Design Ideas for Stepping Stones

Embed memorabilia into stepping stones, such as seashells from your trip to the beach or pebbles from a brook, broken bits of china or colored glass, game pieces -- such as dominoes or dice -- or any small, waterproof objects. Place memory stepping stones randomly among plain stones along a path or in a flagstone patio.

Keep a record of your child's growth with hand- or footprint stepping stones. Place hand- or footprint stepping stones along the border of your patio garden in chronological order. Use different parts of the garden for each child. Add names and dates with press-in letters, for a formal look, or write them with a stick or stylus.

Unleash your imagination and let your inner child out with whimsical stepping stones. Exaggeration or the unexpected create fantasy. Make a path to a child's play area, a butterfly garden or bird-watcher's bench with fanciful stepping stones.

Color concrete with cement pigment during the mixing process, and pour into store-bought or your own custom-made molds. Pour colored cement into round mounds and use the end of a large dowel stick or similar object to imprint button holes to make button stepping stones.

Step through your garden on a path of pillows made from your own vintage-style cushions. Use plaster of Paris to create molds of pillows. Coat the pillows with petroleum jelly before pouring prepared plaster of Paris onto the pillow to make your own pillow mold.

Paint numbers or letters on square stepping stones so children can make a game of walking the path. Or, make shoe-sole-shaped stones for a giant's footprints.

Get artsy with mosaic stepping stones. Create butterfly, insect, floral or other decorative designs in your stepping stones with colored tiles, marbles or pebbles. Use colorful mosaic stepping stones to lure the adventurer into your garden and around a shrub or tree that obscures the path destination. A bench or water feature at the end of the path invites repose.

Imprint giant leaves into a stone. Leaves such as rhubarb have large veins and make clear patterns. Place leaf-imprinted stepping stones off the path, among your garden plants for interest and a dry place to step when working your garden.

Write messages or verses on your stepping stones. Use these stepping stones to add a personal touch and greet backdoor guests. Short poems, such as "Gardening is the purest of human pleasures," by Francis Bacon, or "Backdoor guests are the best," says something about you. Message stepping stones can be used off the path or in the flagstone patio to complement a container garden or other patio feature.