Did you realize this Sunday is Mother's Day? Have you bought anything for your mother (and your MIL), yet? Why not give her a hand decorating her yard with a concrete stepping stone with her grandchild's hand or footprint on it?

If you don't have kids, make one with your mom's favorite grandpet. Don't laugh...I've done them with my dog and cats. The dog didn't care. The cats are still pissed off.

Stepping stones are a great last minute gift ideas for grandmas. They are fairly inexpensive (A.C. Moor had a flyer in the paper yesterday advertising their stepping stone kit for less than $10), kids enjoy making them and they last for years.

I make a stepping stone with my kids every year on their birthday -- pressing their hands into the stone and then I add their name & age with special plastic alphabet stamps for concrete (available at A.C. Moore). Now, I have a path of stones showing how their tiny hands have grown over the years.

The kits are probably your best buy since they have everything you need -- the concrete and the mold -- and they give you complete instructions. They are not hard to make, but be aware -- especially if you're working with a baby -- that they will never be perfect.

Here are a few tips:

1. Follow the package instructions for mixing the concrete exactly. The water ratio is important -- too runny and you'll wait hours and hours for the water to evaporate. If it's too dry -- the concrete will harden before you can finish your project.

2. If you're working with a baby -- two people are required. One to hold the baby and one to press the hand or foot into the concrete. I'd suggest using feet with anyone under 1 -- otherwise, they do what kids who put their hands in goopy stuff do -- they scrunch their hand (and try to put a handful of concrete in their mouth).

3. Let the concrete set a bit before you press anything into it -- if the hole fills right back in, it's not ready yet. Give it a few more minutes.

4. You will NOT be able to move the mold for several hours while it dries. So...be sure to work where you can leave the stone for hours (a corner of the garage is always a good place). If you move it, it will crack -- trust me...been there, done that.

5. If you don't want to invest in the alphabet stamps, you can write their name in the stone using an bent paperclip. Rather than trying to write like you would with a pencil -- make the letters with a poking motion (otherwise, you'll get ridges of concrete on the side of the letter).

6. Feel free to embellish -- you can use stones, beach glass, sequins, faux jewels ... just about anything you want to push in there.

7. If you don't have room to write the year on the stone, stick a 2006 coin (penny, dime, whatever...) in the stone.

8. Work ahead. They require 24 hours of dry time....so you gotta do this by Saturday morning if you want to give it to Grandma on Sunday.