# Tombstones. Store bought or home made?



## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

Hey haunt friends. Was wondering what type of tombstones you guys use and what everyone favors. Those store bought foam ones look nice but seem flimsy. I have a mix of simple wood tombstones and foam Walgreen ones haha.. seems like some haunnters look down on the walgreens target variety. If you do buy where from?


----------



## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

I have a mix of home made and those heavy plastic store bought type. The ones you can get at K Mart or Target. The home made are obviously far superior as far as design. Besides most of my own stones are animated in some way. The store bought I use to hide lighting, or speakers. At night you can really only see their shapes. Slowly, as they wear out, which they do, I am replacing them with my own.


----------



## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

I also have a mix. I have about 8 tombstones that I made years ago and I obtained 6 sturdy tombstones from Spirit and Garden Ridge. I've only had to incorporate wooden dowels to use in place of the provided cheap feet or stands for the store bought ones. I use a half inch dowel about 8 inches long and drill 4 inches into the bottom of the tombstone. Then I pound the dowel 4 inches into the ground and put the tombstones over the exposed remaining dowel. This really helps with stability.


----------



## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

Very cool. Thanks for the input. I can't wait to hit up garden ridge


----------



## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Have a go at making your own. I was intimidated at first but they really aren't that difficult and nothing says satisfaction like something you've made with your own hands.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

We started with mostly store bought and now have more homemade than purchased. However, we never turn down a good deal on a store bought stone that looks good


----------



## wandererrob (Aug 8, 2007)

Mine are mostly homemade from pink or blue foam. I prefer making my own because it allows for more interesting designs if you're so inclined. It give you the flexibility to make your own designs, names, epitaphs and if you have the time, they can usually be far cheaper. They also tend to be stronger than many of the store-bought ones, which are usually made from the white, expanded polystyrene versus the extruded polystyrene of blue/pink foam. 

Even so, I do have a bunch of store-bought ones my mom got at a huge discount. She used to work for a major craft store and got stones and skulls dirt cheap with her employee discount+coupons . I can't turn down free Halloween stuff if it's given to me! I use those for background filler and for the little roadside cemetery on my front hill. I don't really feel the need to much much effort into the ones beyond the first few rows as they're too far back for any real detail to be appreciated. Still, I've used the backs of some to paint my own names/simple epitaphs.

This year, weather permitting, I'm going to add the stones that started me down this crazy path. My parents started this madness when I was a kid by making a bunch of goofy gravestones out of cardboard. And now they are mine! I'm planning to set them up somewhere as a little tribute to my mom.


----------



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

I just love my Home-made stones. I can't imagine buying another stone from a store. With minimal effort they look as good or better than store-bought. With substantial effort they can be unsurpassed (Just check out some of the great work from SK Auston or JDubbya just to mention a few). Home made stones will last 10 times longer than store bought, Not to mention the fact that my TOT's won't ever see another stone like mine at another house.

The best part is, that once you make 5-6 stones of your own... and then go to the store to look at buying one, the store bought stones just don't cut it anymore. With a few exceptions, they look Cheezy and mass produced (Well they, are aren't they??). Plus with home made, and proven anchoring systems, your stones will survive where as the storebought ones might need a GPS tracking system on them to find them after a big storm. There are so many great turorials out there. So Take the plunge and make a few of your own. It SOOO Much more satisfying than buying them. Oh and you can make 3 or more Larger stones for the price of one tiny store bought stone.


----------



## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

Cool any tutorial video that are haunt forum approved


----------



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

I'd bet that by tomorrow evening our beloved Roxy (Moderator extroadinaire) will have 5-10 "Approved" Tutorials and links available. I believe if it's Not selling something (Making a profit) or not obscene or misrepresentative, it's approved by Hauntforum . Sponsors aside.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Aw, Niblique, ya flatterer, you

How about a link with 5-10 or 20 links to other tutorials?:jol:

http://www.hauntproject.com/projdetail.asp?category=Tombstones

Also check out the challenge archives for the tournament of tombstones done as a $20 prop contest a few years ago here. Some of the photos are missing, but the general "how I did it" descriptions and material lists will be there:

http://www.hauntforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22


----------



## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

Haha good deal


----------



## Blackrose1978 (Aug 13, 2011)

I have a mix of store bought (which melted last year in July's heat blast) wooden ones I made and new foam ones I am creating this year. In past I have prefered my wooden ones because of my mad paint jobs but I am experimenting with the styrofoam this year so we will see.


----------



## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

The rule in my haunt is all "featured" props have to be home made. I do have one store bought tombstone that I use as a filler prop, but I carved the other five or so.


----------



## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Making your own gives you so much more freedom in shape, size, and the level of detail. As noted, store bought tend to be mass produced, though not always, but they can be helpful in filling out a cemetery. The small simple ones are good to place at the back rows, with them set closer together (both side to side and front to back). Doing that can help fool the eye of the viewer into thinking your cemetery is bigger than it really is. We can't see the detail or read the writing on distant stones or objects so the simplicity of those stones works perfectly for that.
You can put a skeleton in as a stone mason who is cutting or carving stones right there in your cemetery if you want something different from the usual.


----------



## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

All but three of mine are homemade. I started out collecting a few new store bought stones each year. They were "OK" but expensive and generic. When I began making my own, it was fun to come up with orignal designs, epitaphs, etc.. For the price of one decent store bought stone, you can make 4 or 5 stones from a single sheet of foam board.


----------



## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Jdubbya - every time I see that photo it brings a smile to my face - you do AWESOME stones!


----------



## Wildcat (Nov 3, 2007)

EverydayisHalloween311 I wouldn't really say people look down on the store bought stones. It's just that for a similar (or cheaper) price most of us can make a stone that is better looking, more creative and lasts a lot longer. Plus there's the satisfaction when someone looks at one and asks "Where did you buy that?"
I would never look down on a display that was completely store bought. I'm just happy that someone is keeping the spirit of Halloween alive. That being said.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Get out there and make some stones:jol:


----------



## grimreaper1962 (Jun 17, 2012)

All of mine at this moment are store bought and some from thrift stores. I do plan on making at least 4 or 6 of my own with in the next month or so. I have a whole week in August at my camper on vacation. That is where I do my haunting!


----------



## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

Copchick said:


> I also have a mix. I have about 8 tombstones that I made years ago and I obtained 6 sturdy tombstones from Spirit and Garden Ridge. I've only had to incorporate wooden dowels to use in place of the provided cheap feet or stands for the store bought ones. I use a half inch dowel about 8 inches long and drill 4 inches into the bottom of the tombstone. Then I pound the dowel 4 inches into the ground and put the tombstones over the exposed remaining dowel. This really helps with stability.


I really like the dowel idea for stabilization.


----------



## EverydayisHalloween311 (Oct 14, 2011)

OK I wanna try. What kinda foam What kinda paint and what tools of the trade do I need.


----------



## The Rotten Pumpkin (Mar 28, 2010)

Up through last year I had a high-detail walkthrough in my garage so I really didn't put that much effort into my yard. Mainly, I used it to house the sign that advertised the walkthrough. I did however have 6-8 cross-shaped white tombstones with comedic names written on them, like "I.M. Dead," "U.B. Next," etc.

However, if I'm ever put in the position where I was doing solely a yard haunt and that was my main project for Halloween (instead of a walkthrough), I can see no reasoning for NOT carving my own tombstones. Just the level of detail you can achieve by doing it yourself is so far superior to the storebought variety that they just end up looking stupid.


----------



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

EverydayisHalloween311 said:


> OK I wanna try. What kinda foam What kinda paint and what tools of the trade do I need.


I happen to prefer the 2" Pink or Blue dense foam. Some people prefer the white beaded stuff, but in my experiance it is a weaker foam and needs more protection than the pink or blue stuff.

Since you apparently live in a northern area, You can get the Pink stuff from Home Depot. After choosing a design, The first thing I like to do is re-enforce the mounting points by drilling 2 deep holes in the bottom of the stone so you can insert two 12" long pieces of 1/2" PVC and glue them in with Great Stuff. I ALWAYS do this first in case you accidentally ventillate your tombstone. Here is how I re-enforce my stones Tombstone reenforcing

I prefer to use an electric Jigsaw to cut the basic tombstone shapes. Some use a Hot wire cutter.

After that there are 3 basic ways to make your lettering. Most of them involve printing out your engraving then cutting or burning through the paper to get the letters just right and aligned.

1) Exacto Knife to cut your letters.
2) Hot Soldering Iron or wood buring tool.
3) Dremmel tool.

There are several tutorials and hints about all of these techniques on Hauntforum as well as on YouTube.

There's even more Tutorials on how to distress, Paint, and Age your tombstones. Just do a search and you will be overwhelmed with videos of differernt techniques.


----------



## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

I do have store bought that were given to me at one of my bring your own tombstone parties. and one from the xmas exchange here in the forum. Other than that I make all mine. . I use lannon stone ,wood, and couch cushion foam which are pretty good in the wind since I did some adjusting. This year I am working on hopefully more windproof tombstones made from styro foam..you will have to wait till I finish one before I elaborate on that.


----------



## highbury (Nov 5, 2009)

All of mine are home made. Because my cemetery is away from the driveway on a hill, I was able to make my stones and custom epitaphs a bit larger so that they could still be read by curious parents. To me, there is something much more satisfying (and fun!) about taking the time to create a custom tombstone than simply buying one at the store.


----------



## QueenRuby2002 (Oct 23, 2011)

All mine are homemade as well though up untill this year that ment rounded plywood painted grey with lettering painted on. Now I'm getting into up grading them by glueing on stryfoam and carving them. That being said ZombieF if you read this we should have another tombstone challenge. That looked like fun.


----------



## wandererrob (Aug 8, 2007)

QueenRuby2002 said:


> All mine are homemade as well though up untill this year that ment rounded plywood painted grey with lettering painted on. Now I'm getting into up grading them by glueing on stryfoam and carving them. That being said ZombieF if you read this we should have another tombstone challenge. That looked like fun.


If you get the 1.5" or 2" pink/blue foam, you won't need to glue them to the plywood. Then you can make new stones and keep your old ones as filler in the background. That's what I usually do as I make newer, more detailed stones. The old ones, get pushed back but still used. That way I'm not making a whole new stone with no net gain in "population".


----------



## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

I do the same as wanderrob. My older ones are background filler, and my newer ones/better detailed ones get front row treatment. Every other year or so, I scramble them around, and put some of the older ones towards the front. I also re-vamp the tea staining on them every couple of years.

For stones, I use 2-3 inch blue high density foam. Drylock for base coat and waterproofing (Home Depot can tint it for you.) Monster mud dry brushed over drylock. The tea staining I do in layers. Brightest colors on first layer (red, blue, green, yellow) earth tones next (brown, tan, olive drab, etc.) then black or dark gray (very watered down. Imagine an acid rain wash type look.) I speckle the top edges with off white colors watered down, so that it looks like pigeon droppings. Just a personal touch, but I've never seen a real tombstone without bird poop on it, so i go with what I know.

After all the tea staining dries, I like to put a clear coat over the whole thing. Home depot sells a great matte clear spray paint that won't break the bank. I can usually get about three 36" tall stones 18 inches wide and 3 inches thick with one can. I doubt it's actually needed though.


----------



## k-angel (Jul 31, 2012)

*Homemade*

My favorite gravestones I made years ago from plaster. I used a very cheap plastic tombstone that had a backside that could be filled. And even though one has broken through the years it still looks stunning. To bad I can no longer find those terribly cheap gravestones as they were excellent molds.


----------

