DIY Stepping Stone With Secret Key Hider

7 Materials
Easy

After getting locked out of my house once, I vowed NEVER AGAIN! So I combined two trendy DIYs- stepping stones and mosaics- and added a secret key hider underneath. Click HERE for the full tutorial...including my secret trick for a fool proof stepping stone!

Creating your own decorative stepping stones is as simple as it gets, starting with an old cake pan from your kitchen or the thrift store.

To make it pretty, I created a mosaic design on clear, adhesive plastic, placed it in the bottom of my cake pan, and began to fill the pan with mixed up quik-crete.

Check out my blog for my secret trick for a perfect mosaic design AND a fool-proof stepping stone.

After the mixed concrete was in the pan, I stuck a child-proof pill bottle upside-down in the wet concrete.

I let it sit for 36 hours before easily removing it from the pan. And just like that, I have a secret place for my house key! And it looks awfully pretty in my yard, too.

And before you ask- don't worry! I'm not actually using THIS exact stone for my house/yard, now that I put it online. I made several different stones- some as gifts and one for us. :)


DIY pill bottle ideas

For more creative ways to repurpose empty pill bottles, discover Hometalk's best DIY pill bottle crafts here.

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Sadie Seasongoods
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 63 questions
  • June Halladay June Halladay on Oct 16, 2021

    Did you check it after it rained? I glued a prescription bottle to the bottom of a rock, and when I checked it, the bottle had water in it! I was still able to use the key, but it has consistently had water in it when I've checked it. Any ideas? I love the concept. I think it would be important to make several, or it might stand out as something to be checked by bad guys! LOL

  • Kathy Wilson Kathy Wilson on Apr 27, 2023

    Very cute .. good idea.. I made stepping stones this way.. in design I put grandchildren names using marbles..

  • Kristy E. Lee Kristy E. Lee on May 09, 2023

    Is it difficult to pop the top on the bottle off? Seems like it might put to much pressure on the lid having the concrete on the lid but I might be wrong

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 408 comments
  • Debbie Stewart Debbie Stewart on Jan 24, 2024

    What a great idea!!! Thank you, I love my stepping stones

  • Wanda Rodgers Wanda Rodgers on Jan 24, 2024

    I really like this idea. In order for the would-be thieves to be deterred, as this idea has been around for a while, make a bunch of these. Leave all the bottles empty except the one where you have your key in. Periodically move the key to a different bottle. You could also do this with a fake or even a real rock.

    • Fully agree. The thiefs around here were looking for things like this in gardens. There was a article in the paper telling ppl to stop making them. With keys in. Stepping stones are a great idea. Imagine a burglar looking through all the stepping stones to find nothing. Lol

      Some ppl as no shame.


      A fun idea I will be making stepping stones myselfs.

      Thank you

      Louise


Next