Round & Round The Garden #6

In my last Round & Round The Garden post a lot had happened. Since then progress has been slow and steady as we only really have the finishing touches to make. The tyres are still plant-less as I am yet to get to a garden centre to get what I need, however I think that really is the final thing to do.

This week I'm going to show you how easy it is to make your own personal paving stones.

I first saw the idea on Pinterest (of course) and after some searching around found a couple that I liked and knew I could adapt to exactly what I wanted.

I also loved this idea of making them glow in the dark so thought I would give that a try too.

What you will need:

Cement

Large plant saucers

Paint, if you wish to colour them

Glow in the dark spray paint

How we did it:

First of all my husband made up the cement and poured it into the saucers. We left it for about an hour to set a little, otherwise the imprints would have just disappeared.

After waiting we tested it to make sure it was the right consistency - when we dipped a finger in there was a indentation. Then, one by one, we all pressed our foot into a saucer each. Doing this with the children was a challenge as H wasn't keen on the consistency under her foot, and it was quite cold. Baby J obviously didn't understand to keep his foot still, so it took a couple of tries to get it right.

I wouldn't say they are perfect, but we were pleased with how they came out. I can't help but laugh at how big Mr H's foot is compared with the rest of us!

After leaving them for two days until we felt they were totally set, we took them out of the saucers. I felt the colour of the concrete was a bit uneven so i bought some grey spray paint and just gave them one coat to get a more balanced colour.

Leaving the paint to dry for 48 hours, I then added the glow in the dark paint. The tin said to do several light coats, which I did, and then left them to dry once more. Once we were satisfied they were completely dry, they were ready to plant. Mr H used a spade to dig a small circle out of the lawn for each stone to sit in.

We then added four sandstone effect solar lights found at Bents Home & Garden Centre. These are £29.99 for a pack of two, and are really lovely lights. I often find solar lights can be a bit cheap-looking and break very quickly, however these ones with their sandstone effect look of good quality and their white LED lights give off a bright glow to the path.