To save money my 5 year old son and I made gravestones for Halloween this year. Here are our easy to follow plans for making your own Spooky Halloween Gravestone.

Materials you need:

1. Styrofoam – A square or rectangle piece of Styrofoam, before you buy some at a crafts store look in the old box that the TV or stereo came in and recycle a piece.
2. Paint – We chose a “stone” colored paint that we got at a crafts store (this was the only thing we bought for this project at $2.99)
3. Knife – For cutting out name and cracks in the gravestone.
4. Pen – For drawing a template on the gravestone.
5. Stakes – Look in kitchen drawers for some old Chinese chopsticks you might have saved, they will make good gravestone stakes.
6. Gloves – Regular garden or work gloves will do.
7. Paint Mask – Invest in a good paint mask that filters out small particles and vapors, you can wear it during other household projects in the future.

Child Safety:

If your child is young like mine you surely do not want to have him cutting the styrofoam, to include him/her in the project give him/her a pair of gloves and a paint mask to do the coolest part, spray painting the gravestone!

Draw a spooky sounding name or word like R.I.P on the gravestone.

Draw a crack or two on the gravestone.

Angle your knife and cut out the crack and words making sure you do not go all the way threw the Styrofoam and be careful, knives are sharp.

An old gravestone isn’t always square so cut off a corner to make it look weathered.

Here is the paint we used because it came in a stone finish but any old spray paint will do.

Paint it and don’t forget to get the back and corners, let it sit for the suggested amount of time (see the spray can directions) to allow it to dry.

Insert the stakes leaving 9? length to allow you to push the gravestone into the ground, done.

How about making many spooky gravestones and turning a front yard into an eerie graveyard with black lights that shine a ghostly hue? Boo!