plant markers

Not only do I plant polyculture, but I also push the limits of spacing.
My family is very good at eating what I grow. What I've noticed is if I grow something they aren't familiar with it it doesn't get eaten. I have also had times when one of my kids say I wish you would grow this, and I say I do.
I usually record what I plant in my garden book so I know what I've planted, and how it grew ect.
I have wanted to make very cute tags out of copper, or clay, or something decorative. Maybe some day, but I just don't have the time to make them, and more importantly to use them.
First I want to say I didn't come up with these ideas, they are things I saw somewhere.   I'm trying to get better at putting plant markers by the plants. This is harder than it sounds because I'm always running late, and have more to do then time to do it.  I hate the plastic tags, they are ugly, and I'm trying to use less plastic.   I cut stakes out of scrap wood, painted all but one side with black chalk paint. On the unpainted side I used a permanent marker to write what the plant is, like  TOMATO. Then I used a white chalk marker to write the name of the plant like Sweet 100.  It worked, everything was still readable at the end of the season, but they tend to blend into the garden. It's a pain in the rear, especially when I'm in a hurry to find the marker I want. Clean it off, write the name and get it into the right place. I have to  have (not loose) a white chalk marker., that actually writes.
Plan B. I gathered  a bunch of branches I ended up liking the small ones best. I cut them, and sanded a flat spot (not to deep). write on the flat spot with a weather proof permanent marker. I was able to make several markers in about 10 minutes. I like the look of these better than the other ones. I hope it will also help keep the cat out of the garden. I don't know if I will be happier with these, but they didn't cost me anything, were very easy and quick to make, and easy to use.  I figure I will sand off the names the next season. I won't have to search for the right plant. I will just start fresh. When they get to old, or I just need more, there's always an abundance of branches laying around.

Do you mark your plants? What do you use?

I have been using ball point pen with pop cans cut up for labels.      The sun here in Florida destroys labels, so I write on the cans and I can see the indent of what I wrote.

The pop can idea is clever, I'd never have thought of that. Labels always fade or vanish on me within a season, so I ended up keeping the record in an app I built (leaftide.com) and treat the physical markers as a backup. Jen, a garden book works well for that too, mine just got too messy.