ORC Week 5: DIY Stamped Metal Herb Garden Markers + Window Garden

Welcome back! It’s already the 5th week into the One Room Challenge and we are so close (but seemingly so far away) from turning our old bathroom into a walk-in pantry.

UPDATE: We’ve completed the pantry, and it’s everything we hoped for, and more! Click here to see the organized walk-in pantry reveal! 

To see the before pictures of how our pantry looked a month ago when we started the challenge, click here. Below is how the old bathroom looked on move-in day compared to how it looks so far as a pantry. 

This past week, we installed the lighting, painted and hung the cabinet doors, and put up the crown molding and baseboard. We still have put the cabinet handles on, finish painting the crown molding, and there’s still lots of pantry organization to do. Yay!

As an early Mother’s Day gift, Jason made me a window herb garden plant shelf and I couldn’t love it more! Our pantry window faces southwest so even in the dead of winter, I should be able to keep herbs growing all year long.

We’ve added these window garden shelf brackets to our Etsy shop and can be custom made to the height of your window. I think this would also look gorgeous as a wall shelf in a bathroom.

Today, I’ll show you how I made my own herb garden markers out of stamped copper.

Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy. Easy enough that I ended up making more stamped copper labels for my pantry jars.

You should be able to find the supplies at a craft store, but I’ve added the affiliate links below to help you quickly find what you need online. See my full disclosure here.

Any leftover copper blanks would also be perfect for making custom necklace pendants or even Christmas stocking name tags. The possibilities are endless!

SUPPLIES FOR MAKING STAMPED METAL HERB GARDEN MARKERS:

• 1 Pound Hammer
• Rectangular Copper Stamping Blanks
• 1/8″ Letter Stamping Tool Kit (If you want the lettering to be larger, click here for 1/4″ letter stamping kit)
• Painter’s Tape
• Chopsticks
• Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
• Black Craft Paint & Paint Brush
• Paste Wax (or any shoe polish that contains wax)

HOW TO MAKE STAMPED METAL HERB GARDEN LABELS:

The first step is to remove the protective film from the stamping blank. Once you do that, tape the copper rectangle to a block of wood so you don’t damage the table underneath. I used a cutting board. I placed the tape at the center of the rectangle and used that as my guide to keep the lettering level. You can also mark the center of the rectangle on the painter’s tape. I just eyeballed it. Don’t use a pencil on the copper blank because the lead in the pencil will scratch it.

Since copper is a soft metal, it only takes one tap to set each letter. Practice on one of the blanks so you can get a feel of how much force you need and how to space the letters. I started at the center letter and moved outwards.

After that, I brushed on some black craft paint and then wiped it off to highlight the lettering.

To give the metal a little distressing and detail, I hammered the edges.

Seal the metal with paste wax or even some shoe polish that has wax in it. Either will prevent the copper from tarnishing.

If you were wondering what the chopsticks were for, I painted them black and hot glued them to the labels for stakes.

Once the herbs outgrow their containers, I’ll move them to the backyard. For now, they seem happy in their new home in our pantry window.

PIN THIS IDEA FOR LATER!

TO-DO LIST & DESIGN PLANS FOR THE WALK-IN PANTRY RENOVATION:

• Prime and paint the walls
• Install the cement board and the black & white hexagon tile floor
• DIY magnetic chalkboard command center
• Add glass to a solid wood door we found at the Habitat for Humanity (I’ll follow up with a tutorial after the reveal)
• Build the pantry shelving and a supply cabinet
• Paint the cabinetry and doors
• Concrete countertops
• Add steel and glass shelving in front of the window similar to our custom Etsy steel shelving for an herb garden
• Install lighting
• Tutorial on DIY map magnets and letter magnets
• Baseboard and crown molding
• Install the cabinet handles
• Organizing the pantry!

CATCH UP ON ALL THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE PANTRY ROOM PROGRESS HERE:

Week One: Design and Moodboard

Week Two: Hexagon Tile Flooring

Week Three: Pantry Cabinets

Week Four: Magnetic Chalkboard + Command Station

Week Six: Organized Pantry Reveal

FOR THE FINISHED PANTRY REVEAL, CLICK THIS LINK

Be sure to check out all the other participants for the One Room Challenge. There’s so much creativity on one page!