|
Tombstones can be made from foam (some Haunters use wood). I have used all
different types of foam to make tombstones. My favorite is the blue foam
from Dow chemical. You can purchase form in different sizes, usually it's sold
in 4'X8' sheets, I use the 2" thick foam. It's also sold in 2'X8' sheets. I
cut the 2'X8' sheet into 32" sections and get 3 tombstones from a 2'X8'
foam sheet. (6 from a 4X8 sheet).
Here's a step by step of my process. Links to some great sites
for tombstones are listed on my links page. My personal
favorite is Keeba's
Tombstone Instructions.
 |
After cutting the foam into 32" pieces,
I use an overhead projector to project the template of the tombstone onto
the foam. I trace it and then cut the foam. (Blue foam appears white in
photo due to light intensity.) You can also draw tombstone outline by hand
or print out and transfer to foam. |
| To cut the foam I use a hacksaw blade with
duct tape on the blade to allow a grip. I make rough cuts with the blade
and use a hot wire craft tool for smooth cuts. If you don't have a hot
wire cutter you can use the blade for all cuts. |
 |
 |
I drill a hole to allow for placing stone on
rebar in the yard. I have moved from using this method to hot gluing a
short piece of PVC to the back of the stone for placement on the rebar.
The wind and daily placement and removal of the stones has broken a few of
my stones over the years....so I use PVC (you will see that later.) |
| Carving in the tombstone can be done using
either a children's wood-burning tool, a soldering iron or a Dermal tool
with router/type attachment. You can also just write on the tombstone after you
paint it. |
 |
 |
These tombstones were carved with the Dremal
tool with router/type attachment. I printed out the text and taped that paper
to the foam. Then just cut right into the foam (thru the paper). On the
tombstone below I inserted Christmas lights (as explained by
Scott
Brunell)
to have the Vacancy fade in and out slowly on a Christmas light fader. The
effect is great! |
 |
 |
|
