Miniature Stone Walkway

 Hi Mini Friends!  This Apothecary project has been so fun!  I decided that my storefront needed a sidewalk and steps up to the door.  I had already used the egg carton stone technique on the inside wall and decided to do something different for the walkway.  I used joint compound and carved the stones out of that.  Although while I was carving the stones I didn't take any pictures because it can get a little messy and I wound up with joint compound on my fingers.  But the process of carving the stones was so fun and truly mesmerizing.

I used a piece of chip board and traced the shape of the rounded window so I knew where my stones needed to be.  I cut out a few rounded pieces of cardboard and built my steps.  Then I covered everything with masking tape as the joint compound is a rather wet substance and I didn't want the chip board wet and soggy.

I also built a few borders which I'm not sure was necessary but I did it anyway.  I wound up taking them off and just using my finger to edge any access off.

I used a small tipped clay working tool (not pictured) and just went to carving.

This was the really fun part.

After all the carving, I had to let it all dry overnight.   The next morning, I lightly used a fingernail file to sand down any bits that didn't need to be there.  Also, I think my joint compound is getting old because when it dried it was more powdery than I remembered so I had to be careful.

I gave it a basecoat of paint in a medium gray color.  Then I went over each piece dry brushing white, black and light brown.

When the paint dried, I gave it a generous coating of Mod Podge to act as a sealer.  My paint chipped off pretty easy before the glue coating.  Then I broke out my tinted sawdust and gave some of the cracks some moss.

I love the look and the way it turned out.  I'm wondering if a nice "wrought iron" handrail is needed??

HEY, guess what!!!  This post makes 1,000 posts on my blog!  Congrats to me!  And while all of my 1,000 posts are not miniature related it still serves as my creative lifestyle since 2009.  From gardening, woods hunting, farm life, fur babies, my day care I had for five years, and all in between.  I have really enjoyed blogging and can look back anytime I want.

Thanks for being here!  Do you like my apothecary so far??

XOXO ~Laurie