Oma’s Stepping Stones

Oma moved out of her house this weekend to a retirement village. We had to sort through and give up many treasures stored in her house and barn for over thirty years. The question arose what to do with Oma’s stepping stones?  Her grandchildren had each personally handmade a stone, and decorated them with their hand prints and footprints, many years ago. We were in a great hurry and all the cars were full already of furniture. At the very last minute, I saved them from the dump heap, as I just could not bare to lose them!

Stepping stones are easy to make and great yard art. I recommend you try to make a stepping stone, at least once.

How to Make Stepping Stones

Ingredients:

One stepping stone crafts kit. For Oma’s stepping stones, the kids used kits for hexagon shapes that are 10″ diameter (see Mosaic Stepping Stone Kit).

Or

1. A plastic mold. The mold I used for the stone I made is a 12-inch hexagon-shape  (see Hexagon Mold).
2. One small bag of finer grade, white cement; the type used for patios or brick mortar.
3. water
4. Decorations such as:  creek pebbles, sea-washed glass, seashells, glass marbles, and/or colorful pottery shards.
5. A blunt pencil or stick.
6. Hands and feet.

Mix the cement with water, following directions on the package.  My tip: Error on the side of making dry cement (with less water) and then mix in a little water as needed, until you get a nice thickness. Test the texture with the pencil or stick. If the cement is too wet, a pencil mark will fade and if too dry it will clump or have powdery pockets.

When you have the right consistency cement, pour cement into the plastic mold.
Now add the decorations into the top of the cement (such as the pebbles, glass, and mosaics) taking care that if you are using glass or pottery shards, you press the sharp edges into the cement, so no one will cut themselves later. You can also use the blunt pencil or stick to inscribe decorations and names, and make hand prints and foot prints.

Once the design is finished, let the cement dry for several days, until it is firm to the touch and hard as a rock. Once dry, gently take off the plastic mold.

Optionally, you can paint or stain the final design.

In the case of Oma’s stepping stones, I’ll just enjoy them and save them all in my yard, until my nieces and nephews grow up!

Logan

Mitchell