Monday, August 10, 2009

Making Stepping Stones

This is one of the pre-cured stones... just before it was wrapped in plastic.


Last Thursday, as you can see, was August 6. A group of us met at J and S's house to make stepping stones with J and S's children, E and J and their friends S and L, twin daughters belonging to S and T.

We were all ready for an adventure! :-)

Step One: Getting ready.

Step Two: Add the water.
E and J are in the foreground, while S and L also look on.

Step Three: Mix.
It's time to stir the mix. Whew! Hard work!

Step Four: Pat into the molds.
(In this case, we used plastic trays for flower pots.)
The mix was pretty stiff, but everyone was game to pat it into the molds.

This is one of the stepping stones...
before the curing process.

It was wrapped in several layers of plastic
(used mulch bags)
and left to cure for three days.

After the three days' time,
the plastic was removed and the stepping stones unwrapped.

I hear they turned out satisfactorily!
That makes me feel good.
I haven't seen them yet, but I'll use that excuse to stop by.
:-)

P.S. I just received an email from T with photos of S and L's stones in their garden at home. Here's a peek for you!

I'll see what I can do about getting a photo of E and J's stones. :-)

6 comments:

Frances said...

Great project for the kids, they did turn out great. What fine mementos that should last a lifetime and longer.
Frances

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Frances, Making Memories. Someday they'll think... Who WAS that lady that helped us make these, anyway?? ;-)

Anonymous said...

How sweet! Makes for great memories all 'round. Fun to see their obvious pleasure in participating in the project. /Deb

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Deb! YOU are sweet to head over here. Thanks!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I like how they turned out. I made one at a meeting of the herb society I used to go to before we started having our grandson every Saturday. I tried making a couple more with the cement my husband had left over after trying to fix the steps on our front porch. One turned out OK, but the other broke because some water got into it, and my husband dumped the whole thing out. I would've let it dry more before dumping it. It was too firm to sink the broken vase parts into it, so the one not broken won't be able to be walked on.

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Sue! I'm sorry I've taken so long to find your comment. Here's the best advice I can give you. Purchase Quikrete brand (sp) and don't let the bag of cement mix get damp. Mix it so it's good and wet-ish, but not at all runny. Put it in your mold (I even use the cheap plastic dishes you can purchase for under flower pots). You can use shortening spray on molds that the concrete might stick to. Cover with plastic and wait about 3 days. Unmold and "ta-dah!"

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I enjoy being outdoors! I also love that I've two children (now grown up with families of their own)and six young grandchildren! :-) Sure would like to see them more often!!