How to Make Hand Crafted Tombstones

You can make a Halloween tombstone out of craft supplies.

When you are decorating for Halloween, it can be exciting to make your house look as scary and frightening as possible. One way to do this is to set up a mock graveyard in your front yard complete with tombstones. Although you can find faux tombstones at a department or party supply store, they can often be flimsy and cheap-looking. One solution is to make your own tombstones using materials that can be purchased from a craft supply store.

Things You'll Need

• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Pen knife
• Hot glue gun
• Hot glue stick
• Bowl
• Flour
• Salt
• Larger lettering stamps
• Textured paint, dark gray
• Textured paint, light gray
• Paintbrush
• Sponge brush

Instructions

1. Cut out two tombstone forms from cardboard to measure 18 inches wide, 24 inches long each. The tops should be rounded. Cut out a rectangle from cardboard to measure 4 inches wide and 84 inches long.

2. Lay the long rectangle horizontally onto a table, and score the 84-inch long rectangle by cutting vertical lines down the entire form. Only cut halfway into the cardboard using a pen knife. This will allow the rectangle to become flexible and bendable.

3. Insert a hot glue stick into a hot glue gun, and plug it in to heat up for 10 minutes. Squeeze a line of hot glue down the entire length of the scored strip, positioning the hot glue right near the left edge of the strip.

4. Place the bottom edge of one of the tombstone pieces against the bottom glued edge of the strip, and roll the strip around the entire tombstone form. Hold in place for 3 minutes so that the glue can cool and harden.

5. Squeeze a line of hot glue along the other side of the strip, and place the other tombstone piece in place to complete the basic form of the tombstone. Allow the form to cool for 3 minutes.

6. Fill a bowl with 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt and 2 cups of water Mix well, then spread the mixture over the entire tombstone. Press lettering stamps into the soft paste, which will look like engraved lettering on a tombstone. Allow the paste to dry for 1 hour. This will make the tombstone look like crumbling stone.

7. Paint the entire tombstone using waterproof textured paint. Apply dark gray textured paint first using a paintbrush, then sponge on lighter gray textured paint using a sponge brush. This will make the tombstone look like real stone. Allow the tombstone to dry for 1 hour before placing it outside.