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Dollar store tombstone makeover

Published By: Kim West  |  Created On:   |  Updated:

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The Most Haunting Dollar Store Tombstone Makeover! Grab some supplies and make these windproof and extra ghoulish!

I don’t know about you, but I live in Idaho and it is windy! I always buy these gravestones from the dollar tree and use the 3 flimsy metal stakes to secure it to the ground. AND multiple times in October I have to chase down the tombstones! So I’m making them extra secure and Bonus project- transforming them into spooktacular pieces for your home.

Supplies needed to make Gravestone

There are probably a few great adhesives you can use for this project! I’m in a few Halloween groups on Facebook and this one was highly recommended and works really well for the styrofoam.

Dollar Store tombstone makeover

Step 1: Base

What makes this gravestone secure from wind is the base. I have lots of scrapwood so I just dug through and found some pieces that fit the base of the grave. You don’t want it too thin cause it will still tip over. 4-6 inches is what I would shoot for! You can actually get a piece at home depot and have them cut it down to size if you need.

I laid down a strip of adhesive onto the wood in the middle and stuck the grave right to it.

The tombstones are really light so they didn’t tip over and stayed put while the adhesive dried.

Step 2 Foam

This part is technically optional- but I think it adds so much!

I just sprayed it around the base to make it look like rocks and dirt at the base of the tombstone. You could just paint the wood and make it look like it was part of the base of the tombstone instead of the ground.

The foam is expanding, so don’t go to big! (mine is the kind that only expands up to 1 inch)

One can was enough to cover all 6 tombstones. If you aren’t doing that many, then use your leftover foam for THIS PROJECT.

Step 3: paint

This step adds so much! While the foam was curing, I went over the glitter with acrylic paint. I didn’t love the sparkle. I also added a few cracks with paint and distressed it a little more. You can turn these tombstones hot pink if you wanted! You just paint and add whatever you want!

Once the foam was dry, I spray painted over the whole tombstone with this granite texture. I have a few different colors and like them all. They give it more of a real look in my opinion. That being said, it’s $10 a can so you can skip this step to keep the price down!

You can see the texture here!

And then I painted a base coat of brown over the dry expanding foam.

I went in over the brown and added some dark and light colors to make it have a bit more dimension. I was doing for dirt and rocks and moss. It really isn’t perfect but the next step helps hide any imperfections!

Step 4: Greenery

We are almost done! Promise! The last step is to over add moss! I have 3 different kinds of moss and just hot glued it all over! I added some to the top of the graves but tried to keep the most at the base.

Here is a close-up of how the bottom turned out! I even hot glued a fake spider!

The base is heavy so it gravestone is not going anywhere- AND it blends into the ground making it look like it’s been there awhile!

This project turned out so great, I ran down to my storage room and gathered up all the other old graves I had purchased in the past and turned them all into awesome upcycled tombstones!

Once it gets closer to Halloween, I will set these out with some fake mounds of dirt and add a few hands coming out of the ground!

Save Dollar Store Tombstone Makeover for later

Too busy to get crafting today? No problem! Pin this post to remind yourself about this project later! Sharing my projects helps me reach more people, allowing me to continue sharing free content!

OTHER totally cute Halloween projects

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