Great American Flag Garden Stepping Stone

I am a patriot. I love my country and feel lucky, even though our system isn't perfect, that I get to live in the United States of America. I'm too mouthy as a woman to ever live in a country that doesn't value half the population. I would have been shot as soon as I could organize my thoughts enough to say, "That's not right!" That is the beauty of our country. While we aren't perfect we all have the right to express our opinions, something that isn't always allowed in other countries.

I saw an idea that a friend was creating and I fell in love with it. It spoke boldly to me, saying "I'm an American and damn proud of it." It was an American flag stepping stone for her garden. The colors were bright cobalt blue, red and white. She had brought it in for the winter. (She said you could leave it out all winter but she didn't want to take the chance.) Even though it wasn't in the garden, I can imagine how beautiful it must look among the brightly colored flowers and green backdrop.

I wrote earlier about making stepping-stones for the gardener at Christmas. You can find the basics of making a stepping stone by clicking here

The designs were all pretty, but when I saw my friend's design, I knew there was nothing that could top it. This would be an excellent gift for the 4th of July.

Create an American Flag as a Stepping-stone for your garden.

My friend used a cement rectangle for the base but when it was dry, she put a sealer on it.

Once the sealer was dry, she bought a large blue ceramic tile square for the upper corner.

She then bought small mosaic white and red tiles and put alternating rows of red and white tile on the flag for stripes, making certain that they were spaced correctly so that the top and bottom both had a row of red. She used mosaic adhesive to stick these to the sealed cement.

At this point it seemed so easy and logical to me. The next step bothered me a bit, and I haven't yet made this project but she assured me that she had her stone outside for two months in the fall and it remained okay. She mixed grout and smoothed it into the seams between the mosaic tiles, making certain there were no air spaces left open and allowed it to dry. Then she cleaned the tiles thoroughly.

If you ever worked with grout you know that it isn't that stable. However, my friend reminded me that once the grout is set and coated with a sealer it is waterproof. After all, it is put in showers and safely endures the water. So, keeping that in mind, use a good sealer on the grout once you have cleaned away the excess grout and painted the stars on the tiles.

You can use a stamp or stencil to create the stars on the blue background. Seal the steppingstone with a good quality sealer and allow it to dry.

As soon as the weather warms up and the garage is tolerable, I'm getting started on this project. Maybe I'll sing the National Anthem while I make it.