Painted Garden Stepping Stone

My garden stone was recently featured in Craft Ideas Magazine's 2017 Garden Issue.

Materials and Supplies:                                          (*affiliate links)

• 8” Cake Pan
• Petroleum Jelly
• Rapid Set Concrete Mix
• DecoArt DS17-9 Americana Multi-Purpose Sealer*
• DecoArt Americana® Multi Surface Acrylic Paint: Night Sky, Cotton Ball, Woodland Green
• DecoArt Americana® Acrylic Paint: Watermelon Slice, Marigold
• Decoart Decor Stencil 8×8 Garden Bloom*
• DecoArt American DuraClear Varnish
• Paintbrush
• Stencil Brush
• White Cardstock

Directions:

1. Cover the sides and bottom of an old cake pan with Petroleum Jelly for easy removal.

2. Mix Rapid Set Concrete Mix according to manufacturer’s instructions. Fill pan with cement approx. 1″ thick. Shake pan a little to fill in the gaps and smooth. Allow a couple hours for cement to set before removing from the pan. Let the cement stone dry for a day or two before painting.

3. To create a better surface for painting and stenciling, paint cement stone first with Multi-Purpose Sealer. 

4. Mix together Night Sky and Cotton Ball acrylic paint and basecoat the top and sides of the stone.

5. Tear a piece of white cardstock with an irregular edge as shown to create a mask stencil for  cloud background.

6.  Place cloud mask stencil onto stone and paint with an upward motion.

Move mask stencil around stone to paint additional clouds and let dry.

7. Stencil bloom flower using a mixture of Watermelon Slice and Marigold and stencil “bloom” with Night Sky as shown. Paint leaves Woodland Green and let dry.

8. Apply varnish using paintbrush over stone to help protect the stone from the outdoor elements.