Indi Indi Quite Contrendy... plus a giveaway from Duluth Trading Company! [closed]

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While I've been away, Chris has been hard at work in our garden. One of our first major projects as new homeowners was having seven raised garden beds put in. When I was doing more outfit posts, I'd often use the garden as a backdrop, so over the years, you've gotten glimpses at some of our backyard bounty:

Chris and I don't claim to be master gardeners (our friend Jenni takes the cake on that one), but over time we've learned some great tricks of the trade. When we first started our garden, we would simply mark what we had planted with large popsicle sticks, labeled in Sharpie. This method was lacking because the Sharpie bleeds on the wood, and the sticks are small and sometimes disappear among the plants. Sure, there are a lot of fancy garden markers out there, but it seems silly to drop a lot of money on something that is literally going to go into the dirt. This weekend, I was thinking about our garden, and I came up with what I'm now calling "crazy convenient garden markers". These are awesome because the clothespins act as labels, and they can be shuffled or several can fit on one dowel. Best of all, not including the seeds, I spent a mere $4.00.

Supplies:

• Outdoor acrylic paint (any color) 
• Paint marker (contrasting color) 
• Paint brush or sponge 
• Standard sized wooden clothes pins 
• 1/4'' thick 12'' long bamboo dowel rods (check in bakery supplies) 
• Names of seeds
• Not pictured: plastic cup, paper plate, and paper towels

Instructions:
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/66042944 w=600&h=338]

1. Place clothes pins around a plastic cup so that they can be painted on both sides in one go and can dry easily, without laying flat.
2. Using several thin layers, paint the clothes pins.
3. Paint the dowels (optional- I skipped this part for now).
4. Label clothes pins with the names of the seeds.
5. Label additional clothes pins with notes or planting or harvest dates.

I think these could be super cute if one were to be very methodical in their painting and labeling, but they're still pretty cute when they're imperfect.

Some of you might wonder how Chris and I have a successful garden in Austin when the temperatures are consistently over 100º for most of the summer. The answer is consume lots of water, work in the morning, wear a big hat, and dress cool.

Duluth Trading Company recently hooked me up with some sweet outdoor work clothes that I can't wait to use in the garden once I get back to Texas. I've been wearing the heck out of my Armachillo shirt here in Indiana; I honestly can't believe how lightweight and comfortable it is. It's the kind of shirt that a person could wear year long. Can you imagine? Long sleeves in Austin in August? This shirt makes it possible.
I wasn't actually expecting these clothes to be cute enough to wear outside the garden, but I think I can make it work:
And best of all, they're certainly durable enough and designed to get me through a summer in our garden, which I can't wait to get back to. If you'd like to try something out from Duluth Trading Co. yourself, feel free to enter below to win a $50 gift card. I'll choose the winner tonight, so be sure to enter right away! As always on Adored Austin, no need to follow a bazillionty links or Pin or Tweet or repost anything for a gazzillion additional entries:

EDIT: Form removed. Winner was Chrissy B.! 

Bonus: Enjoy free standard domestic shipping until June 30th with a $50 purchase using code T13PRCG.
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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.