Turn Old Plates Into Beautiful & Functional Garden Decorations You'll Love

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Gardens bloom and grow into arrangements of color and textures that draw the eye and make outdoor living spaces enjoyable. But even gardens need a little extra decor sometimes. Finding meaningful and inexpensive ways to bring your outdoor living space to life, and turn it into a spot you want to spend time in, isn't always easy. Fortunately, with a little elbow grease and a bag of concrete mix, you can repurpose some old plates into beautiful stepping stones that will last for years to come. If you've been considering building a modern concrete paver walkway, this is one idea to spruce things up and customize the look.

You don't have to turn your stepping stones into a path; you can simply scatter them as decorations around the yard. The main thing is that they bring some color and personality to your space; plus, you're taking old dishes you don't know what to do with anymore and reusing them as stunning mosaics. For this DIY, the glassware is broken into pieces of different sizes and shapes and set into the stone. Apart from the concrete mix, this artistic decor DIY costs nothing to create. This is one of those contemporary landscape ideas that will make you want to lounge outside all year long to look at your handiwork. And you can easily embellish your stepping stones to match your aesthetic and style.

Starting your decorated stepping stones requires premade stones and a bag of grout like Red Devil Pre-Mixed Tile Grout, gloves, a hammer, safety goggles, a spreading trowel, and your old plates. If you're making your own stones, you'll need a bag of concrete mix like Quikrete, a mold in the shape you want your stones, a bucket, and a shovel. Use a tool like Quikrete's concrete calculator to tell you how much mix you need if you're making your own. Simply enter the size of the slab you want to make in square feet, and the calculator tells you how many pounds of product to buy per stone. Once supplies are gathered, it's time to get mixing.

Put on your gloves and goggles and use the hammer to break the dishware. For premade slabs, use glue to set the porcelain pieces onto the stone, cover with grout, and wipe clean. To make your own, set the glass parts upside down into your mold, mix your concrete using the instructions on the bag, and pour it on top, smoothing with a trowel. Once dry, all that's left is to decide how to lay paving stones on grass or dirt to make them pop. Customize by adding beads, gemstones, shells, colorful polished rocks, or by painting the stones. You'll have beautiful garden decor made from repurposed plates without breaking the bank.