OT: Anyone have experience making stepping stones?

One of our dogs passed on Memorial Day. I had high-hopes that we'd be in a home of our own before anything happened to our sweet babies. Unfortunately, our beloved Wiley had to be laid to rest under the grapevines in a rental.

I decided I want to make a stepping stone that we can take with us, God willing we ever get to move into our own home. I plan to make a stone for each of our babies to put in a memorial flowerbed whenever we get there.

So, I got some stepping stone mix & a mold & I finally braved it Sunday. Absolute F.L.O.P.

I backed a few clear glass stones with pictures of our sweet boy & I had some river rocks to place in it. I have letter press stamps to stamp his name & dates.

I waited for the stone to set enough to where the rocks & photos wouldn't sink into it. There was a layer of water on top of the stone that was setting up & used a paper towel to try to soak it up. However, the mucky water spread through the towel (of course) & it was leaving mud spots on everything.

I was still waiting for the stone to set enough to stamp the letters but even as the stone was setting harder, there was still a layer of dirty water sitting on top of it, so I couldn't see anything I was stamping. It was all just filling in with water & the stone was set up enough that when I pulled the stamps out plugs of the stone were coming out with them.

I got pissed & pulled everything out of it & just left the stone to set with nothing in it.

Today, I picked up a stepping stone kit. I don't know if the stone mix will make any difference. Does anyone have ideas for making this one work better?

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I just made 2 of them (one

I just made 2 of them (one for each child) for our dog, who is nearing his end with lymphoma.

Be careful how much water you put in the mix, that's the key. Because the plastic molds that come in the stepping stone kit are flimsy, I mixed the mortar in an old plastic bowl first, then put it in the molds. I let them set for a while (not out in the sun) and when they had the opportunity to set up a little bit we wrote our dog's name in one of them, and put his paw print in the other. Then the kids decorated with colored glass (you know, you can buy all this stuff individually at a craft store - mortar, colored glass instead of beads, etc).

And I've made one before where instead of using the mold that came in the kit, I used a disposable aluminum pie tin.

I thought maybe I had too

I thought maybe I had too much water in it. It just said to add water until it was "the consistency of thin cake batter".

This kit I got says it should be the consistency of thick brownie batter.

(I can tell you, I love cake & I love brownies & reading these directions makes me hungry.)

Thank you!