Cement Stepping Stones

[JulianneP]

My dad asked me to make 11 of these things (one for each grandchild) He wants them for a father's day gift to put down at our bayhouse. Each kit cost $19 and up which is out of the questions x 11. Can you buy a small bag of cement? Is it hard to mix and pour in molds.

Thanks for the advice! I think this is going to be over my head.

 

[KaitlinsMom]

Have you checked the prices at Michaels? I believe they have it all on the same aisle - You buy one kit, then they have extra bags of cement and "jewels, stones" to buy - That is how we did it -

PS - Look for the 50% off coupon on Sundays -

Karen

 

[Spinning]

I was going to say the same thing. I thought their kits were about 7. If you bought just a few you then could buy cemement at Lowe's or something like that and reuse the pans.

 

[bananiem]

I tried making them a couple of years ago with Quik-crete and used the plastic liners you put under house plants for the molds. It all worked well until the glass pieces we used started popping off. I don't know if we didn't push them in hard enough or what. Also, I'd recommend bringing them in when it gets cold in winter. Stuff really started popping off after the first winter.
They were really easy to make and the kids and I had a good time doing them. It was just really said to see them fall apart.

 

[pjlla]

We had the same problem with the mosaic glass pieces popping off... I finally resorted to superglueing them in place a few months later! We also put a current year penny in each one...HTH.....P

 

[Cruise04]

Plaster of Paris works awesome for these kinds of projects also but remember that it's white unless you mix some grey paint with them.

 

[Traveliz]

Oh Oh Oh I can help with this question - I made these for each of my mom's grandchildren as part of a memorial garden we have been working on - for me it was only 8 but I too looked at the kits and didn't it differently.

At Michaels you can buy the forms separately -- I got hearts to represent the babies, butterflies for the girls and octagons for the boys. I got decorative buttons (at the hobby stores too) to represent the childs interests and also bought some of the decorative gemstones. I also bought a bag of letters to spell out each child's name on the stone.

I bought the concrete that they had at the hobby store and I stuck with the "regular" concrete color.

My husband and I worked together with the kids (one at a time) to make their stone. The babies were small enough that their handprints (both) fit on the stone; for the older kids we just used one hand.

I helped the children with their stone so it would look nice when placed in the garden. For the little ones -- one in particular we had to attempt the handprint several times - so do that first then decorate.

Mine have been outside (Illinois) for three years now and I have had one letter come off (replaced with glue) and some fading of the buttons.

Ironically though for one child (into Barbie) I used Barbie shoes and plastic trinkets and those have held up great!

Liz

 

[JulianneP]

Thank you Thank you Thank you. Everyone. Great ideas. I wonder if plaster a paris is cheaper then cement? These are going to be placed down on the Ches. Bay so I wonder about the salt air? Never thought about using buttons! I like the penny idea too. I wonder if I could find a penny for every year they were born? That would be really cute.

 

[KaitlinsMom]

WOW - Some great ideas here - I might have to have my daughter make another one!

 

[pattyT]

Instead of buying the mold -
you could buy a plastic tray-dish-bowl- at the dollar store

regular cement will work - just takes longer to set thats all

 

[yummy72]

I was thinking about helping DD make one for DH for Father's Day and using golf balls and golf tees...


All of these ideas sound great!


Candi

 

[chessie]

I bought a kit for my grandson before he was born. I wanted to get those tiny feet on a stepping stone. He is now 4 and I haven't gotten the stone yet. My idea was going to be very original lol. His foot print with sand and shells around it. I now have another grandchild on the way. Hope I can get them soon. I also heard that you can make a free form for the base with sand. I haven't tried it but if I ever get the chance I might.