Filed under: kids, crafts

By Francesca Clarke

Before I had children, my Dad got some pretty good Father’s Day gifts. Home Depot gift certificates and cool tech toys were among his favorites. When our oldest was born, 5 years ago, we started giving framed pictures instead.

As our family has grown, the photos have become more abundant, and the frames cheaper. He loves having pictures of the grandchildren, but I wanted to come up with something a bit more creative that year.

With nearly every visit to my parents’ place, Grandpa takes the children up to his garden to check on the plants. My boys love to notice how Grandpa’s garden is growing, and to report on the changes since their last visit. My dad loves to garden, and sharing that with his grandkids has become a sort of ritual. that Father’s Day, we decided to build on that and produce him a stepping stone.

After the jump, I’ll tell you how we made that garden stone, and offer some tips for making your own.

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After filling my cart at Michaels with gravel-free cement and a mold, I found this kit on sale for 50% off. While I am a die-hard DIYer, I just can’t justify spending more for the cement and the mold separately when they are cheaper bought together.

Here’s everything you need to build a 12″ by 12″ stepping stone (the first three of which you’ll find in the kit):

• 8 lbs of cement mix
• Stirring stick
• Plastic mold
• Large bucket for mixing the cement (hopefully something you’re not too attached to)
• Measuring cup
• Water
• Waterproof acrylic paint
• Decorative stones and other embellishments
• Pencil, toothpick or skewer for writing (or better yet, some concrete stamps)
• PAM or WD40 (if you are using a homemade mold)

My sister, her two children, my three children, and I armed ourselves with our supplies, and got ready to get messy making Grandpa’s gift. You’ll want to follow the cement mixing and setting directions that come with your kit or cement, but the times and portions we used seem typical for that stepping stone size. Here’s how to compose your garden stone:

Mix the cement

1. Pour 2 cups of water into the mixing bucket.
2. Pour in 2.5 lbs of cement and mix for one minute.
3. Add another 2.5 lbs of cement and mix for another minute.
4. Adding the rest of the cement, stir for three minutes, making certain it is mixed thoroughly.

Pour the cement

1. If you are using a homemade mold, you will need to grease it first with WD40 or PAM. whether not, skip that step.
2. Pour the cement into the mold.
3. Gently shake the mold, working out air and forcing bubbles to the surface.
4. Smooth out the bubbles by patting the surface with the mixing stick.
5. Run the lengthy side of the stick by the surface of the cement, scraping away any imperfections and giving it a polished finish.

Make your imprints
Setting times differ, so check the directions that came with your specific cement mix. For each recommended duration, I found it best to wait until the outside date had passed. You’ll have to press a little harder, but that way the imprint won’t fill in.

1. Add decorative stones: after 5 min., add in stones or any other items that get pressed into the cement.
2. Write and draw in the cement: after 15-25 min., draw in the cement using a pencil or skewer.
3. Make handprints: after 20-30 min., press handprints into the cement.

Let the stone set

The stone needs to set for 48 hours. Don’t move the stone to another place for setting: leave it in one place (far from little hands), undisturbed.

Take it out of the mold

1. Flip the mold upside-down onto a cloth or towel.
2. Working your way around the edges, gently peel the mold away from the cement.
3. Tap the bottom of the mold to release the stone.

Paint the stone

We planned on painting our garden stone, but were so happy with how it looked “au naturel” that we decided not to. whether you do paint it, you’ll want to use waterproof acrylics. You could add a little highlighting yourself, or let the kiddie crafters dig in and decorate.

Tips and tricks

The best part about following these directions is that somebody (that’s me!) has already made the mistakes for you. Here are a few things we found out the hard way, some solutions we discovered, and tips for next duration.

• Don’t add too much water: It will be really hard to mix — it is after all, cement. But don’t be tempted to add more water. that will give you trouble the whole way through, causing the writing and imprints not to take, and causing it to take longer to set in the end.
• Choose a different mixing tool: The kit came with a paint mixing stick, which is plus what is recommended in other directions I’ve found. I don’t think that stick was strong adequate to give a good stir and thoroughly mix the cement. I’d propose using a sturdier wooden stick or other utensil that you’re comfortable tossing out afterwards.
• What whether there is too much water? Even whether you didn’t add too much, there might still be a thin layer on the top. that will prevent the stone from having that partially-set top texture, making it very hard to write or draw on. Scrape off as much as you can with the mixing stick. whether the top layer is still too moist, place a paper towel by it, and pat gently, absorbing some of the water. Do that a few times, until the surface rock has a tacky texture.
• Plan your stone ahead of instance: Our original plan was to etch the words “Grandpa’s Garden” at the top of the stone, and have each little handprint in the space bellow. Clearly, there wasn’t sufficient room for that (I guess our babies’ hands are larger than we thought!). We would have been wiser to draw out our design on paper, first, and plan how everything would fit together.
• Invest in some concrete stamps: Before we realized that there wasn’t going to be adequate space for our wording, we tried etching it out with a pencil. No matter how careful we were, the lettering looked messy. Concrete letter stamps would have made the inscription look crisp and polished.
• How do I get the concrete out from under my fingernails? Sorry, I’ve got nothing here. I was hoping you could reply that for me!

The whole project takes two days, so get started now, and it will be ready for Father’s Day.

 

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Original post by DIY Life Staff

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