I have well over 100 cement stepping stones. I used plastic party trays, jello molds, ice cream buckets cut down, and loaf pans,as molds. I have painted them all. I went to our recycling center were they give away paint discarded by others. I always pick laytex, usually out door. It has been at least five years since I painted any and they are all still fine. The paint has not peeled or flaked off. I did not put any poly over the paint. Mine are outside 12 months of the year here in MN. As far as sayings go, at first I collected alphabet letters, the kid's magnetic kind, and imbedded them in my stones. After a few mixed results, and running out of letters, I got some alphabet punches made for just this application and used them to imprint my messages. Have fun! I enjoyed the project and am still loving my stepping stones.

I used the Quickrete in the blue bag, it has 'fibers' in it for strenth. Also, pick up some chicken wire or hardware cloth to 'smoosh' into the leaf castings if making stepping stone. That will give it plenty of strength to walk on them. Just make sure you use rubber gloves when working with the stuff... it'll peel your hands really bad. Don't breathe in the dust either! I've since painted mine green and they look super. I made 3 more from my petesites leaves. Eventually, I'll swap out the tree slab stepping stones for the cast ones. I'm currently working on a new path to our walkway. I picked up a 'cobblestone' mold from lowes. I'm using the same fiber quickrete as mentioned earlier. Super, super easy!!!! Looks dam good, too!! I also made a couple bird baths using elephant ears. You'll need some sand. Lay out some plastic, dampen the sand and mound it up and lay your leave on it. This creates a 'bowl shape' to hold water. Don't have a photo yet of those, sorry. So don't be 'skeered'... just go for it! You'll amaze yourself at all the possibilities. DH will eat his heart out see you making mud pies!!! Good luck!! Nancy

@ lizbeth-gardener: Thanks for your vote and for explaining why you voted the way you did. @olychick: Thanks for the reassurance that the house will look good no matter which way we paint the garage. @funcolors: Thanks for your advice. So, when you say black for the light fixtures, do you mean true black or oil rubbed bronze black. The door handle was oil rubbed bronze, but it looks black. @andee: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the house. I was surprised how much of a difference painting the garage door the same as the siding colour made too. You are right we could start with painting the garage the siding colour and then deciding if we want to do the trim the grey. Any more votes on the garage or thoughts on the light fixtures? Carol

I'll try to send you a couple photos of mine. Quilt books work great for patterns. Some of their patterns use simple designs and straight lines. You can often put a few of the blocks together and make a unique pattern of your own. This alternative can also be used to make an easier project for the beginner. I had written several weeks back and asked about cement formulas that are highly durable and good for making stepping stones. I have seen the hypertufa, but am not keen about it. I want a basic formula, using very few ingredients. Can anybody help me? I have a bunch of stain glass already cut which I want to make into stones, however I don't want to waste my effort and money if they end up crumbling. Thanks so much! jasmineflower