My mom has been making some adjustments to her garden lately. She asked us to make a hand or foot print stepping stone for each of her grandchildren to put in her garden.
These turned out so cute that I had to post about them! They are relatively simple to make and are really sturdy.
You can buy the kit on amazon. It will come with everything you need except the bucket to mix it in.
All you do is mix the cement with 3 cups of water and stir it up. Then, pour it into the mold from you kit and wait about 30 minutes. Then you can decorate with the rocks, letter prints, or anything you want.
I made three of these (one for each of my boys) and learned a few tricks as I went.
First, after you have let it sit for 30 minutes, if you can see water pooled on the top you need to soak it up with a paper towel and wait another 15 minutes before trying to make a mold of your hand or anything else. If you dont wait, the hand print will fill with the water and you will have to make your print all over again.
Second, don’t put your stone in the sun to dry. Leave it somewhere it can sit for at least 48hrs at room temperature. You want it to dry slowly. If it dries too fast it will crack.
Finally, once it is done and has dried for at least 48 hrs you can clean it off (I used an old toothbrush to polish it up) and take it out of its mold.
Hi. I was wondering if you could put up some instructions for those of us overseas who do not have the stores you mentioned with the kit? Maybe as easy as buying some quick set cement in a pizza box to set?
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I am not sure a pizza box would work. You have to be able to drop it out once it is dry so it may not slip out of the cardboard easily. You could try looking at any hardware store for a square or rectangular metal or plastic tray to use. It might be easier to try to buy it online and have it shipped to you. Here is a link to one on Amazone that is very similar to the kit I used. http://www.amazon.com/Milestones-Kids-Step-Stone-Kit/dp/B00000IS31/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1370452211&sr=8-22&keywords=cement+stepping+stones
Beyond that you just mix the cement up in a bucket (it is a powder mix that you add water too), let it sit for a 30 min to an hour an soak up an water on the top, then add your design. Don’t let it dry in the sunlight or it will dry to quickly and crack. The slower it dries the sturdier it is.
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i would love to do this stuff with my daughters this summer can you please email me some other ideas and the places where i can get the kit for the stepping stone kit please and thank u
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Aluminum cake pans work well for the forms .they pop out once they are dry. I have used the more instant cement or repair cement too.
Michael’s(craft store) also has just the cement for making them too.
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disposable pie pans work really good. that’s what we use, they peel right off the cement.
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Nice thinking! That does sound perfect! Thanks for commenting!
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if a disposable pie pan works wouldn’t any shape of disposable pans work I found disposable cake pans at the fire lake grocery store in the $1.00 store part square , rectangle , circle.
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Pizza box probably wouldn’t work,for a couple reasons.First,the water needs to stay mixed with the cement in order for it to cure correctly,using cardboard would draw the water out of the concrete & into the paper of the box,causing the concrete to cure incorrectly & probably crumble,and/or be unstable….and second….cause the box to fall apart & most likely stick to the project itself,making it hard to un-mold. You’d end up with pieces of the cardboard permanently embedded in the project.
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you CAN use a pizza box. On the outside, line it with duct tape for strength and on the inside, line it with wax paper. The duct tape will secure the cardboard from falling apart. The wax paper on the inside will keep the card board from absorbing all the water as well as keep it from drying to the card board.
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I have been buying quikrete at Lowes (you can even get busted bags for $1.00) and I use a pizza box and line it with wax paper.After it sits for about 1/2hr-45 minutes we bust a few ceramic tile and press it in.You can use just about anything to decorate it with.We have been doing this for quite a few years and it’s much cheaper than the kits.
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You can use an empty plastic butter/margerine tub or any type of plastic container really.The ones that Hillshire Farms or Oscar Mayer pre-sliced lunch meat comes in (for smaller projects)..or old baking pans (9X12 work well)…not the really shallow ones due to the fact that if you make your project too thin it’ll snap & crack easily. Another way to make a mold is to use a pile of damp sand lined with saran wrap.This is best done outdoors.Make a pile of sand several inches thick,,dig or carve out your desired shape,line with plastic,(making sure plastic is smooth or it’ll show permanent wrinkles in the finished project)…spray with non stick cooking spray & add your wet cement.Let dry & pop out your stone.VIOLA!! A birdbath/feeder can be made by using a large hosta leaf pressed into the pile of moist sand as a liner.Make sure you press the leaf down into the sand to gain the leaf shape,making it a bit concave so it holds water or bird feed. Keep in mind,the finer the sand,the smoother the finished texture of your surface. When using the sand method ,try to make sure you’re going to have a few non rainy days so your project will have time to set & dry. Once your project starts to set up a bit,you can add colored glass,stones and/or other decorations that will dry right into your “stone”,This would also be the time to draw details onto the surface,like veins in the leaves,or a smiling face if you’re making a sun or moon (circle with face) that are so popular & seen hanging on shed walls,the side of the house & in gardens. These sell for alot of money at antique & “junk” shops around our area. If you’re feeling adventurous,you can add color to your creations by adding color to your concrete mix.Most hardware and home improvement stores carry a dry powdered pigment specifically for cement,concrete block etc..that can be mixed into your concrete when you add the water,or you can add water & mix it to a paint consistency to be brushed on like paint/stain after the project is dry..or you can just spray paint the entire thing when dry. I prefer the stain mixed right into the wet cement as it gives a more saturated,uniform color overall. If you plan on hanging the project,make sure you put the hanging wire or screws in before the cement dries. I use a piece of old wire coat hanger cut & bent into a loop & stick it into the partially set,still wet cement. This works great if you use a recycled plastic container as your mold as you can push the wire thru the bottom of the plastic bowl,into the wet mix…(making sure the wire is long enough to go thru the mold & into the cement mix a ways,but not so long as to poke all the way thru your creation & stick out the front side).The wire gets held in place by the stiff plastic of the mold… when dry, just cut a slit in the plastic…starting from one edge going towards the center where the hanger is poking thru,turn the bowl and start at the opposite edge going towards the hanger again,cut right up to the metal .The plastic will fall into 2 pieces & the project will have popped out. Sounds far more difficult than it is really. I have a smiling gold moon,(spray painted after it was pulled out of the sand mold), a smiling terra cotta sun i used the plastic container method for,& many other things i made using these & other methods that are hanging up , decorating my tool shed end wall that i’ve gotten many comments & compliments on.
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another way of making sure that they will come out of the mold easily is to give it a good coat of some non stick spray that is used for baking. Like spray and cook. I use almost anything as a mold for cement bowls and vases for the garden by using a non stick spray. Just comes right on out!
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Are we taking into account that cement is extremely alkaline and causes skin burns? If you don’t believe me you can look it up. I work in an ER and I’ve seen it enough times.
Is this really a safe thing to be doing with little ones? Or is it a cement alternative?
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Its technically called “cement stone plaster mix” and comes in a kit for kids (ages 3 and up) at all craft stores. Parental supervision is definitely needed though.
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Wash hands with vinegar to neutralize.
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you can pick up cheap molds at Hobby Lobby $9.99 and with a 40% off coupon comes to over just $6 – and they are reusable over and over again.
another trick that I’ve learned over the years – use cooking oil on your mold – all over bottom & sides and the stone will slip out easily without any problems – I cover the stone with old newspapers then turn it over onto the paper that way it doesn’t chip right away
you also have to really press the stones, beads, glass, whatever into the cement or they will pop out when the cement is fully dried – another tip I’ve learned over the years
I actually do mine upside down cause I used stained glass and pattern but these are always interesting as well and I have several of these in my yard
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I am based in New Zealand. Would I be able to get this kit from Mitre 10 or Bunnings warehouse?
Regards
Zahira
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Ive seen similar in New Zealand through Mighty Ape (Albany Akl) Milestones for about $20. Check out their online site. http://www.mightyape.co.NZ. Mosaicmadness.co.NZ sell a variety of large paver moulds too. Great keepsakes and awesome gifts.
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Hi Iam in Adelaide where can I get it from
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very cool looking.
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I use plastic trays that goes under flower pots works great ,spray with a little cooking spray pops right out …
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Easy way dig a hole in the ground about b2″ deep in the shape of what you want line it with a plastic kitchen trash bag and pour the concrete.
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Hi there. You said if you see water after 30min Before you habd print, to use paper towel to soak up the water and then what do you do with that paper towel lol leave it or through it out? And THEN you hand print and leave to dry? Thank you!
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Yes… you are just using the paper towel to sop up any extra water. If you have too much water the hand print will push back out. Continue soaking up all the extra pooled water and throw out the paper towels. I went through a lot of paper towels. 😉
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Through it out and leave it to dry. You might have to do this several times depending on how much water you have.
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Lol. We did this when we were kids except my uncle had us using straight up cement. None of us got cement burns. Wonder how we came out unscathed? There were like 10 of us…
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Hi there, this post is old, and I just stumbled on it. If you happen to ever check here anymore, I have a question if you have time. How do you do the letters in the stone? And then do you have to paint inside the letters?
My handwriting stinks and those don’t look like they are all done by hand? Thanks much!!
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The kit I bought came with the letter stencils. They were very easy to use. Almost like cookie cutters that you just push into the wet cement and pull out. We did not use any paint to do it.
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You can use a butter knife to gently trace the letters on if you don’t have the stencil things. Then go back over it pressing the knife in about 1/4 inch. DO NOT DRAG THE KNIFE. Just press in, pull out and repeat over every part of the letters. We didn’t have paper towels so I ended up using coffee filters. We used a round mold so they worked well and I didn’t have to worry about pressing too hard and messing it up
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homemade stepping stones, If you are a parent or grandparent this is an easy way to keep the precious memories of your children (or grandchildren) for years to come. As the kids get older, they look forward to helping make the dough and then the excitement of adding another foot or hand print every year is a really fun tradition. Make sure to put the year or how old they are after making the imprint.
So here’s your ingredients:
1/2 of a cup of salt
1/2 of a cup of flour
1/4 of a cup water
Just knead until it starts forming a dough. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth, and shape it in a circle about a half an inch thick and make your impression or decorate however you want. Just put it in the oven for 3 hours and 200 degrees.
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That doesn’t seem like much ingredients. Only a little over 1 cup. ?????? A very small stepping stone & very thin & I thought it said thin ones crack. What did you pour it in?
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I would like to paint my stone white..any ideas?
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Hi!
I would love to make these with my class for their mother’s day but am just wondering about the cement. I know cement can burn peoples skin so what cement do you recommend I use?
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I used a kit from Michaels for mine and we did not have any problems with it burning. You could always look up a homemade recipe that way you check all the ingredients. I know someone commented above with a recipe that is more like a plaster than cement that would work for you class and be much cheaper as well.
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The recipe using flour, water, and salt…. Should definitely be doubles for a thicker mold. I made several of these with my kids when they were young too and they looked awesome. But I ended up on this website looking for a more durable long term option because the box of them that I had on my shelf fell down and they all broke into pieces.
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Awesome thank you for all the responses. I have one that I want to make a little tiny 4 by 4 gnome house for a friend of mine. I want to make it with the cement from the Michaels kit and then put stones on the outside so it’s a Stone House. Only I have to ship it across the United States and I’m thinking it’s going to probably break no matter how much package it well. What do you think? I’ve never worked at this before so I don’t know. I also thought that instead of using cement for that I could use air-dry clay because that might work better as a base for the house. What do you think?
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Did the letters and numbers come with this, if not, how did you make them
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I make these with kids all the time. Use quikcrete Put 4 cups of dry mix in a gallon ziplock. Add 1 cup water. Mix in the bag by squishing and kneading. Add water if it is too dry. Pour into a disposable pan. Press hand and stone in when cement is still ble. Wash hands right after and you will not have a problem with burns. I’ve made these for 20 years and my family owns a concrete company so if burns were a problem we would k is. This is a fun project
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Does any thing have to be put on this to secure it for using outside.?
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You can use metal cooking pans, the disposable kind you get for cooking turkeys or roasting pans. The dollar trees have them. We line them and you can just fill them and pop the cement out too! That way you can gey fun shapes!
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This is very cute! But the link to the kit in the article goes to a different kit. (And that one is unavailable on Amazon.) Can you please update the link to the one you used in your article? That one is very cute! Thanks!
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Hi Jamie, I couldn’t find a contact form on this site, so thought I’d try to reach you this way!
Would you be open to a paid blog collaboration with a popular consumer brand? They’re not looking for a guest/sponsored post. Our client is a major website that features sites & stores such as Amazon, Michael’s, etc. and just wants a simple, non-promotional mention of your choice of a specific product or brand (such as the craft products & tools you used in this handprint stepping stone!) in an existing or upcoming post you’ve already got in the works.
This typically only takes a few minutes to complete, and we’re quick on payments (via PayPal). Let me know if you’d like more information and examples of mentions from other bloggers we’ve worked with.
Thank you so much!
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Can you tell me what kind of paint you would use and if you should use a sealer?
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I use round cake pans. I put a light coat of Vaseline on the sides. Then cut a piece of coat paper the size of the pan. Put the contract paper sticky side up in the pan. Create your design with glass and mirrors. Round glass globs don’t work well. They don’t show up. Pour cement carefully on pattern. Tap pan a couple times firmly on table to settle the cement. Let sit 48-72 hours (longer is fine, too). My grandkids make them with me, even the 3 yr old. I would upload a photo, but I don’t know how. No handprint, but they would only fill with water and break during our cold winters.
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Contact paper, not coat paper. Sorry.
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Hi Jamie,
Do you know what I could use to reattach some tiles that came off of my grandson’s stepping stone he made me several years ago? He used a kit to make it like you did so the tiles originally were set right into the cement. I can see the small indentation where each tile goes that fell off but don’t know what to use that’s waterproof and will adhere to the cement.
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How did you do the letters? Did you have a letter stamp kit?
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