Making them in Moar Concrete

The shaped pieces are made from concrete you already have, so there is nothing new to gather first.

• On a crafting bench — the usual shape recipes: three across two rows in a stepped pattern for stairs, a row of three for slabs and walls, the standard fence and gate arrangements, and a single block for a button.
• With a cutter — most pieces also have a cutting recipe, which is the cheaper route when you need a lot of one shape.

Broken blocks drop themselves, so anything placed can be taken back and used elsewhere.