Garden full of thanks - Stepping Stones Tutorial

I have been thinking about this project for awhile. I've been collecting plastic containers from food and grocery packaging in my garage for 2 months and bought a 60 lb bag of concrete for $4.65 at local Home Depot but couldn't start the project..... During our last trip to Sedona, I finally got that push that I needed to start the project. Here is the moment

My daughter was simply mesmerized by colorful pieces of glass embedded in concrete and then I knew we have to do it.

Next morning, I've got everything out and we started.....

Concrete is a very easy but also a very tricky thing. You need to get a feel of concrete: it should be not too thick and not too thin. Here is an example of how "too thick" looks like

Don 't worry it's fixable - just add a little bit of water. By a little bit I mean a little bit- 1 table spoon at a time and stir, stir and stir!

The most successful recipe for my mixture was 10 parts of concrete to 3 parts of water.

That's how it looks

When you've got the right consistency pour it into containers

Then we've got pieces of mosaic tile, glass marbles and etc. for embellishing. Our theme - "things we are thankful for". I thought it would be a good idea to embed our thanks into concrete and keep it in the garden as a constant reminder. Here is what we came up with, with my three year-old in charge:) I guess summer was her brightest memory:)

We pushed mosaic pieces into concrete creating different images and let it sit outside for 24 hours (our temperature outside around 65 F)

that's how it looks when it's ready to be taken out of the form - edges are dry and separated from the form and concrete has light grey color.

and that's how it looks all finished and in the garden.

I still have half a bag left for may be more "thanks" - will see.

Have a great day.