I love Plaster of Paris craft projects. Plaster is cheap to buy and surprisingly non-messy. It’s easy to use and makes brilliantly satisfying creations for kids. Here’s how to make a decorative ‘stepping stone’ for the garden. You can decorate with any little treasures you fancy – we used shells (once collected at the beach and then kept for years as we couldn’t bear to throw them out when we got home!) and pretty stones.
You will need:
- Craft plaster of Paris powder (several cups)
- Water
- Disposable container to mix the plaster
- Plastic tub for the mould (we used an old sweet tub)
- Decorative items – try shells, stones, mosaic tiles, beads, little mirrors etc.
How to make the plaster stepping stone:
- Use a disposable container to mix the plaster so that you can throw away at the end as you won’t want to wash it down your sink. Mix the plaster up according to the pack instructions. You don’t need to be too exact – we used a ration of about 2 cups of plaster to 1 cup of water and mixed well until the plaster was a pancake batter consistency.
- Pour the plaster into your plastic tub mould and tap a few times to release any bubbles.
- Let the plaster thicken for a few minutes. When it starts to thicken, press your decorative items into the plaster (if it’s still too thin to hold the decorations, wait a little longer).
- Leave to set overnight.
- Pop the plaster out of the mould the following day. It might still feel cool/damp. Set on newspaper and let it dry out fully for another few days.
- When dry, you can ‘plant’ your decorative stepping stone in the garden.
