Thread: Good Quality Tombstones

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Greetings,

Last year, my wife and I managed to get some decent tombstones the day after Halloween at the Spirit Store, Halloween Store, and a couple other places at really good prices. 30" tall ones for $10, etc and some smaller ones even cheaper.

Unfortunately, this year, the days after Halloween I was extremely busy and couldn't get to these type of stores in time. Also, I never really saw any good ones before halloween to even scout out to try and get after halloween cheaper. My friend says he bought 4-5 at Walmart that were 3' tall for $6 a piece after halloween. I haven't seen them yet, but I am sure they are not as good as the ones I like.

I prefer realistic looking and not "corny character" ones with cartoony writng, etc.

I am looking for a good place that makes or has GOOD / GREAT tombstones at good prices. Paying $39 for a chunk of foam around halloween seems a bit obsurd.

I notices some people were selling some good ones on here a few weeks ago - but it seems they are all gone.

Can anyone point me in the right direction.

I appreciate the help in advance.

Thanks.

-HiRez00

Custom Tombstone sale
i can custom make you some. PMed.

sent you a PM

As far as realism, head here:

Props for Rent :: Stock and Custom Tombstone Props for Rent

crazy expensive and rental only I believe but they are the best I've ever seen outside of a cemetery!

Realisitcially, for anything nice, you'll pay WAY more than they're worth once you factor in shipping. I've actually made some stones for folks who do yard displays and am starting to investigate the market for them locally. I'm doing my first craft show this weekend and plan to take orders for stones to be custom made. I can sell a 44 inch tall stone with two tier base and custom engraving for $40.00. Compared to the $30.00 crap ones sold at Halloween outlets, it's a fantastic bargain. I'd make them for you but shipping them assembled would not be practical so you'd have to do some final assembly/touch-up. A 4x8 piece of foam board costs about $20.00 so figure that you could make your own for a FRACTION of what you'll buy them for. Here are a few of mine I made this year for my display.
A big part of this Halloween "hobby" is making stuff yourself to get what you want. It would make a nice winter project and you could have a whole cemetery by the time H'ween 2010 rolls around!

Originally Posted by hirez00

Greetings,

Last year, my wife and I managed to get some decent tombstones the day after Halloween at the Spirit Store, Halloween Store, and a couple other places at really good prices. 30" tall ones for $10, etc and some smaller ones even cheaper.

Unfortunately, this year, the days after Halloween I was extremely busy and couldn't get to these type of stores in time. Also, I never really saw any good ones before halloween to even scout out to try and get after halloween cheaper. My friend says he bought 4-5 at Walmart that were 3' tall for $6 a piece after halloween. I haven't seen them yet, but I am sure they are not as good as the ones I like.

I prefer realistic looking and not "corny character" ones with cartoony writng, etc.

I am looking for a good place that makes or has GOOD / GREAT tombstones at good prices. Paying $39 for a chunk of foam around halloween seems a bit obsurd.

I notices some people were selling some good ones on here a few weeks ago - but it seems they are all gone.

Can anyone point me in the right direction.

I appreciate the help in advance.

Thanks.

-HiRez00

I make them locally, but have never shipped them before. Depending on the size, I charge between $15-$30. These are made of Dow blue or pink board and will last forever. I can even help with the custom wording and fonts.

Few pics attached. I always have material onhand and can usually have them done in a week. Keep me in mind.
Vince

It's least expensive to make your own. you get exactly what you want for cost of materials + your time. As a hobby, you can dump time into them and be happy. Terra has the most awesome tutorial posted to the forum. If you start now, you could have some very realistic stones made by October '10.

If you can't find what you want locally, send me a PM with what you want to pay and we can talk about what you could reasonably get for that price. I make fairly realistic prop stones--look great at 6' but don't stand up to close inspection. I prefer serious epitaphs and names. cute is fine for those who like it; I just don't go that way. Depending on the size and the thickness of the foam you want, these might be a viable option. Take a look in my albums for examples of my work. Hope you can find what you want.

Hirez00 - I agree with the "make your own" philosophy. A little time and a little money and you can really make some tombstones that you'll love and will be distinctly yours. I see your in Los Angeles, and I can email you some good links plus a good place to get foam in our area (not the easiest place to find foam). A sheet of 2 x 8 will run your around $45 and I can usually get 5 stones out of it (depending on what size you want). Just let me know if you're interested.

Originally Posted by pandora

Hirez00 - I agree with the "make your own" philosophy. A little time and a little money and you can really make some tombstones that you'll love and will be distinctly yours. I see your in Los Angeles, and I can email you some good links plus a good place to get foam in our area (not the easiest place to find foam). A sheet of 2 x 8 will run your around $45 and I can usually get 5 stones out of it (depending on what size you want). Just let me know if you're interested.

Pandora,
I live in San Diego and was able to find a distributor in Riverside that carried the pink Foamular 250. I got 1 sheet of 1", 3 sheets of 11/2" and 2 sheets of 2". All 4x8 foot sheets. Came to $200 but well worth it after working with the white stuff for my first 2 tombstones.
The company is IDI and the phone number is 951-682-0809.