, front and back letting each dry over night.
The ones Ive done like this are just showing a bit of wear after about 3 yrs. but the ones I just painted on are a chipped unreadable rock with flakes of paint on them
Your prep work is everything on small projects like this
Sharpie paint pen
oh, well, I guess I didn't give directions!
I cleaned mine with alcoholic and then used the marker and then I sealed it so the marker would be sealed over as well.
is the polyurethane spray water resistant?
yes they are.. but some polyurethane sprays are designed for outdoor use..they seem to be stronger and last longer than the interior type.
I learned by sealing the rock first it gave me a smoother surface for the pen to adhere to and then sealed it again to protect it .
I always check to make sure its a non yellowing type... I learned that the hard way too..lol..
I used to do wood crafting and learned to check the yellowing also. Ruined a few pieces before I realized it was the sealer.
Dw just told me that the sharpies come in a mix of colors so from now on I will number the plant with a matching color or as close as possible