This will be great for stems on my 'old' painted shovels. I have a hot pink one, and a yellow one painted, and want to add flowers. I have tried the fiberglass screen flowers, but they didn't hold the paint like I wanted. Soooo,used nylon net to make the flowers (they need to be rain proof for outside) but was wondering about stems..... Will try this!!! Tag on shovel-- I was a faithful servant for many years and then my handle broke Cast aside with not a single tear. But then one morning I awoke and found a new beginning Brightly colored I now have new life and hope. Clean the old shovel and spray paint all of it one color. Glue 3 flowers to shovel, and a butterfly on the handle. I can't post pictures....

I have found that any paint peels eventually ...left out in the changing weather seasons! But, spray exterior clear sealers have helped me (like lizzardly said). I think lindasewandsew has good success on pots & such...I'll try to find a link. Might give it a try. Jeanne S. Here is a link that might be useful: another painted pot

There are Terra Cotta pots that do the same - Its an ancient practice. We have become very wary of plastic since micro beads have been banned - very bad for us the little pieces of decomposing plastic. see here - http://tipnut.com/garden-irrigation/ and here http://irrigationpots.com/ Called Olla pots. - no affiliation. I use the same technique to propagate cuttings, a Small terra cotta pot with the hole sealed up inside another large pot filled with potting medium. The small pot is filled with water that slowly releases to the potting medium keeping cuttings hydrated. something like this. http://www.leereich.com/2012/04/ten-weeks-ago-i-wrote-of-pot-in-pot.html I believe it is called a "Forsythe Pot" https://www.agardenersforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/120795.html

I'm another one who avoids plastics in the house. There are plenty of studies that have demonstrated that there are plasticizers and other chemicals in plastics that disrupt our endocrine systems. Plastic -- even plastics in other non-food related items -- are breaking down and producing dust that can enter your body through the air. There's plenty of science to back it up. I'm not crazed about it -- I just do my best to avoid it. If I have the choice between a product made of natural cotton or wool, I choose that. I have filtered taps at home so if I need drinking water I get it that way. I also use glass to microwave in. You don't even have to use plastic baggies -- there's a great brand of brown wax paper baggies called Natural Value brand. I use them for the kids' lunches. They don't cost more than zip locks. I don't feel like I make a big deal of any of this, as I go through my routines I just opt as much as possible for simpler, less-toxic products. As for plastic, I'm in the same camp with those who think that our bodies simply haven't caught up to the chemicals and materials the modern age has given us. Plus, out of something like 80,000 chemicals -- including those used in plastics, human safety studies have been done only something like a hundred. There's not much oversight at all, even though there is some attempt in legislation coming up to rewrite the toxic substances law from 1976. For this reason, I guess we all have to make decisions on our own about these things. My mother died young of cancer and I believe there were environmental reasons.