Stepping Stones!

Material gifs are nice and if you are anything like me, they come with MUCH thought.  However, homemade gifts are extra special because it shows the receiver that you took the extra time out of your time, to sit down and make a gift, for them, yourself. It has meaning, value, and talent that store bought gifts do not.  The kids and I went to Michael's Crafts specifically to pick out some kind of craft to make for Darren.  We ended up with these stepping stone kits.  Normally, $12.99 each, but that particular week they were on sale for 40% off.  PERFECT! Lilah got the one below.

Jax picked out the one below.

The kit comes with EVERYTHING you need to create your own beautiful, mosaic masterpiece.

1. A mold.

2. Clay.

3. Gems and stones.

4. Stampers.

First, you mix up the clay with the suggested water, creating a smooth cement.

I did this part because I was fearful I would have cement powder all over my house if I didn't.

Next up, decorate!

 Jax is definitely interested in painting and crafting.  I love that about him.

Lilah is too, but she gets very upset if something doesn't look right or someone else's craft looks a little bit better.  She is really self-critical and will say, "I just want to throw mine away because [so and so's] looks better.  I guess she is her mother's daughter after all.  

Working hard for daddy!

Each piece was carefully chosen and had a specific spot.

The kit also came with a pick.  The pick could be used to move the gems and stones around.  Pushing each stone deep enough into the cement, so that when the cement dried, the stones/gems would stay put.

Lilah wanted to create a heart for her daddy, so I placed one of my heart-shaped cookie cutters into the center of the mold. Liley used her skittles stones to create a heart. Don't those stones look like skittles? Haha.

 Jax's stepping stone before drying.

After the cement dries almost to completion, we used our stampers to create a message.  Jax wanted to write a "#1".

Lilah chose to stamp the word "dad". The below photo, of the stepping stone, appears messy.  I took Sadie to the dog park and brought the stepping stones with us so that I could stamp the stone at the right time.  The air conditioning, from our van, caused some of the cement to rise on top of the stones.  I had to wipe the top of each stone with a baby wipe otherwise the cement would have dried on top of each stone.  The directions specifically state to be careful of the temperature you allow the stones to dry in.  Clearly, I didn't follow directions.  

The kids were so excited to give these stepping stones to Darren, on Father's Day! They now reside in our front yard.  Eventually, I will take a photo of the final result and place it in this post, but I haven't gotten around to doing that just yet.