Halloween Headstones

by Ashley Horn

As Halloween approaches, it’s time to start thinking about simple and inexpensive decorations that can be made at home. One of my favorites is a “mommy-and-me project” making Halloween headstones. Though this project requires some wood cutting, your child can be in charge of all the decorating.

For this project we’ll be making four headstones. They will need to be large enough for people to see from the street so you’ll want to get a sheet of particle board. Depending on the size of the sheet and the distance your house sits from the road, you may be able to make more than four headstones.

You will also need the following:

• A circular saw or reciprocating saw
• Gray, black and red paint
• A paint brush
• Sandpaper
• A sheet sander (if available)

Follow these steps:

1. Begin by using your circular saw to cut your particle board into a minimum of four pieces. Most likely you’ll want them to be about three feet tall (allowing for some room to put the headstone into the ground) and two feet wide.
2. You will need to decide if you want to make rectangular headstones or headstones with a rounded top. If you choose to round the top, use your reciprocating saw to round off two of the corners.
3. Use your sheet sander and sand paper to smooth all edges and surfaces. Hand sanding is fine if a sheet sander is unavailable.
4. You can then have your child paint each headstone gray. You can paint them all the same shade of gray or use multiple shades.
5. While the headstones dry, spend time with your child thinking of funny, scary, or strange names or sayings to be painted on each headstone (ex. “BEWARE” or “Here Lies Johnny Yeast – Pardon Me for Not Rising”). You can also use the red paint to make bloody handprints on the stones if desired. Let your little one be as creative as possible!
6. Once decorating has been completed, make your own graveyard using your front yard or flower beds. If you want, you can also purchase some cotton webbing. This can be draped across the top of each stone or laid in front of the different stones.

Happy Halloween!