Mosaic stepping stones to decorate a path or walkway
Making your own mosaic stepping stones is a great way to introduce some colour and pattern into a garden. You can easily modify the design to create your own unique mosaic stepping stones. Once done, place your pavers between pebbles or gravel beds, or nestle them inside your floral beds.
YOU WILL NEED:
Suitable mould*
Vaseline
2 pieces of brown craft or wrapping paper
Masking tape
Pencil
Permanent marker
Mosaic tiles in your choice of colours (crockery, glass pebbles, etc)
Tile nippers
Pattex wallpaper glue
2 scraps of wood or board slightly larger than your design
Cement
Building sand
Bucket for mixing
Trowel
Chicken wire mesh
Newspaper
Plastic bin bag
Sponge and cloth
Grout and Sealer
*Make this project even more affordable by using items you already have at home: A plastic basin, cake tin, or even the plastic drip tray from a pot plant - there are so many things that can be used as moulds! Just make sure they are deep enough (at least 5cm).
HERE'S HOW:
1. Measure the item you will use for a mould and transfer these onto brown craft paper. Freehand draw your design and wrap the brown paper around a board and secure with tape so that your mosaic does not move while you work
2. Choose the best mosaic tiles for your particular design. We used mosaic rounds for the flower centres, but you could also use ceramic buttons or glass beads.
3. Use the tile nipper to cut the tiles and the glue them to the brown paper with wallpaper glue. Make sure that all the tiles are the right way up (facing you), because you are going to use the double reverse method.
GOOD TO KNOW:
We used a sheet of shaded tiles
for the shading of the bunny. Leave these tiles
loose so that you can arrange them in shades from light to dark as you
work.
4. After laying out the design, glue another sheet of brown paper on top using wallpaper glue. Try not to get too much glue on sections of paper without any mosaic pieces on. Place a board over the sandwiched mosaic and carefully flip everything over. Push all the tiles down with your fingers (through the paper) to secure them and leave to dry overnight.
5. Now you can carefully remove the original piece of paper at the bottom, leaving you with the wrong side of the tiles facing up, since the tiles are now glued to the top piece of paper, which has become the backing paper. Trim the backing paper as close to the edge as possible.
6. Apply a generous layer of Vaseline to your mould. Carefully lift the mosaic up and place it - paper-side down - in the base of the mould. In this case, we used a plastic bowl.
7. For a strong stepping stone the thickness needs to be approximately 50mm. Make a mark with a permanent marker on the wall of the bowl indicating how far up you will fill with cement mix.
8. Mix 3 parts building sand with one part cement in a bucket. Once this is thoroughly mixed, slowly add water — small amounts at a time — mixing until the cement is pliable, but not runny.
9. Cut chicken wire mesh smaller than the diameter of the paver. Half-fill the mould, place the chicken mesh in the centre, and continue to fill the mould until you reach the marking you have made. Level the cement mix with your trowel.
10. To prevent the stepping stone from cracking, cover the mould with wet newspapers and plastic bin bag and leave to dry for six days. After that, carefully flip the mould over to loosen the mosaic stepping stone.
11. Carefully remove the backing paper and clean the mosaic. Grout if you wish, leave until it has dried completely and clean to remove any excess group before polishing or sealing.
