Two years ago I moved into a house that has a garden that can be kindly described as uncared for. The weeds were waist high, and soon after we moved in, the weeds were so tangled behind the house that it became difficult to walk there. My stepson has described our yard as “sorta ghetto.”
In an attempt to make our property more usable and truly ours, I pulled out the weeds so that I could put down a pathway. Once the ground was bare and the landscape cloth down, I needed to put something on top to keep weeds from growing again. I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to do a family craft. Crafts are not my strong point, so I wanted to do something easy, and something all the kids could do with me.
I looked online at how to make stepping stones. As we live on a tight budget, I wanted to find a cheap alternative to the stepping stone kits sold in craft stores. At “About.com” I found directions for making stepping stones. I also gave in and bought two molds for stepping stones, partly for the instructions, and partly for the insurance that at least two stepping stones would turn out. I loosely followed the online instructions, and wove into them the instructions that came with the molds. I recommend going to About.com for the full set of instructions, which includes neat ideas of how to include photos in your stepping stones.
1. So then I gathered the three kids who live with us out on the deck and we got together some pie plates, the store-bought mold, concrete mix, water, a bucket, a spatula, and some dollar-store coloured stones. In the bucket we mixed the concrete with water until it resembled brownie batter. Sadly, I am very familiar with the consistency of brownie batter; if you are not, it means that the mixture should be quite thick but damp throughout.
2. We scooped the concrete into the molds and jiggled them to make them look smooth on top.
3. Next we decorated with the stones. My stepson put his handprint and some stones, while my stepdaughter made flowers out of the stones. My son, aged 7, spent approximately 2.1 seconds decorating his stepping stones, but they look lovely nonetheless. It was hard to give up the creative control at this part, so I focused on my own stepping stones and let the kids do what they wanted.
4. As our concrete was a bit wet, we used paper towels to absorb the water that rose to the top. We then found a sheltered spot where the stepping stones could dry without being moved, and without having kitty paw prints added to them.
A week later we popped out the stones and laid them at the start of the garden path. The next round of stones we make will be more daring, I think, with coloured concrete and maybe some more writing. I wouldn’t buy molds again, nor would I use pie tins next time. I think I will use the molds I already have and supplement them with the bottoms of plant pots. I figure if I am going to get dirty mixing concrete, I’m going to make a full batch of them.
Overall, we had a fun family craft that brought us together on a Sunday morning, and that produced art that will help brighten our property. Next time the kids go down the path to get their bikes out of the shed, I hope that they smile when looking at the stepping stones we made, rather than grimace at yard, even if it is a little less ghetto.