i took some of the plastic political yard signs all over the place and painted them black, cut them to fit the back of the dollar store tombstones and glued them on the back, and using the built in stakes on the political signs, they are sturdy and will stand up, even in the wind. Used hot melt glue to glue them as well as a few heavy staples on the corners. withstand the Idaho Wind just fine.
Hollywood hunters you are one of my favorite RU-vids productions to watch. I love seeing that little one grow up, because I'm not a grandma yet and don't get to inspire the next Halloween hunters.
Sir, I love your tutorials, but I think your personality is awesome. I wish you were my neighbor. We might not get as much done, but we'd have great conversations over the fence.
(From a previous Lowe's paint desk employee) Be aware that some all purpose glues and some caulks CAN melt Styrofoam pretty darn easy. Always check the 'for use on' notes to make sure it states some kind of foam otherwise, you might end up with a mess of uncured glue and melted/warped foam/Styro Also, Duramax (Valspar) is a mid line exterior paint - it will hold up well, though i can't say how well it preforms on foam or cheap (dollar store) textures/surfaces. But you're probably good for a few Halloweens.
Lita Cakes He did mention that you needed to be aware that some glues would eat/melt the styrofoam. He said the Loctite glue was fine to use with styrofoam, but who knows what type of silicone he switched to using. However, silicone is compatible with just about everything.
Wouldn't it be more interesting since the dollar store tombstones are symmetrical just glue 2 of them together with foam layer with pipe in middle. That way you have carvings on both sides
charles honey I thought about that too, but that would only be beneficial if they were being placed in an area where both sides could be seen. It would have been a waste for him to do it that way since only one side could be seen in his setup.
Oh yeah! I just found this! In fact, I think it will be coming back from the dead for many years to come! Great tutorials have a tendency to do that! 😎👍Happy Halloween!🍁
Nice!! For anyone reading this, a friendly reminder that right now (at the time I'm commenting) is a great time to stock up on clearance Halloween decorations etc for next year!! (Or if you just like that kind of spooky stuff... or if you are a cosplayer...) :)
It's nice to have new Halloween videos after the Halloween season, it's depressing that it's already over! Great video, I've seen some tombstone vids like yours but yours is a much simpler way of doing it. Have a great day and weekend!
For them being dollar store items they turned out really awesome. Like you said, from a distance you could not tell they were cheaply bought although I think they still look great even close up.
awesome video. never thought of the pvc in the middle!!!!! well done... I decided to go to home depot and buy the sign stakes. you know the ones where people are going and asking you to vote for them... well those can be cut in half and end up like an H ... stab side into ground and other into tombstone. these are super sturdy too @$1.18 each cut in half so 2 done for that. so far held up to the weather - I mean so far good in the wind.
We added neon colors to our Dollar Tree Tum Stones to make them more noticeable during night. Yellow, Purple and White sponged on in areas. I like to spray paint old fake flowers to use in my grave yard area. I have also used planters and boxes to give the tombstones height. Bigger is better.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that this project takes way too much time and money and defeats the whole purpose of saving money by buying tombstones at the dollar store. I'd rather go to party city and buy a three pack of better quality tombstones.
I've seen other tutorials and they just talk a lot and don't start on the project. I love that you talk an I don't get annoyed....while you are explaining you are also showing how to do this paticular project. Thank you for your ideas. I look foward into watching more.
Love how he gives credit to the other channels and how to videos. His Halloween vibe is amazing. He reminds me of an old world mystic. Thanks for the video.
How am I just now finding your channel?? I just subscribed and I'm about to start binge watching your crafts and follow along! Great job! Stay spooky! 👻☠
This was a good makeover. I would have never guessed that they started off as Dollar Tree tombstones. You also lucked out on the paint. It was the perfect color. I'll have to try these for next year. Thanks for the video and I'll stop by Hollywood Haunter and check out their vids too.
Cool vid man! Tip tho: that hole in the grip above the trigger of your caulk gun is a cutter for your caulking tube. And that lever above your thumb on the grip is the release. It will stop the flow of caulk so you dont get that mess on the table. 👍
Edwardo I love your D.I.Y. Halloween projects, I do my own & have many ideas based on your vids. One thing I must let you know, styrofoam cuts better with a heat knife, you won't have all that mess & it cuts like butter, if you don't have a heat knife, I also just heat up a butter knife on my Bosch gas stove & it slides right thru. Cuts the cutting time to just seconds. Look Ma, no mess.
3:22 - The bottom of the tombstone and the bottom of the styrofoam panel are both flat. If you matched up the bottoms, it would have saved you having to cut out the bottom of the styrofoam. One fewer cut per styrofoam piece saves you that much time and effort. 14 cuts saved, overall. 8:28 - "Cutting disk?" It's called the blade. 16:33 - Stone doesn't rust.
Thank you for this. Just found this tutorial and finally my tombstones aren't all sparkly and ugly. I revamped my ugly tombstones and now they look so fantastic! More realistic! My graveyard display will look better than ever. 💜
Also you could use a PEX Pipe cutter which is faster and also a clean cut like does on the the PEX pipe. Also I just love the grave yard idea about the tombstones. Just a little thought ca you add some glow in the dark paint on the edges to make the stone stand out in the night.
I don't have a hot wire knife. What are used to cut foam is the electric carving knife that you use to carve your holiday meet such as turkey. I buy them from a thrift store cuz after a couple of years they do tend to wear out. Also a knife from your hardware store believe it's called a key hole saw. (Serrated song with deep teeth and stiff blade. I believe they use it on sheet rock).
Poppin in to say that I followed this tutorial and our graveyard came out AWESOME!!!! Thank you for the step by step. The only thing I could not identify exactly was what clear silicone you ended up using to glue the foam together, but we used one that was quick dry and worked quite well. Thanks again for the video!
This is pretty amazing. TY for the lesson on the pipe cutter. It's a different style than I've seen before and wow, what a difference (I usually cut plastic pipe with a chop saw). Great tutorial!!!
I have used that on my styrofoam headstones. Works great it does eat at the foam alittle bit, but that just adds to the weathered look. Only major issue I guess is, it does chip off easily if handled roughly. But I just touch it up. The styrofoam I use is like the one's he used for the backing only in 2".
Hi, love your tombstones! You really should check out wicked makers and they use the same martials as you and have a great way of showing you how to make your grave look really realistic and look like it's been aged for hundreds of years just with paint.
Great tutorial! I bought a bunch of these at Dollar Tree and painted / distressed them but they’re still flimsy and will fly away in the wind. I’m excited to copy this and make the tombstones more substantial. Just got a new fog machine and strobe lights for the graveyard and I’m so excited to finish decorating. Our whole neighborhood goes all out for every holiday so it’s fun to try to outdo the neighbors! All in fun.
oh no ! I wish I would have seen this before Halloween was over. I had a ton of those I just had to use as is. ill def do this to them now and use them for next year. thanks a bunch.
Totally awesome! U will not have to go out after the wind blows to pick those headstone up , Thanks for sharein 👻☠️💀🕸️🕷️they look like they cost alot totally a fine grave yard,,,
I have the same exact tombstones! I remember last year when I bought them I had to do something more, I left the plastic on it and then made stakes outta paint stirrers, lol It was ok, and the plastic helped keep them from weathering or breaking, but this year after being inspired by this, I will be adding the extra Styrofoam (not exactly what you have, but similar) and repainting and finding a new way to reinforce them. Thank you! You've got me as a subscriber! Keep up the great work! It looks awesome!
I just found your channel, thank you so much for making really great stuff using every day objects. I made a bbq bat the other day I'd love to share with you as you inspired it.
I'm trying like hell to find styrofoam to do this project, but all I'm finding is the kind with backing. I would have looked on monstertutorials.com but only the first page of tutorials works on the site. Does anyone know where to find this much styrofoam without backing?
Or you can just glue gun on some some skewer sticks to the back of it and put another layer of cardboard over just the skewer part, that’s what I do, works great! No cutting pipes or styrofoam either but I’m sure the way he’s doing it will last much longer but it’s a dollar store tombstone so I’m not too concerned with making it last forever
I appreciate all the hard work. However, Im not sure this project qualifies as easy. Your end product is great, and I think I will use half of it. After gluing the 3 tomb stones together, I will just paint the added ones with either black/grey or black stone paint to match the dollar store tombstones from the front. I guess I like the glitter. I may also try to pain the whole thing with stone paint and then add the moss and glitter on top if it does not match. Thanks
ty ur share love ur work..but have a question..how r u able 2 keep ur cloths so clean when u work with glue paint..me I get paint glue all over my shirt hands pants even my face ..guess I get right in2 it..ty lolol
You should consider using some monster mud in the future. It would give your piece a stone look and get rid of the Styrofoam bubbles. All you do is add some grout sand to your latex and you have a stone texture. =)
Always pull your caulk gun lever back so it does not keep coming out. Also there is a hole in the handle of the caulking gun to cut the tip off the tube. They have a PVC cutter for that pipe, that tube cutter is for copper pipe.
Excellent idea with the rebar reinforcement - the stakes that usually come with the tombstones are a joke and a waste of material - I guess these companies that make these things have never considered Wind or Weather.
