Making a Mother's Day Stepping Stone

If you are looking for an interesting new gift for Mom this year, try giving her a Mother's Day stepping stone she can use in her garden. This can be an especially memorable gift if you have small children who want to give a unique gift that also serves as a commemoration of their age and handprint. Carving initials and the date, along with a child's handprint will give Mom a continual reminder of this Mother's Day whenever she walks across these customized stepping stones in her garden.

Making a Mother's Day stepping stone: Pre-made kits

The easiest way to make a Mother's Day stepping stone for your mom this year is to buy one that is pre-made and simply decorate the outside of the stone. Your local home improvement or garden supply store will have outdoor stepping stones that can be purchased and painted or written on. Many of these commercial garden kits also come with the needed supplies for the lettering. This can be a great starter kit for people who have never tried to make their own customized Mother's Day stepping stones or families who are involving younger children in the process.

Making a Mother's Day stepping stone: Using bagged cement

If you want to create your own Mother's Day stepping stones, you can also purchase cement at the local home improvement store. Look for the finest grade cement you can find when making customized stepping stones such as these. This will give you a smooth surface that contains very few pebbles and imperfections, making it easier to add your own designs to the stones as they dry.

Making a Mother's Day stepping stone: Shaping your stone

The most important part of making your own customized Mother's Day stepping stones from bag cement is setting the shape. Using bag cement instead of a pre-made kit allows you to shape your stepping stones in any shape you desire. The most common form of Mother's Day stepping stone is the shape of a heart, but you can use any design you wish. To make the form of the stone, you can either build a free-standing frame out of wood or simply dig out the desired shape in your backyard's soil. Line the inside of the hole with plastic wrap or a plastic garbage bag so it will be easy to remove the stepping stone when the cement is dry. If you or your children will be carving their initials or other lettering into the Mother's Day stepping stones, do this as the cement has started to dry, but has not completely set.