Stepping Stone Molds???

In the Jung Seed Catalog (www.jungseed.com) they show reusable, durable, polystyrene molds. You pour ready-mix concrete in them and let them cure for 30 hrs and voila!--- stepping stones. They come in different designs and look kinda neat. Has anyone ever done this? It looks tempting but I am not all that handy.

Also has anyone ever ordered seeds/flowers/bulbs from them?
They are based in Randolph, Wi.

Well, can't help you there, but if anyone's interested in do-it-yourself stepping stones, here are the instructions:

http://www.canadiangardening.com/HTML/stepping_stones.html

This message was edited Friday, Aug 17th 9:37 PM

Hi, We have Jungs here in Madison WI, they are a reputable firm. I have done the stepping stones (forms from another source) and they work well. What did not work , was when I tried to add liquid cement dye, I would use the powder that is availabe now. I do not know how much they want for the forms, our craft store also carries them , along with marble, glass etc to put in them, also paint that you can do accents with. I have also used the clear plastic "pans" that you can get to put under plant pots to catch water, but the shapes are limited. The ones that I got , years ago were of 4 different sets of leaves. I liked doing it and it made wonderful gifts for my sisters when they visited and could take them home in their car ( can you imagine the postage.?) It is fun, easy, and just keep them out of the rain until the concrete cures.(couple of days)

Thank you Marcia--sounds great!

Janet, I am checking out that link pronto.

SandyR

Janet, just checked it out--looks neat and possibly even I could do it!

Marcia, were you able to reuse your molds multi times or do they get brittle/crack/tear?

I think I am going to try the link instructions AND also order the molds. They would make great gifts.

Thanks again to both of you!

I have re-used them several times, making sure that when I un-load that the form is not twisted, kind of like flipping a cake out of a pan by turning it with cake plate on top and flipping it over. I use Pam to spray the forms before I fill them.

Let us know how it goes, Sandy. You got me curious and I found some molds here in Canada too. I'm still hemming and hawing about getting them though.

I have made some using the different size pizza boxes, they do really well.. I like the largest best.
Larkie

Wow, clever ideas with pizza boxes and other containers.
The stones I see in the garden shops are pretty ordinary
for a lot of money.

The ones I saw in the Jung catalog were in sets of 3 for $21.95. The choice was hummingbird, iris, goldfish;
roses, moon, sun; or squirrel, waterlily, rabbit.
They are 12" diam.

I had seen instructions on making a leaf stepping stone, using a large rhubarb leaf. My rhubarb has dried out for the year, so I used a large Sum and Substance Hosta leaf. Turned out pretty well....all the veins are very good on it.

Molds for stepping stones you can also use the large ice cream lids from Braums or other ice cream places. They just throw them away anyway so if you ask for them I'm sure they will let you have them or could set up some sort of arrangement with the manager and they just might save them for you and make arrangements to pick them up on certain days at certain times. If you want smaller molds, just use the lids from the 1/2 gal. ice cream containers you buy in the grocery. When cement is set, just peel away the cardboard.
Also go to garage sales or thrift shops and buy some old bread pans, cake pans, fry pans or what ever and can also use them as molds. Just spray with Pam before pouring cement and they will come out real easy.. Old jello molds will also work. I have a Wilton cake pan in the shape of the state of Texas and when I have more time I will make stepping stones using my pan. Sooooooo many things a person can use for molds. Just use your imagination and have fun with it.

what is the best product to use for stepping stones?
just regular cement?

Quick-crete....can get at Home Depot, Lowes.

but don't leave it outside over night. DH left half a bag out last night by accident,.. it rained,... now we have a very heavy Quick-crete doorstop. :)

this is great! my grandson and I worked with stepping stones all summer. I put his hand print in the middle of the octagon shaped mold I ordered, and then filled the edges with cut glass it turned out great the next one we did was with pretty stones we picked up on our walks when we got enough we made another stone, I THINK I HAVE SIX STONES TOTAL IT'S GREAT FUN!!! TO KEEP THE GLAZED LOOK I used HELMSMAN spar urethane clear gloss it keeps the stones shining

Hi Coco!
Thanks for the mold ideas. Just remembered my neighbor is a retired delicattesen owner and his wife told me he has loads of old baking dishes and pans. I'll bet he has some things I could use for molds. The Wilton idea was clever too!
I should have an "in" with Quik-Crete---my friend's father owns the company. I've never tried any of their products.
Sandy

Sometimes there are places that have broken Quick-Crete bags and you can get them for little of nothing, if you talk to management first of course. I have found out that any broken bags are just tossed away in the company's garbage bin.....what a shame. Sometimes the bags just have a small hole in it and they throw it out. The same goes with those bags of small pebble rock bags. In the trash it goes if the bag is tore open. I just hate waste like that. Come to find out Home Depot just threw away a whole cart load of mini blinds. Got onto my DH about that for not bringing them home.GRRRRRRRRR!