Thread: Where to get nice sturdy tomestones?

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I was just wondering if anyone knew where to get some sturdy tomestones? I have seen some at Micheal's but wondered if there were any other places people may suggest.

Thanks

The only way to get good tombstone is to build them. Just search tombstones on here and you'll get tons of tutorials.

Originally Posted by LostinTheDarkProductions

The only way to get good tombstone is to build them. Just search tombstones on here and you'll get tons of tutorials.

Thanks, will try that.

It's not that easy to find sturdy tombstones in the retail market - not without paying alot of money. I agree with Lostinthedark - make your own. The time investment will really pay off and it's much easier than you think. One well spent weekend can yield you a graveyard full.

I've gotten some decent ones at Walgreen's and Wal-mart.
The sturdiest one I've bought is one of those hard resin ones from Target.

i have these all over my stores and the are very stable . http://www.trendyhalloween.com/Cross...3ft-P7565.aspx
you can even add steaks to the bottom for grass.. hope this helps ..

I second learning to make your own. Everyone winds up figuring out a way that they like doing them.

If you really insist on buying them, though, I do sell basic stones through my Etsy shop. This style of stone didn't get blown off the side of a mountain last year where all the store-bought ones did. For clarification, my brother lives on the side of a mountain. You go fifteen feet behind his house and there's a thirty foot drop followed by woods as far as the eye can see. Wicked winds and all that.

I have bought the cheap tombstones and been able to make them more sturdy really cheap. The metal spikes that come with some of them are near worthless. I use a wooden stake. Now, you may ask, "How do you attach a wooden stake to a stryofoam tombstone?" I actually use shims. Stick with me. I take two shims and glue them together to create a cheap piece of wood. I'm sure you could just use a cheap piece of wood, but I don't have to cut these. As you may know, shims are not level. If you flip one of them, you actually create a fairly level piece of wood once they are glued together. Next step is to spray paint them to closely resemble the tombstone they are going on. Once spray painted, I attach the shim to the back of the tombstone. Normally I use one, but I have used two on larger tombstones. Then I drive a wooden stake into the yard and screw the stake to the shim attached to the back of the tombstone. The only way this has ever failed me in high winds is a bad glue job. I have used hot glue and liquid nails. Liquid nails works better. Make sure to use something that works on styrofoam.

Styrofoam is easy to carve and easy to carry off and store but I do wonder about the durability of even well made homemade tombstones. I wonder if you could give it a thin coat of epoxy to harden it a bit. There's also that stuff called Vanillacryl that's for hardening styrofoam.

Originally Posted by StonebridgeCemetery

I have bought the cheap tombstones and been able to make them more sturdy really cheap. The metal spikes that come with some of them are near worthless. I use a wooden stake. Now, you may ask, "How do you attach a wooden stake to a stryofoam tombstone?" I actually use shims. Stick with me. I take two shims and glue them together to create a cheap piece of wood. I'm sure you could just use a cheap piece of wood, but I don't have to cut these. As you may know, shims are not level. If you flip one of them, you actually create a fairly level piece of wood once they are glued together. Next step is to spray paint them to closely resemble the tombstone they are going on. Once spray painted, I attach the shim to the back of the tombstone. Normally I use one, but I have used two on larger tombstones. Then I drive a wooden stake into the yard and screw the stake to the shim attached to the back of the tombstone. The only way this has ever failed me in high winds is a bad glue job. I have used hot glue and liquid nails. Liquid nails works better. Make sure to use something that works on styrofoam.

Do you have pics to better describe what you are talking about?