Every one in my family thinks of me when they see Red Toile dishes.
It’s my thing. (one can never have too many right?)
So… when my daughter saw a set of Red Toile dishes on clearance for $25 at her local thrift store
she immediately called me to see if I wanted them. (um, yes!)
While packing the car for their visit home, my son in law picked up the box to rearrange the car
and the bottom fell out. Most of the dishes survived. Five of the large plates did not.
Deciding to turn lemons into Lemonade…
I kept the broken plates to make a few garden stones.
I enlisted the help of my little buddy. He was eager to lend a hand. (with gloves of course)
Creating a Garden Stepping Stone:
- Cover the sides and bottom of an old cake pan with Petroleum Jelly for easy removal.
- Arrange the pieces of the broke china pattern side down in the bottom of the pan. Make sure to use the flattest pieces.
- Add glass stones in between the pieces for added color and interest.
- Mix a quick setting cement according to the directions on the package.
- Fill pan with cement approx. an 1″ thick.
- Shake pan a little to fill in the gaps and smooth.
- Allow a couple hours for the stones to set.
- Remove stepping stones from the pans and clean excess cement from the top of the stones with a stiff wire brush and water.
- Allow a few days for the cement to cure before sitting outside in your garden.
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Sue's Creative Workshop 
What kind and where do you get quick setting cement for projects like this?
I got a small bag at my local home improvement store (Menards) for under $10. It should say quick setting on the bag. (I didn’t keep the bag so I don’t remember the brand.)
I hope this helps.
Sue
don’t care for the grey cement, prefer white but guess the grey would work better with the pieces pictured
Thank You??? It was our first time trying this project. Maybe next time I’ll try white.
It’s an awesome project as it is. Thank you for the great idea!
Do the sharp edges on the broken plates get covered? I too love red toile, I inherited a set from my Aunt , Enoch Woods pattern. They make a beautiful set table for Christmas. I did a watercolor of some pieces I’ve collected. Look through my fb art at: Debra L Pate Art. Thanks for this great post!
Flat pieces work the best. It was the first time I’d tried this project so there are a little bit of edges that may feel sharp. (Not too bad.) Mine are more decorative. If you are worried you might want to try reversing the process and pouring in the cement first and then pushing the broken dishes into the wet cement. You’d have a little more control. Something to try. Good Luck.
Love this project!! What a good idea to enlist the help of my young grandson. Thank you for sharing.
I love this project! I’m going to try it with some broken blue willow dishes. I couldn’t bear to part with them! Thanks for the idea!
That’s going to look beautiful. After red toile, blue willow is another favorite.