You don’t need a fancy schmancy mold to make garden stepping stones; all you need is a non-stick cake pan! And you won’t even ruin the pan!
I stumbled on a new – and EASIER way to make mosaic stepping stones; it’s called the indirect method and it involves contact paper. I think these would make awesome favors or gifts for a garden wedding. Just get your maids together on a Saturday afternoon and have a stepping stone party. They’re inexpensive to make – and they don’t require much skill.
You will need:
- Round non-stick cake pan (You could also use a heart-shaped pan)
- Vaseline
- Contact paper
- Old plates or saucers that you don’t need (I got mine at the thrift store)
- Glass gems
- sea glass (optional)
- concrete
- marine varnish
- Mosaic Glass Cutter
(Optional. I did not use of of these, but if you want more precise cuts, this is the way to go.)
- chicken wire or other type of wire mesh
- safety glasses
- rubber gloves
- dust mask
- hammer
- bucket
- trowel
- water
Put your safety glasses on. Place a plate or saucer inside a cloth bag or cover with an old sheet or towel, and smash it with a hammer. If you have a mosaic glass cutter, use it instead.
Repeat until you have all the pieces you need. You’ll probably want a variety of sizes, as shown here.
Place your cake pan on your contact paper, and trace around it.
Cut out the contact paper circle. Remove backing and place inside pan sticky side up. Add your mosaic pieces to the contact paper with the desired design facing down. Press each piece down so it is firmly stuck to the contact paper. Leave enough space between the pieces so that the cement can fill the spaces in between – but don’t leave too much room. (When I make my next stepping stone, I will move the pieces a bit closer together.)
Carefully lift the piece of contact paper and view your design. (This is the back of my design.)
If you are happy with your design, place the design back into the pan with the sticky side up. Head outdoors, put on your dust mask and mix up your concrete according to the instructions on the bag. It will be the consistency of porridge when it’s ready.
Meantime, cut a square piece of chicken wire or wire mesh to fit inside the stepping stone. This will help to support it. Also, line the inside rim of your cake pan with Vaseline for easy releasing.
Don your rubber gloves and spoon some concrete into your cake pan.
Spread so it evenly covers your design, about an inch thick.
Place your piece of wire mesh onto the wet concrete.
Spread another one inch layer of concrete over the wire.
Let sit for two days. (I set mine in the shed.) When it’s ready, turn it over and tap on the back of the cake pan. It should release easily. Slowly remove contact paper.
If there are holes, you can fill them with cement. You can use sand paper to smooth grooves in the cement. I took a wet sponge and cleaned the entire area after removing the contact paper, then I varnished it with marine varnish.
That’s it! Enjoy your handmade stepping stone! Want more? Check out this DIY garden stone made from flagstone.
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awesome idea :)
I am so excited that I found this! About a year ago I broke one of my Grandma's old dishes that were handed down to me and held onto it until I could figure out something crafty to do with it. Thanks for the great tutorial!
So cool and easy! I used to do mosaics (on birdhouses and other things) but stopped. I have a ton of cut up dishes and marbes etc in my store room. I just happen to be starting my garden up again and this is perfect motivation!
I wonder if you could do this with a photo and the coat with a clear coat for outdoors.
@sandy: using Modge podge, a cheap plain tile from lowes, and some clear coat you can make "coasters" out of the tiles with scrapbook paper or pictures etc. If anything you could set one of these tiles with a pics down into a stepping stone!
Neat idea Rio! But I wonder if it would get ruined by the elements. You'd probably have to keep it in a fairly protected area.
Love the tip about the contact paper. I did a project similar to this last year, but did not use contact paper and my pieces shifted around and got buried. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Lovely idea.....loos soo great
What cement did you use ? n where to get it ? would the cement at home depot be good ?
Thank you
I showed this to my hubby and he suggested putting a bead of caulk around the inside corners to smooth the edges.
That sounds like a good idea Karen. Let me know if you try it!
Adding this to my summer list of things to do with my 5 year old twin nieces. They look fun and easy!
Have fun with it Sonja!
Did it damage your cake pan at all?
Great idea but that isn't chicken wire. That's hardware cloth. Chicken wire is much thinner, less sturdy, and has a hexagonal design in between twisted sections of wire.
Christina - your directions are clear and your stone looks so nice. Have you ever made bigger mosaics, say an in-place focal point mosaic? Thanks for sharing.
Deb
Thanks for the clarification WindLegends.
This is beautiful. How does the surface turn out? Im worried about the Sharp edges of the glass.
We made ours this way, and they did not turn out very well. The tops are mostly covered where the cement seeped around our glass. I've been trying to chip away the concrete to see the design, but I think it may be too late. For the next batch, I think we will try to lay our design on the top. It was pretty disappointing....
Sorry to hear that Jess. Did you press the pieces down on the contact paper so they were good and stuck? Maybe it depends on the type of contact paper you use.
I think our problem was that we only used the flat glass marbles. Because they are rounded, there was not enough coverage with the contact paper. It was enough to keep our design from shifting, but not enough to keep it from getting buried in the cement. The next batch we are going to try just placing our design on the contact paper, then placing it on the top of the cement . That way we can see how deep they are sinking in and be faster and less messy than placing each marble individually. (I hope that makes sense!) We'll see how it goes!
Jess, good to know. It's probably best to mix it up and use plenty of flat pieces from broken dinnerware and sea glass.
Why did you put the wire down, I don't get that part?
Diane, it adds strength to the stepping stone. You could probably get away with not using it. It's a pretty easy step though.. so I think it's worth adding that extra bit of strength.
Good idea Jess. I came back to suggest just imbedding them. But I like combining that with the contact paper like you said. I'm going to make different sizes with each a color of the rainbow for a colorful walkway to my veggie garden :)
I forgot to say I'm going to use plastic drip trays from the garden dept for the different sizes. I hope that works!
I want to make this for dad for Father's Day. He loves motorcycles, do you think it would work if I put a hot wheel in it? Need advice asap!! Thank you.
Not unless it's flat Susan. Whatever doesn't adhere to the contact paper will be covered by the concrete.
Thank you. If I can't find clear contact paper would any type work?
Susan, it would work, but you won't be able to preview your design beforehand.
Christina, thank you for responding so quickly. Would sea shells work? Hope I won't have to bug you again.
Flat sea shells might work. I haven't tried them though.
Can you add paint to the cement mixture?
I'm sure you could Carol.
We did this at a family reunion, and got stained glass pieces from a shop, they usually sell there smaller ones by the pound. Then we took a wire brush to the top. They turned out great and everyone had fun..
Great tip on the leftover stained glass pieces Pam!
I am so in love with this! ive been looking for some cheaper options for outdoor decor, and this is definitely going to be my solution. i can make as many stones as i like :]
Try to use already broken plates and found pieces...it rankles me a bit to smash up good plates!
Try using a layer of contact paper first, then a 1/2 inch layer of clay, then another layer of contact paper. Press the tesserae firmly and the clay should help it hold the shape quite well. You still have the contact paper for easy removal both from the pan and from the finished piece.
que hermosa idea!!! gracias por compartirla
We are re-doing our pool. New tile and plaster. I've collected the old tile and wasn't sure what to do with it! It's flat and would be perfect for this stepping stone! Thanks so much for sharing! I can't wait to try this!!
I'm thinking of doing this with soda/beer bottle caps!
Wow beautiful! Thanks so much for the tut, I will definitely have to try and make some! :)
Hugs,
xx Tracey xx
I love this idea. I've used the plastic flower pot saucers for the mold. I spray Pam or WD40 to coat it. They need to be2 inches thick to keep from cracking. Shells didn't hold up. It's a great use of broken glass pieces- I've even uses mirrors.
Now I know what to do with my tons of sea glass! I wanted to make a mosaic, or fifty, but didn't want to start with a huge project. Maybe I'll try the kids' play kitchenware pie plate first! I'm looking forward to more crafts like this. Maybe to make and sell or sell the sea glass! Thank you!
I really love the Antoni Gaudí's "Trencadís technique".
I did the same type of thing. I used one of those square garden stones. I glued stained glass pieces to the stone with cement glue. I got the pieces cheap at the stained glass store because they were scraps. After letting them dry I used grout and treated it like you would for finishing tile. I also smoothed the edges of the glass pieces with an old knife sharpener I had so they wouldn't cut a bare foot if stepped on. These are quite lovely and make great gifts without costing a fortune.
I've also used those colorful floral stones and made designs like a butterfly or heart with them. They are pretty too and you don't have to file the edges.
At Diana T. and Christina, I believe adding the wire is really necessary and shouldn't be optional. A few years ago, I purchased some stepping stones at a garden shop, and apparently they missed the wire step. They were round about the size shown in this project. Since they were called stepping stones, I assumed they could be stepped on. Within a few short weeks, the stones cracked completely in half and were obviously missing any wire inside. Thankfully I hadn't spent a lot of money on them.
I USED SOME CHIPPED DISHES OF MY PATTERN RED CARNATION AND MADE2 STEPPING STONES AND A BIG TRIVET FOR THE PATIO TABLE . THIS IS SUCH A DIY PROJECT A MARTHA MOMENT FOR SURE
My granddaughter and I made a stepping stone with sea glass and stones we had found, arranged them on top and imprinted her hand with name and date. Set it out every summer in my garden to enjoy and she can compare her hand size.
How sweet, Deb!
I love this idea. When we take a trip to visit my grandmother again I think this would be a great craft for the kids to do with her. Then she would have some great stepping stones made with love for her to look at every day. Those kind of things mean more to her then just store bought stuff.
I have made many of these using throw away alum.pie tins and they work well .you can make many at one time and let sit for two days ,when they are ready you can complete a pathway in one afternoon . i do 12 at a time because pie tins are sold in threes so i buy four packs at a time.
Thanks for the tip ronald!
Thank you! this is brilliant! I have lots of seaglass that I can't use for jewelry, this is another good option. ~Yolanda~
you didn't mention what you needed the vaseline for I am assuming to coat the cake pan with but it isn't mentioned other than it is an item needed.
BEAUTIFUL!!!! Thanks for sharing.
God works in mysterious ways. I am so thankful that I truly stumbled onto this site!
Last year my son passed-on. I am shattered, still. I've been praying for a project like this to help me go on and so my prayer was answered.
That, for me, is a miracle. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Why couldn't you just pour the concrete in the pan and add decorations to the top before it drys?
Love this ideal!
How can I save this and print it so I can have it when I'm ready to try it?
Well done great craft lesson
Will pass it on to my crafty friends