Take your garden one step beyond with mosaic stepping stones the whole family can make. Mosaic stepping stones are a perfect summer craft, so why not round up the whole gang for an afternoon of creative fun? Quikcrete from the hardware store makes the project a cinch, and found objects like keys and coins give each stone a little funky flair. Get enough materials for each member of your clan, and you’ll have a garden path as unique as your family.
How To Make Steampunk Stepping Stones
Step 1. Collect keys and coins at the flea market. Don’t you love a project that requires flea market shopping? Yes, please!
Step 2. Spread out the tarp and put on your gloves. Measure 12 cups of Quikcrete into the bucket. Pour in 2 cups of water and mix with the paint stirrer. Add more water a little at a time until the mixture is the consistency of brownie mix.
Glove Love: Remember to always wear gloves when working with concrete. Direct contact with the skin can cause irritation and who needs that!?
Step 3. Pour the mixture into the stepping stone mold and smooth it with the paint stirrer until the surface is level. If your stepping stones will see a lot of foot traffic, you might want to reinforce them. Fill the mold half way, lay in a piece of wire mesh slightly smaller than the mold, then cover with the concrete.
Step 4. Create an artsy composition with keys, coins, and washers. Press each item into the mixture, wiggling it down into the concrete about 1/8th inch deep. Sprinkle the surface with sand for a decorative finish. Let cure for 48 hours before moving the stone, and wait at least a week or two before use.
You can decorate your stepping stones with all kinds of found objects as long as they are flat and weatherproof. Try sea glass, flat marbles, broken china, river rocks, vintage buttons, and even old typewriter keys! What else would you put in a stepping stone?
Jennifer & Kitty
We love getting pinned!
I have a question: Where do you get the stepping stone mold from?
I have used all sorts of molds like plant saucers, the bottom of oil pans, etc. Any plastic shallow mold works. You can spray it with cooking oil to make it release easier.
Thanks for the tip, Barbara!
Cheers,
Jennifer & Kitty
Tin pans from the Dollar Tree gives a different size and shape.
Great tip Lana! Thanks for sharing!
J&K
Hi Monica,
Craft stores like Joann and Michaels sell plastic stepping stone molds in the spring and summer months. They are inexpensive, maybe $3 or $5. Joann has an 8″ one on their web site, if you can’t find one in the store.
J&K
I really liked your post on the stepping stone. Put you do not have to buy a mold for them. You can use alumina pie pans or plastic bottles cut in haft. Because I have seen it done and it is pretty with pieces of broken cup in it. Hope you try it and get back in touch with me. Hope to hear from you soon.
Great idea! We’ll have to try it!
I bought some silicone baking pans to use for molds. Thank you for the recipe and ideas to decorate. I like the idea of each family member making one.
Wonderful Valorie! They really make for fun keepsakes to dress up the garden!
Can paint be added as part of the water?
Hi Faye,
We’ve never tried that, but Quikrete sells dyes to add to the mix. We’re not sure how acrylic craft paint would mix with the chemicals in Quikrete. Wish we could help more!
Jennifer & Kitty
How do you keep the items from getting loose or coming out?
Hi Agnes! Great question. The Quikcrete holds the keys and things pretty well. Just make sure the items are pushed down into it enough to have the Quikcrete surround each one. (If a key falls out after the stone cures, you could use E6000 to glue it back in.) Cheers, Jennifer & Kitty
love you girls and your upcycling ideas and your creativity
Aw thanks Louise!! That’s so sweet!
J&K
Where did you find the stepping stone molds?
Hi Kathy,
We got the molds at Michael’s. You can also find them online at Amazon. People have told us that they have used clear planter saucers from a home improvement store, too.
Cheers,
Jennifer & Kitty
What are the dimensions of the mold and cost? They’re lovely.
Hi Renee, Glad you liked the stepping stones. The mold is 12″ square and is made by Midwest Products. We paid about $5 for ours. Have fun making stepping stones!
Jennifer & Kitty
Love your crafts! Thanks for the ideas and directions!
You are welcome! Thanks for the love!
Try colored sand.
Fun idea!
Seems like if you can sprinkle with normal sand, you could also try sprinkling the top with colored sand from Hobby lobby or Michaels. You could try swirling different colored sands together or make designs with stencils using different colored sands.
Fun ideas Roxann! Make sure that sand is colorfast and won’t fade in the rain. Love the stencil idea!!
J&K
Love the idea, however, if you are going to put your embellishments on the top of your stone you need to use a trowel and smooth it out. If you don’t have a trowel, you can use anything that has a straight edge. Example, a ruler, a piece of lumber like a 2×4 or something similar. If you put your embellishments in the bottom of your mold then pour in the concrete it will be smooth because your mold is smooth.
Thanks for the great tips Margaret!
Cheers,
Jennifer & Kitty
Looking forward to ideas of al kinds.
What kind of form
Can you just use disposable trays?
Yes. We got our forms (just a plastic tray really) from Michael’s. But we’ve heard people have used plant drip trays too. Hope that helps! J&K
Awesome stepping stone ideas
Thanks!
Love your creations
Thank you Tera!
It appears to me that you line the mold with clear plastic, is that correct? for ease of removal I’d imagine. Your key stepping stones are wonderful and here I am sitting with a box of old keys.
The stepping stone mold is plastic and needs no lining. The stone slides right out after it set up. Hope that helps! J&K
Are those Mexican pesos?
Sure looks like it! We love Mexico!
J&K
this looks great. what about putting the embellishments in the mold first and pouring cement over it. then could i flip it over and release from the mold after is it has cured?
or will the keys get ‘sucked up’ into the concrete?
Hi Melissa,
We’ve done stepping stones that way too. It works well for large objects, but we were afraid our design would get moved and even swallowed up by the cement (as you said). We also liked the ease of just decorating the stone right on top of the cement.
Hope that helps!
J&K
Love what you girls created and you gave me a great Christmas Present idea. Growing up in my family ,everyone had a key to everyone’s houses for emergency’s or bringing in mail when on vacations and whatnots. We all had keys to grandmas and grandpas house. When they both passed and their house sold we kept the keys we had to their house cause the buyer was changing all the locks. We put them all in a jar,which I have. I’m gonna make everyone a stepping stone with mama and papas house key in the center and the year with different decorations around each. Thank you
Wow! We have goosebumps! What a lovely idea. These are going to be wonderful and very special gift stepping stones. Thanks for sharing your idea! J&K
I truly love this idea! I have wanting to do something like this for a very long time, thank you for showing me how!
So glad you found us! Glad we could help! J&K
Just loved this craft. I will make a few.
Yay! Have fun! J&K
I would make molds first or just buy pavers. With the molds use the flat side glue on items then take concrete u can get at Home Depot in different colors. Lay a thin layer in between craft items while taking a wet sponge over the paver lightly to all gems r showing. Try to cover paver with as many items leaving small gap between. Let set overnight and you’ll have a beautiful stepping stone or garden paver …thx
Great ideas Kimberly. Thanks for sharing!
J&K
I like
Great ideas. Do you do a top clear coat to seal keys on top?
Hi Anne,
No we didn’t do a clear coat, but you probably could if you wanted to.
J&K
Love your idea. Going to try for my Bible School project. I am always looking for easy project, as I teach the small class. I try and found a lasting project for them to have for years to come.
I had an old 10 lb bag Quikcrete ready to mix and the mix was powdery and not a lot of gravel, I made 2 stepping stones with embellishments, they sunk in correctly and worked fine. I liked them so much I purchased a 50 lb bag and it has large pieces of gravel and stone and when I mixed it and poured into the mold and tried to sink in the embellishments they just stayed in top of the cement; nothing like the other bag!! Any ideas what went wrong?
What a bummer! Must be a different mix of ingredients in the two bags. If you liked the first smaller bag, stick with that one!
J&K
Can you pour an acrylic over the top to make the surface smooth like to use as a side table?
That’s a fun idea Nancy! We have done a lot with pour-on resin and have made a table top with it. The only thing to be concerned about is bubbles emerging from the concrete and items placed in the concrete. Another way to get a similar look would be to use clear silicone adhesive to glue the keys and such to a tabletop and then use pour-on resin. That would take the concrete issue away. You might still have some gas bubbles from the glued items, but you can watch for them and remove them before the resin sets up.
Here are coasters we made this way: https://runningwithsisters.com/mosaic-coasters-made-with-resin/
Hope that helps,
Jennifer & Kitty