Creating a Stepping Stone

Jeff is the gardener.

But I like to help him beautify our back yard
by making stepping stones out of concrete and glass pieces.

I first learned how to do it from a book I got at the library.

A few months back my mom and dad came to visit.

Mom asked if I would make one for her.

I said, "Sure! What do you want on it?"

We finally decided on a mushroom.

I like butterflies.

But Mom's always liked mushrooms.


So the first thing I had to do was come up with a design.


For ideas, I searched for "mushroom" images online.

Thousands of images came up.

This one was helpful.

These were cute.

This mushroom house was pretty cute too.

With these images fresh in my mind, I got out my stained glass...

...and my other stepping stone stuff.



I find it helpful to arrange my pieces beforehand in sand.

These could make good stems, but they're a bit too long.

Time to get out my hammer.

Whack!

That's more like it.

You know, I think 3 mushrooms might even be better than 2.

Now I need some red pieces for the mushroom tops.

A few more whacks, and wah-lah!

That'll work.

I think reddish-orange will look nice on the other two. Don't you?

Better do some more whacking!

This is such fun!

And now for the almost-finished product...

Looks good.

Time to get out my concrete.

Now we mix in the water.

Stir it up good.

Plop it into the mold.

And spread it out.
(I enjoy this part the most.)

We're good to go.

Now we just transfer the pieces I laid out beforehand, into the fresh cement.

So far, so good.

It helps to push the littler pieces in with a pencil eraser.

And now all it needs to do is set for a couple of weeks.

Sorry, I can't show you the finished project. It's not completely set yet.

Besides, Mom should see it first.

Don't you think so, Mom?