I had a bit of a predicament the past couple of weeks. You see, I wanted to share my Mother’s Day gift ideas with all of you pre-Mother’s Day, but I didn’t want the mothers in my life {Jackson’s grandmothers} to find out what we had made for them this year. So, I’m sharing them now, a week late, but pin them for next year! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!
For Jackson’s grandmother that lives nearby and loves to garden, we opted for creating a…
To make your own, you’ll need:
cement mix
stone mold
painters stick for mixing
bucket
wooden skewer for writing
mosaic tiles
{most craft stores sell complete kits as well, if you’d rather go for that option}
I worked on this project outside as I didn’t want to risk getting cement mixture or dust all over my kitchen!
STEP 1
Follow the directions that go along with the particular cement mixture you purchased. Mine called for three cups of water. I emptied both the contents of the cement bag and the water into a cheap bucket from the dollar store and stirred until mixed thoroughly with the paint stick.
STEP 2
Once the mixture was mixed well, I poured it into the mold and smoothed it out with the paint stick. You can also grab opposite ends of the mold and shake lightly, back and forth, to get it to lay flat.
STEP 3
Immediately after getting the mixture as flat as possible in your mold, you’ll want to start placing the mosaic tiles in your desired pattern.
Working with cement and a 22 month old is not an easy task, therefore there are no real pictures of him working on this project. I can assure you, he did a lot of the work after this point, I just had to make sure to supervise him very closely.
STEP 4
After about 20 minutes {which was about the time it took for us to place all the tiles onto the stone}, the cement was set enough to add some writing. I wanted to put both of Jackson’s hand prints in the stone, but after getting just one little hand in there {and a major meltdown}, I decided that one was good enough for me. He seriously loves to play and get dirty, but for some reason his hands in the cement did not fly! I also added his name and the year, so Grandma would always remember when he made it for her.
I want one for our garden now too! Maybe I can convince him to put his little hand in some cement for me just one more time!
I’ll be linking up at these parties!
I absolutely love this idea! I have a feeling we will be doing one soon!
This turned out so well. What a perfect project.
OMG! I love this! I am going to pin this for a Father’s Day activity! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Glad you liked it 🙂
This is adorable! Great idea. (P.S. I posted my gift idea late for the same reason!) Will pin for next year! 🙂
Thanks Erin!!
What a great idea for Father’s Day!!! And PopPop’s would love it too!
xo
Thanks!! You’re so right, I didn’t even think about that either 🙂
I need to do this! We haven’t done this in years!!
So CUTE!! I always have that dilemma too…sometimes because it’s not finished in time to show earlier. 🙂 I know the grandmothers LOVED them!!
this looks like the perfect summer craft for me and the kiddos!!
Have fun creating!!
Meredith..what a wonderful and meaningful idea! Turn out so sweet! Thanks for the tute and sharing! 😉 Bonnie
Thanks Bonnie and thanks for stopping by!
very sweet! now that we have a garden I’ll have to try this!
Let me know how it turns out and if your kiddo freaks out as much as mine did when I put his hand in the cement 🙂
Oh, how fun! I’ll have to wait for grandkids to do this with. 🙂
I want to do this with my kids – what a good idea. I found you at Catch a Glimpse Thursday link party, so happy I did. I’m going to pin this for future reference. Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by! Have fun making these 🙂
Love these stepping stones!! I was wondering where you acquired the mosaic tiles? Can’t wait to get started on these!
I found them at Michael’s, but have seen them at pretty much any craft store and even Walmart.
This is a great idea. I was hoping to be able to do a smaller version for a birthday party craft. Can you tell me how long they take to dry?
I let it dry for about two days before removing it from the mold. I bet if you make smaller ones they’d be fine to transport (still in the molds) after a couple of hours though.