DIY Tombstones- cheap and easy!

[retroeva]

I was looking at buying tombstones for my front yard and they were killer expensive for ones that were bigger than a shoe box and looked half way decent. I found this really neat website www.spookyblue.com and I realized that it would be super easy and cheap to make them myself. Basically we went to the old hardware store and picked up some foam board. We were looking for the pink or blue stuff but it was no where to be found so we got this stuff instead. It was only $5 a board and its 2" thick leaving plenty of room for rebar to stick it into the ground. We researched designs and epithaps and drew them on with a sharpie. Just take the protective film off first. Trust me on this... 



The hardest part of it all was picking out names! I had a chorus teacher in high school that I loathed so Mr. Fuller, this one is for you! *jazz hands*
Then grab some black and grey LATEX paint. Since this is going to be outside it needs to be water resistant. A pint did all three front and back for me. Cut out the shape and slather on the black nice and thick making sure to get into all the writing. I cut my writing out with a cheap-o engraver but a dremel would work just as good. Let it dry overnight then very lightly drag a brush of grey over the black. As long as you don't saturate the brush (I used a cheap foam brush) and don't get heavy handed it won't get into the grooves. Even if it does leak a bit I think it looks like a very old limestone tombstone that has seen one decade too many of acid rain. Here is what we have!





To stake them into the ground we have some 9" rebar that was only 65 cents a pop! We thought about using a water sprinkler stake but they were $1.50 each so since we were buying 6 of them we decided to go the cheaper route. It gets pretty windy here in the Wenatchee Valley so the rebar should hold up quite nicely. Happy Hauntings!!!

[ambermi]

Cemetaries always creeped me out. And these are creeping me out... so yeah... it works!!
A little too real for me... but that's a good thing in this case!!

[acajjou]

Great idea - thanks for the instructions, too!  I love the different shapes and styles you went with, too.  They're lovely!

[retroeva]

Cemetaries always creeped me out. And these are creeping me out... so yeah... it works!!
A little too real for me... but that's a good thing in this case!!

Sweet! I'll take that as a compliment and run, lol

Great idea - thanks for the instructions, too!  I love the different shapes and styles you went with, too.  They're lovely!

It was so fun researching different shapes and images and what they meant. When I was in high school I had a goth phase (okay, I never grew out of it all the way ) and my cousin gave me this book on southern tombstones and the one with the wilted lilly came out of that. There were some really neat looking ones with lambs. My husband says the one with the skull looks like the opening of "Mystery Theatre" on PBS that Edward Gorey did.

[Aliped]

Wow .... they are REALLY creepy!!

[missmeganmisery]

THEY LOOK SO GOOD!
i am gonna have to try this.

[birgitmaus]

I wanted to do a graveyard in my yard this year but was worried about the cost - this looks great, affordable and reusable!
 

[kewlmomma]

AWSOME JOB! Thank you so much for the web site. I got tons of ideas for Halloween now. 

[retroeva]

I wish I had more time! There is so much cool stuff in there. I get paid at the end of the month and I can't wait to go buy a fog machine and some more creepy cloth to hang from my porch ceiling. They have a super neat bubble fog machine I have my eyes on.... not to mention the faces in my jack o lanterns this year too

[waspnest]

Ah! My mom used to make these and reuse them every year, until they just fell apart from weathering and such. She had such good rhyming phrases and those ironic double-meaning names. I must admit, yours look more authentic though (hers were spray painted styrofoam all cut out in the traditional tombstone shape). Great job!