A stepping stones craft is fun for kids and adults alike. It's a great way to use a little creativity to create something somewhat permanent and to add a splash of color to your front or back yard landscape.
Since our website focuses on photograph gifts and crafts, I'll certainly explain how to create photo stepping stones. However, I really love creating mosaic stepping stones as well and they're a great way to start.
A simple mosaic stepping stone kit might be the best approach to start with if you've never created stepping stones before.
Joann.com
and other crafts stores offer stepping stone kits, with everything you need to create one stepping stone, or individual items to create your own designs. You can buy the molds, the concrete, stamps for lettering, and even broken glass and marbles for making your own mosaic patterns.
Here's an example of one of their kits aimed at children (but adults can use this too!)
The kits really are easy: You just mix the concrete with the amount of water they prescribe and pour it into the mold. Make sure to lay out your design on a piece of paper where you've traced the mold (if the kit doesn't provide one) and then, when the concrete starts to set, you can move each piece of your design from the paper onto the concrete. There's a little room for error as pieces can be moved a little from where they're originally laid. You'll have to work fairly quickly but I've had no troubles getting everything on in time, even with small children "helping" me.
The most important part is to make sure to keep the stepping stones craft wet during the curing process. I recommend placing an old washcloth or fabric on the design and spraying it with water several times per day. The cloth will keep the concrete more damp than just spraying directly onto the stone. Wait until it's fully cured before removing it from the mold.
For a photo stepping stones craft, you do everything the same except that you need to create photo beads before you start. There's no need to purchase a specific photo stepping stone kit, but they can be found.
To make photo beads:
Buy some
glass marbles (shown below)
generally used for floral arrangements, you can find at craft stores, and glue small photos to the back to show through the glass. Remember to put the glue on the picture side - not the back - of the photo.
Then, you use these as you would other marbles, stones, or broken glass in your stepping stones craft.
