I’m making labels for my garden sections by painting tiles.
This is a blank “subway” style marble tile. It’s 140×45 mm (2×6 inch). One is about $1. Avoid “glazed” or “glossy” tiles, which are too smooth for the paint to stick well.
First, we add a layer of tape. I used blue painter’s tape because it’s easy to see. I expect masking tape would work well too.
Attach the sign you want to your tape. I used double-stick tape. It’s better than single-stick around the edges, but that also works in a pinch.
Cut through the letters using an x-acto blade. I used a sans-serif font to make this step faster.
Remove the paper, as well as the tape. You can use the x-acto blade to peel up the tape. Make sure not to lift up the “holes” in letters like ‘B’ or ‘a’.
Paint the tile. I used pale/pastel blue acrylic spray paint. Make sure to either not spray the sides, or cover them in tape too.
Then I let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
Peel off the tape. I used gloves, and took out the holes using tweezers.
Peeling the tape while the paint is slightly wet is easier than completely dry. When it’s dry, the acrylic clings to the tape and “stretches” rather than cleanly breaking.
If you mess up along the way anywhere, acetone took the paint off great for me.
Then I let the paint completely dry. Optionally, you can seal it with a clear sealant if you want extra waterproofing.
I attach the tile to my raised beds using z-brackets sized to fit the tile thickness and a screwdriver. They look fine on the dirt too.
Looks nice! Maybe I’ll switch to a higher-contract color paint for white?