It’s that time of year when the kiddos can’t control themselves, and they just want to lather themselves in garden dirt!! I am envious of their carefree nature… just rubbing dirt alllll over their bodies without a care in the world. Ivy especially… she is the dirt instigator. But those KIDS!! They think that I love bathing them constantly!! P.S. I don’t!!! Check out the end of this post for a home video snippet of what I’m taking about. Anyways, playing in the garden is our outdoor life, so I thought we could create our own garden stepping stones to help the kiddos get through our plant jungle garden without the dirt temptation. They are very excited about these stepping stones, and I’m excited that they just may help to keep the kiddos a little bit less dirty.

This project was a process… we spent days searching for the perfect rocks to decorate our stepping stones. Heart shaped rocks were our goal, but they are harder to find than you may think! We talked about our favorite rocks and then we eliminated a lot. And these are the collections that each of the kiddos came up with…

IVY’S COLLECTION

CORBIN’S COLLECTION

We decided to add a little bling to the Stepping Stones as well. I had this old disco ball that has seen better days, because its tiny mirrored squares had fallen off. I used them in another garden project called DIY Garden Labels. And of course the kids wanted them all over their stepping stone creations.

DIY GARDEN STEPPING STONES TUTORIAL

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• CEMENT MIX (don’t get concrete!! get cement!!)
• Water
• Cement Mold (We used an old box both for the sides and the bottom of the mold)
• Exacto Knife (to cut the cardboard)
• Duct Tape (to hold the cement mold together)
• Stone Letter Stamps
• Rocks, Smooth Glass, Tiles… anything you want to decorate your stepping stones
• Kids Foot…
• plastic wrap to protect your kiddos foot from the cement mix!

METHOD: 

Step 1: Create your Cement Mold. I found a box that was about the size that I wanted my stepping stones to be, and I just cut a 3 inch thick piece out using the sides of the box. I then just manipulate it into the shape that I wanted. In this case a circle. It would be super easy to use duct tape to secure the cardboard into a different shape too. As the cardboard is very easy to bend. Ideas… ideas…

Step 2: Then secure the sides of your mold shape to a solid piece of cardboard, which will act all the bottom of your stepping stone. Like this…

Step 3: Mix your Cement. For this step make sure you have everything you need for the rest of your project on hand (kids feet, plastic wrap – to protect kiddos foot, stone letter stamps, decoative rocks and such), because the cement will set quickly after you pour it into the mold.

Dump your desired amount of cement mix into a bucket that you don’t care about very much… (using a mask so that you don’t breathe in the cement powder is recommended). Then pour water in a bit at a time till you have the consistency of mud! Like this…

Step 4: Dump the cement mixture into your mold. To remove small air bubbles just shake the whole thing around on the ground because it will be too heavy to pick up. Eventually the air bubbles will surface. It should look something like this…

Step 5: Wrap your kiddos foot in plastic wrap and get your child to step into the cement. Don’t forget to clean their foot off after!!!! Like this…

Note: we didn’t use plastic wrap to protect their feet, but cement can cause a burn if left on the skin too long, so it is advised to create a barrier.

Step 6: Use some Stone Stamps to add your child’s name, date, or cute saying. We decided on just their name! Like this…

Step 7: Then add your decorative rocks. You need to move quickly the cement is setting!!!! Like this…

And then we added the BLING!

And repeat for each child… This is Ivy’s Stepping Stone creation…

Step 8: Let them dry for at least 48 hours before removing the cardboard mold.

LESSON LEARNED: I didn’t realize that cement heats up really hot as it solidifies. I looked it up and this is because the water and cement are actually creating a chemical reaction to harden. The water is not just drying up! IT GETS PRETTY HOT! BEWARE!!!

Step 9: Remove the cardboard mold. After it is removed as well as you can you can sand down the sides if you feel you need all of the cardboard off. I just left it as it will be buried in the ground. But there were some sharp edges that were left around the top edges of the stepping stones that I decided to remove. Shawnikins came up with the idea of using a Dremel to quickly sand down these edges. It was quick and painless. I highly suggest using a Dremel to sand small areas of your cement projects! Like this…

Step 10: Put your stepping stone in your garden! Place your stepping stone in the spot you want is and trace it with your shovel. then remove the stepping tone and dig out the spot that you traced out. Like this…

Then place your super awesome stepping stones in their new homes!!

Here is the short video I promised of the kids taking a dirt bath…….and I wasn’t impressed!!.

I had the idea of doing one of these stepping stones with the kiddos foot prints each year so that it looks like they are growing up while walking through the garden… but now I’m feeling like it may take a long time to create all the stepping stones that we need for this section of the garden. I may be making a stepping stone of both kids other foot to speed up the process. 4 stepping stones a year instead of 2, is my new goal! Lol…

I hope that our creations inspire you to create something fun for your own garden. The whole process was fun for the kiddos and me too! These stepping stone memories will be so cute to look back on as they grow up!

Let me know of some other fun garden creations you have made. Until next time, enjoy creation with your kiddos and create beautiful things everyday!

XO JCL