Cake-Frosting Stepping Stone

Step-by-Step Instructions

To create your stepping stones, follow the photos, and remember these tips:

Apply the duct tape so it creates a "form" a smidgen deeper than the thickness of the objects you're laying in.

Make your "mud" by first mixing dye and water together in a plastic bucket. Then, while wearing a dust mask, add mortar mix to the colored water. Stir, adding enough mortar mix to create a smooth-textured mortar that isn't runny. Before applying mortar, use a sponge to thoroughly wet the precast stone's upper surface.

If you mess up, just pull out the tiles, smooth the mortar and start over.

After the mortar mix firms up—usually in 15 to 30 minutes—pull off the tape edging and, holding the sponge at a slight angle, brush the mortared edge to lightly round it over.

That's it. Cure your stones for a week in a cool corner, stockpiling them as you make them through the winter. Then put them to work in the yard or garden for year-round service. The mortar won't crack because it is manufactured with gazillions of microscopic air pockets to absorb water as it expands.

Shopping List

• Precast 12-inch-diameter steps with pea-gravel surfaces (about $3 at home or landscape centers)
• One 60-pound bag of Quikrete mortar mix ($3), enough for about 12 stepping-stones
• Cement dye ($5 per bottle—Quikrete liquid dye comes in buff, brown, terra-cotta, charcoal and red)
• Ceramic tiles and other mosaic pieces
• Odds and ends: Large rounded-edge sponge, wide putty knife, duct tape, dust mask, plastic bucket