How to Make Halloween Tombstone Decor Out of Scrap Wood

About 7 years ago, I replaced the stair treads on the steps to our outdoor deck.  It was the end of the summer and I left the old wood in a pile planning to place it curbside for Big Trash Pick Up Day as our town waste department comes through in October and hauls off any large items that don’t fit into your trash can.  As fall settled in and October started, I realized that I could use that old weathered wood for Halloween decorations.  We kinda go overboard at Halloween.  My mom was an avid decorator for every holiday.  Consequently, so am I.  We just replace our deck as noted in my recent post How to Start Decorating a New Deck.  So I now have more old stair treads!  I thought I would show you how to make Halloween Tombstone decor from scrap wood.

Here are the old tombstones:

The kids and I had fun deciding what to put on the tombstones.  Here is how we made the tombstones.

Cut the Wood

Some stair treads are larger than others.  Ours were 40 inches long which would make the tombstones way too tall. 

Since they are thick, shorter wood would be easier to stand upright.  So, I used my miter or chop saw to cut them in half. 

While more contemporary tombstones are rounded, it would be difficult to cut through this wood that is 1.5″ thick.  So I opted to make an angled cut at each corner which gives them a rounded appearance.

Decorate the Tombstones

We had a gallon of exterior grey paint in the garage so that is what I used to paint the original tombstones.  For these new tombstones, I used Rustoleum spray paint. 

                                                                 

Rustoleum 2x has become my go to spray paint.  It has paint and primer in this one product and coverage is superb.  Here are the tombstones with two coats. 

For an epitaph, you can google ideas.  We simply chose our favorite characters and created a catchy phrase.  I simply used acrylic paint.  I sketched the saying with white chalk and painted over them.  when the paint dried, I wiped the chalk away with a sponge. 

Old tombstones are weathered and thus the lettering is not crisp so you don’t have to worry about perfect lettering.  We had some ghosts and gobblins to place in front of the tombstones.  I’m a big “after holiday” shopper.  So when items go on sale, I try to stock up.  I need a few more of these head and hand combos. 

This year, I added the strobe lights in front of the tombstones.  They are hard to see in the dark and the blinking lights add some excitement.