# Easy Aging for Tombstones



## SpookySam

I know, I know...there are so many tombstone tutorials already online. Somebody has probably already come up with this method, but I thought I'd post it since I haven't seen it before.

Like so many tombstone painting strategies, this involves paint and water, but the approach is a little bit different. This time I used regular old white beaded styrofoam.

You'll need paint, a paintbrush, a paint roller, and a hose with water sprayer.

1. Once your stone is carved, put a solid coat of something dark on it. It can be black, brown, green...just make sure it is fairly dark. Use a brush to make sure you fill every hole and crack.









2. After your dark coat is dry, come back and use a roller to put a lighter coat on top. Again, it can be any color you like, as long as it is significantly lighter than your base coat.









3. While the light top coat is still wet, begin lightly spraying your tombstone. Go over it with repeat gentle washings until you see the light paint begin to thin and wash away.








Don't get carried away. It is better to take a step back and take a look before you wash too much off.









4. Let it dry, and you're done.


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## SpookySam

Here are a couple of others I did using this method.


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## Bone Dancer

Very good results and its simple, thanks. I have to repaint my stones this year and will give it a try.


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## Terra

Fantastic! They look so weather beaten. Gonna have to try this.


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## tot13

Tombstones are the one thing on my list to make (just keep using those nasty plywood ones, lol) that I never seem to get to. I think maybe this trick of your's is what I've been waiting on. Thanks for sharing this with us -


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## pagan

Very nice effect


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## Wildcat

Very nice. I'll have to try this on my next one.


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## IshWitch

I have to repaint mine, too. I am definitely giving this a try on some of them!
Thanks!


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## Dixie

Well, it can't be any simpler than that, and such GREAT results. Adding this to memory


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## fick209

Extremely simple and great results. Thanks for posting this!


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## Jaybo

Well, DUH! 

I feel like I just had one of those V8 moments.

What a great way to paint a stone. Will definitely be trying this out on some new fence columns.


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## RoxyBlue

We've done aging by dribbling diluted paint on a stone, but your method gives more realistic results in a more efficient way. We'll have to give this a try on the next stone.


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## Just Whisper

What a great finish. I like that look. Thanks for sharing.


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## Spooky1

I love the results you got. Looks like we'll be trying out a new aging method on our next tombstone. Thanks for the post, Sam.


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## samseide

This is amazing. After looking at all the various ways to do tombstone painting, this is by far the simplest method I've seen! You could line up a bunch of tombstones, paint the light color then just walk from tombstone to tombstone spraying them down. So easy!


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## joker

We did something very similar with some of our walls last year. Here's a pic of my son applying some diluted paint to the top of a wall and misting with water for the distressed look.










Here's with some additional colors


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## tot13

Joker those walls look great! Very realistic -


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## Uruk-Hai

I really like this method. I've been looking to get some variety with the finish of my tombstones and this would work great. I'll have to give it a try. Thanks!!


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## steveshauntedyard

Sweet Sam good to see ya getting busy. Keep it coming man those look great! Hope you can make the next make and take. We are planning a bring what you need to finish event in August or September.


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## DeadRN

Wow! That's so easy!


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## Hallowennie315

This is so great and easy! I am def. gonna try this on my tombstones this year! By the way, how do you get such great looking cracks on your tombstones?


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## Haunted Bayou

Fantastic effect and super easy.


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## Rahnefan

That looks nice and simple. Thank you for posting this!


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## SpookySam

Hallowennie315 said:


> This is so great and easy! I am def. gonna try this on my tombstones this year! By the way, how do you get such great looking cracks on your tombstones?


I use a wood burning tool with a spade shaped blade for all the carving. The cracks are the last think I do - I just try to make my hand shake as I carve and do my best to make it look realistic. I know that isn't much help, but I don't have a set process that I follow.


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## samseide

would a soldering iron work for melting foam or is a woodburning tool much hotter?


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## SpookySam

A soldering iron should work fine, but melting foam will probably ruin it for soldering in the future. Also, make sure you have plenty of ventilation.


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## samseide

yeah I had an extra soldering iron that I had no use for so I thought it could pull halloween duty. I also have a respirator and work in a well ventilated area. I'm gonna do this tombstone using your example.


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## spinachetr

Great aging technique. I was worried how I was going to be able to paint AND age 30 tombstones in the next 90 days. This will help. Thanks for sharing.


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## Howlinmadjack

That's great!! I'll have to give this a try with my tombstones as well!!


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## PirateLady

Great job I'll be using this on my tombstones for next year.


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## Girl of Vlad

I hadn't seen this before. Great idea- it has a spooky effect.


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## lisa48317

I wondered how to make the words look like they were running - now I know! Thanks for sharing!

Joker - your wall looks awesome!


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## Resurrected

Very cool paint job...very well done.


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## SPOOKY J

Thanks Sam! Just the idea I needed to help get my stones done on time.


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## Eeeekim

spooky you are once again, my hero.


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## creep factor

Lookin good, very realistic. I use the white beaded board as well. It distresses very nicely. Also have used the wash technique on some stones. Keep up the good work.


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## Terrormaster

Wow, that would have saved me a lot of time on my crypt/tomb. Gonna keep that in mind when I work on the walls this weekend.


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## Darkwalker

Very nice indeed. I was just thinking I needed a few more stones and now I have a quick and easy way to finish them. Thanks!


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## hlmn

A very weathered look and simple I like this technique


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## HalloweenZombie

That's a great painting method. I'm going to have to try it some time.


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## Spooky1

I've got the base coat on a stone and will be trying the top coat and spray today. I just hope the rain holds off long enough so there's time for it to dry.  Thanks again for the post Sam.


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## Spooky1

You were right about overdoing it. I repainted mine twice after washing too much off. The paint will keep thinning for a while after the spray is off. I also took a fine paint brush to get paint out of the cracks I put in the tombstone to make sure they weren't filled in. This is a technique I'll have to play around with a bit. You can definitely get different looks depending on how long you leave the top coat on before spraying and how much you spray.


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## BrainSkillet

wow! I love easy tricks like this that give such a great result. I am in process of redoing my cemetery columns, going to use this process for sure.


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## PirateLady

Great and easy tip...will have to try it out for my cemetery next year....


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## remylass

This is so simple, yet so genius.


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## nurseratchet

wicked cool! I redid 22 stones this year and wish I would have know about this at that time! I'll be trying this next year....for sure!


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## Bethene

very good idea! the stones look great!


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## marsh28

This technique takes awhile to get right. However, I was working on painting some tombstones this weekend with this tutorial and discovered that it works best if the dark color underneath is some "earth toned" color. Initially, my bottom coat was a dark grey and when I put the lighter washed color on top, it didn't look right. However, this weekend I repainted the base coat a dark brown color and then applied the light washed coat. The results were awesome and the stone has an earthy effect that looks VERY authentic. I'll post the results on here when I'm completely done.


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## Draik41895

Oh dear me, this is amazing. How could I have missed this? I was planning making a few more soon and repainting my old ones. Looks like i know how im gonna do it now.


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## CreeepyCathy

glad I saw this, again. I'm also planning to re-paint my stones and want to use this techinque. I've noticed that the stones (in the real cemeteries) around here have more of your bleached look than an all gray like mine. lol


BTW_ great job!!


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## Lunatic

I love the technique and realistic look. The carvings are pretty kick-ass, too!


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## Jaybo

Ok, how about some pictures from other people who have tried this technique? Would be nice to see how other's stones have turned out.


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## samseide

I'll do you one better. Here's a bunch of one's I did using this method.


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## Dark Carver

This worked BEAUTIFULLY! My tombstone was brought to life when I rolled on that white paint. I really like how the white clung to the edges of the letters and highlighted them. Great job on this tutorial!


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## Jaybo

All right! That looks great guys. We need more...oh wait...maybe I should do one too? Ok, new weekend project. I'll work on a stone this weekend and try this out.


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## Uruk-Hai

I'm going to be trying this technique for sure on my mausoleum this year!


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## tallahassee

very realistic looking tombstones!


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## Dark Carver

Oh! By the way, I textured mine by sanding the surface and scraping, picking, stabbing it with a razor (box cutter). 
I think it's a great idea to texture it before any painting. It will probably turn out better.
{I dremeled the letters but the rest of the carving/texturing was done with a blade}


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## kprimm

Great fast easy method for making stones, thanks for sharing.


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## dionicia

I think I may try this with my mausoleum and pillars this year.


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## the bloody chef

What a simple and great idea!!! I'm making an Oriental tombstone out of styrofoam fish boxes and I can't wait to finish it so I can try this aging technique...woohoo! :ninja::xbones::ninja:


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## scareme

I love your tombstones. Did you freehand the letters, or what font did you use?


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## oilkann

I actually got very lucky and found a headstone shop that had hundreds of real head stones that were seconds and never used from ww2 and bought them all


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## fontgeek

The font looks a lot like "Square Text", you can download it at Dafont.com


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## hpropman

love this process thanks for sharing


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## susan from creepy hollow

i like this, very simple! i think i can manage this one, lol


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## susan from creepy hollow

oilkann said:


> I actually got very lucky and found a headstone shop that had hundreds of real head stones that were seconds and never used from ww2 and bought them all


OOOH! Another who loves the realistic look. I got a couple of truckloads for free from a monument business here. They're super heavy, but 1 things for sure, the wind won't blow 'em away!


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## [email protected]

I hope to replace most of my Walgreens tombstones with homemade ones this year, so this how-to will be put to use for sure. Great results & very little fuss. That suits me just fine.


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## CrazedHaunter

I'm in the process of replacing all my old made from wood ones. This will come in handy can't wait to try it.
Joe


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## Lizzyborden

SpookySam said:


> Here are a couple of others I did using this method.


I love these! Looks like the old marble tombstones around here. Will definitely remember this technique when I make my next stones.


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## matrixmom

I think the more cracks and details the stone has, the more impressive it will look with this technique. And its easy to boot. I saw someone on youtube last year do this (maybe it was you spooky sam!!)


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## Magic13

Thanks for the tip!!!! Your stone look great!!!


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## SpookySam

Glad people are still finding this useful.

...Matrix - nope, wouldn't have been me on youtube, but I'm glad this technique has spread so that others will see and use it.


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## jeffrey311

Very nice, I'd always just run a strip of white across the top and watered that but I will try this for sure, maybe try the same with a couple other colors to age it even more.


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