Mosaic Stepping Stone Instructions - inlay method

Create your own Mosaic Stepping Stone

* Gather the material for your design. You can use glass, rocks, pebbles, metal, coins, keys, toys, jewelry and anything else that can hold up to outside weather.

*For group projects lay the tumbled glass out in trays on a table and let participants collect the glass they want using paper plates or cups.

* Lay your design out on a paper template or right on your working surface before you get your mold filled with cement. If you are doing a random abstract design, collect your glass pieces before filling your mold with cement.

* When you have your material and your design ready, take your mold and have it filled with cement. Place your pieces into the wet cement. If a glass piece is flat you must tap it down until it is flush (flat) to the surface of the cement. It is important that the glass be flush with no edges showing. Pieces that aren't flush will fall out in a year or so. Glass chunks, rocks, etc should be submerged a little more than halfway into the wet cement.

* Sometimes water rises up over your glass pieces making you think they are sinking. They are not sinking! they are just being covered by the water separating from the cement mix. Tomorrow you can rub the top of your stone with a damp cloth or brush to remove dusty, crusty cement residue from the glass surface. Pieces that you thought were submerged will triumphantly appear at this point. 8 keep your stone in the shade and out of the rain for 2-3 days. On the second or third day you can release it from the mold by turning it upside down and flexing the sides of the mold. the stone is ready for the garden and the mold is ready to be used again.

Mixing Cement : * We recommend that you use a pre-mixed "topping mix" sometimes called a "sand mix". This is a pre-mixture of sand and cement that you add water to. Instructions are on the bag but you will be successful by adding one gallon of water to each 60 Lbs of mix. You can put a little extra water in if the weather is warm or your mixing box absorbs water. You can use an electric mixer or just mix it in a wheelbarrow with a hoe or shovel.

* Each 12" mold holds about 9 Lbs. of cement so 30 molds will require 270 Lbs of pre-mix or 4 1/2 - 60 Lb bags (buy 5). 10" molds hold 6 Lbs.

*Fill the molds to about an eight of an inch from the top. Make sure that the surface is smooth and flat. Fill molds on demand, don't try to fill too many ahead of time as the water will begin separating from the sand and become too wet to inlay glass.