How We Made Stepping Stone Walkway From Ice Cream Buckets.

Shirley
by Shirley
5 Materials
$50
2 Days

We had already purchased molds from Lowe's that made this pattern. We are using this pattern that will come off the back porch and out to our sitting area with burn pit and adding two hammock chairs. We did not want everything to be matched, so we had to figure what kind of pattern we wanted. My hubby is building a bigger shop, that is why everything is in the yard. In the process of cleaning out the old shed we had a lot of empty ice cream buckets and knew someday we would use them for something.

Hometalk Recommends!

Add a magical glow to your walkway with these best selling outdoor fairy lights that Amazon reviewers swear by!

First step, tear out old walkway.

Second step, cut of bottoms of ice cream buckets at about same distance for all and cover inside of mold with a film of oil so the concrete does not stick and mold will slide much easier.

Then lay them out in the pattern you want, fill with cement and let it cure enough so it will stay together when you take them out of mold, we just used the handles and pulled them off and it worked pretty good.

The next day we added sand between the blocks. They are pretty level, but we are going to let them sit for about two or three weeks and go back and level them out again.

This is what it looks like so far, I put in some shells, bits of glass etc. for A little color here and there.

I will post pics when it is all finished,, but all in all we love it.

Want to improve your home's exterior?

Find more inspiring ways to boost the beauty of your front yard with our post on 14 New and Affordable Ways to Add Curb Appeal

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 111 questions
  • Kent Staff Kent Staff on Feb 23, 2024

    What did you use to cut the heavy plastic ice cream buckets?

  • Gail Brunk Kellison Gail Brunk Kellison on Aug 18, 2025

    Just wondering if you could use Pam spray on the buckets to keep the cement from sticking?

  • Smi167133811 Smi167133811 on Oct 13, 2025

    What the hell is an ice cream bucket??????????

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 390 comments
  • Simply Simply on Dec 15, 2023

    What a fabulous idea! My dad was an ice cream addict and save his buckets! I know what I'm going to be using them for! Thanks for sharing this. As I'm sitting here thinking why didn't I think of that?! Brilliant just Brilliant! ✌🏼

  • Pam Mork Pam Mork on Feb 25, 2024

    It's possible you could get two molds from each bucket. Sizes might be a little different. You can also use small cardboard flats from canned good, or cut small cardboard boxes to the depth you want -- line them with plastic shopping bags. This worked well when we were making stepping stones.

Next