Footprint Stepping Stone

When my first daughter was about 9 months old, my husband and I made a stepping stone with her hand print on it and it was so cute. Four years later, I wanted to do a footprint stepping stone, with all three of our girls’ footprints on it.

I bought a stepping stone kit from Michaels for about $17 which came with the cement powder, a plastic mold, letter/number stamps, colored glass beads and mosaic tiles.


Following the kit instructions, we combined the cement mix with water in a bucket, stirred and poured into the plastic mold. The instructions said to place the glass decorations immediately, then wait 30 minutes before doing the letter or number stamps.

When we did the first hand print stone years ago we didn’t wait for the cement to set enough at first and it was so soft that it just filled in the impression in a few minutes. So this time we just waited at least half an hour before adding anything to the stone.

We did each of their footprints one at a time, placing it in the right spot carefully and then applying lots of pressure to have a good impression that will stay throughout the setting period.

I didn’t use any of the mosaic tiles because I wanted to keep it simple and have lots of room for the 3 footprints, so we just added a border with the glass marbles.

Next I stamped each kid’s first initial next to their footprint. I should have waited even longer before doing the stamps because they filled in quite a bit (as you can see in this picture) and I had to re-stamp them later when it was more set. I also added the year.

Then we let it dry for 48 hours before removing it from the plastic mold.

You could do this project for cheaper if you buy cement mix instead of a stepping stone kit. Check out this quick article with some good tips on how to make a stepping stone without a kit: DIY Stepping Stones with the Kids

I liked that my kit came with the mold, letter/number stamps, and just the right amount of cement to fit the mold, so the convenience of a kit is nice. I will keep the mold, stamps and leftover embellishments to use on the next stone 🙂

There are so many possibilities for this project! Here’s a couple of my favourite ideas for a footprint stepping stone :

1. Make a butterfly shape with the footprints by putting the left foot on the right side and right foot on the left side, close together to look like wings. Then create the body and antennae of the butterfly with glass marbles or other decor. You could also surround the butterfly with a mosaic of colored glass.
2. Make a stepping stone path using one footprint stone for each year. It shows the growth of your child’s feet over time and would be such a special keepsake project to have in your yard!

Check out this tutorial with a couple of neat design ideas: Our DIY Heart Handprint Stepping Stone

This footprint stepping stone would be a really special gift Grandma, Mom, or any gardener in the family, but don’t forget to make one or two for your own garden! I don’t know why I haven’t been doing these with my kids for the last few years, but I plan on making more each spring for a special addition to our yard.

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