Creating personalized stepping stones for your yard can be a great family DIY project. All you need is an old 5-gallon bucket to use for the form and a bag of premixed concrete. Once the concrete has been poured, you can personalize each stepping stone by adding decorations and handprints. Here’s how to go about it:

• Clean a 5-gallon bucket and cut it down to size with a jigsaw to use as a form.
• Apply lubricating oil to the inside of the bucket to keep the concrete from sticking to the form.
• Mix up enough premixed concrete with water to fill the form.
• Use a piece of scrap lumber to smooth and level the concrete even with the top of the form.
• Personalize the stepping stone while still wet with stones, handprints, or other decorations.
• Once the concrete has set, remove the stepping stone from the form.
• Dig shallow holes in your yard the size of the stepping stone, and set them in place.

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2 Comments on “How to Create Personalized Stepping Stones for Your Yard”

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1. Willow Spain Says:
   May 16th, 2010 at 4:19 pm

   how thick does a 12″ diameter stepping stone need to be? THe ones in this video look to be 2- 2.5″ thick – but I am guesstimating. I don’t really want to make them that thick as they will be too heavy for me to work with once complete.

2. 

   joe t. Says:
   May 16th, 2010 at 7:13 pm

   Hi Willow, The stepping stones we made were nearly 3 in. thick. I suppose you could make them a little thinner, but I’d be afraid they’d end up cracking. At 3 in. thick, the stones will be a bit heavier than a 2- or 2 1/2-in. stone, but because they’re round, you can easily roll them into place without having to lift them too often. Plus, since the stones are only 12 in. dia., they’re not really all that heavy. Thanks for writing, and good luck!–Joe T.

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