Tombstones Made Easy

**MokkNoir** · 11-23-2009,05:06 PM

Here's a quick and easy way to make some tombstones. I made mine from materials already laying around added to the gift tombstones a friend of mine picked up for me.

Here's some cheap dollar store tombstones. Seriously, they cost $1 each.

This pic puts the tombstone in perspective. You can see how small it is; very whimpy!

So, I whipped out my trusty little x-acto knife and went to town. Here I've harvested the vital parts:

This is a section of 3/4" tongue-and-groove plywood that was about 1' x 4', which I cut in half. I placed the lid of a five gallon bucket on the end of each and marked my rounded tops that got cut out with a jigsaw. Once I had my final shape I hit 'em with a palm sander to round off the edges and smooth the surface. (Also, I had to fill in a couple of saw lines with spackle. Here I've put 'em in the sun to dry:

Spray paint 'em black:

Next I hot-glued the cutout sections to my board (The other one, I actually didn't even cut anything out, I just glued the whole tombstone to my board). Then I spray painted them all black followed up by a "Stone" spray paint:

Here's the stone spray paint:

I came back and did a dry sponge technique with white paint to make it pop!

Finally, I sprayed 'em with a clear sealing spray and added some stakes to hold 'em up:

I made these on Halloween afternoon, it was really easy and they look great. They are also pretty sturdy once setup. Also, as a last note, be careful when trying to spray paint foam since it tends to eat away the foam. My pieces didn't do that except for one small area, but it actually made it look a little more realistic. Always test paint your foam before trying to paint your actual foam prop pieces.

**BackYardHaunter** · 11-24-2009,03:31 AM

yes the spray paint thing is important but it u need an older stone spray away! great project! i love these doller tree stones i have over 10. all tricked out. lol

-BYH

**LadyAlthea** · 11-24-2009,05:01 AM

wow !! i have a few of these dollar store tombstones. I really like how you used what you had right there..

really simple and really effective!

**Terra** · 11-24-2009,07:48 AM

Good idea! I will look at those cheapy stones in a new light. 'Harvested' is a good word. Like harvesting organs.. MUH ha ha haa....

**MokkNoir** · 11-24-2009,10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Terra

Good idea! I will look at those cheapy stones in a new light. 'Harvested' is a good word. Like harvesting organs.. MUH ha ha haa....

Thanks! I couldn't help myself, it seemed so fitting to the site.

**operatingnurse** · 11-24-2009,05:23 PM

That rocks! Paste those wimpy $1 store tombstones to real foam. Quick, cheap, easy, I'm there. I need filler tombstones for next year and this idea fits the bill perfectly. Thanks.