halloween fun

A Halloween display just isn't complete without a little faux cemetery. Of course, you'll go to an early grave broke if you try to buy more than a few gravestones from the Halloween store or party center. They charge an arm and a leg for them. You can make a whole cemetery full of tombstones for the cost of one or two store-bought ones.

Step 1) Look up a nearby Home Depot or Lowes or any home center to make sure they stock sheets of styrofoam insulation. Not very store will have it.

Step 2) If you have a vehicle that cannot hold a large sheet of styrofoam, bring along a kitchen knife for some on-site surgery.

Step 3) Head to the local home center that carries the styrofoam insulation.

Step 4) The first thing to do at the home center is get a can of flat black spray paint.

Step 5) You are going to went to get the styrofoam last as it may be big and unwieldy to walk through the store with. Sheets come in various sizes. Pick out what you need to accommodate the number of headstones and sizes you want. The huge 4'x8' sheets may be the best deal, and if you have that knife, you can cut 'em down in the parking lot. Choose thick sheets as they look more like actual headstones. You might also grab a thin sheet to make little "add-ons" to the main headstones later.

Step 6) If you need to, cut down the styrofoam in the parking lot to fit it into your car, then drive your supplies home.

Step 7) When you get home, trace out a pattern. (Suggestion: leave the protective plastic coating that is on the styrofoam on for drawing & cutting). Use that same kitchen knife to carefully and safely cut out several gravestone shapes. You might also choose to use a craft knife or box-cutter. Be VERY CAREFUL using these and ALWAYS CUT AWAY from your body. Be careful to never hold the styrofoam by by placing a hand underneath where the knife may cut through.

Step 8) You may choose (optional) to cut in a few cracks or even break off small pieces of the styrofoam to age your creepy tombstone.

Step 9) Another optional item: If you brought home some thin sheets of styrofoam, cut out little squares (bricks) or stones and then place them onto the larger thick tombstone. The perfect way to make them stick is use a small finishing nail or wire (anything rigid) to stick through it and hold it to the larger tombstone along with GLUE (spray mount or rubber cement.) Neither glue nor pins/nails alone will hold the pieces. Use both!

Step 10) Carve out any slogans of designs. A large black permanent marker (and we mean the GIANT ones) can also be used to literally carve words into the styrofoam as the ink will melt the styrofoam as it sets into it.

Step 11) Use spray paint to add the final touches to your tombstone. BE SURE TO SPRAY IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA! There's no need to be precise, a random uneven spray pattern will look more realistic. Simply "dusting" the styrofoam will give the most "stone like" results. The Spray paint will unevenly melt and disintegrate the styrofoam creating an incredibly realistic stone-like effect.

Step 12) In order to get your gravestones to stand you must use some sort of stake or spike. THe quickest way is to use a coat hanger. Cut it into two pieces. Straighten the two wires out and stick them into the bottom of the headstone. Later, stick the whole thing into the ground. If you have a really large headstone or have a very windy Halloween, you may want to get some wooden garden stakes to anchor your tombstones down.

Step 13) Presentation is everything! Get some dead leaves and branches and place them around the headstone and on your cemetery lawn.

That's it! Do this process over and over to fill up a whole graveyard of haunted tombstones. They're a must for any Halloween display!