Do it Yourself: spooky graveyard!

I decided to tackle a larger project this year for Halloween & take on an entire graveyard! It was really fun & a great way to get the entire family involved. Not to mention it was pretty inexpensive, & totally scary!! In other posts I have mentioned that I do not do scary very well, but was out voted by the family to try something new. I have to say it makes it a lot less scary when you make it yourself & crafting together is always fun! This project took about an hour & is family friendly! So get outside this weekend & enjoy the weather! 

spooky graveyard

1/4" plywood, 23$
paint, 3$
spiderwebs, 1$
bag of soil, 2$
bamboo rods 2$
jigsaw
paint brushes
garden fence

We started with a sheet of 1/4" plywood that we picked up at Home Depot, Matt used some of it for another project & there was quite a bit of scrap left. It was just a plain sanded pine board, nothing fancy, not pressure treated or anything.

 We had a lot of paint as well so we didn't buy any, but you can buy exterior paint sample pots for less than 3$ a piece which is great! We used a charcoal blue color, black & hunter green. We each made a tombstone & you can see our different styles.

 

 We cut each tombstone into long strips & as wide as we'd like, with the jigsaw (Matt loves his Ridgid if you're in the market). Then we painted a half circle for the top of the tombstone to show where we wanted to cut.

 Next we painted our hearts out, up & down, no real rules or guidelines. Once we got our base color on we flicked, splatted & sponged the other colors on for dimension, again just wherever we felt like. Red paint mixed with water is great for blood! No one used a stencils, we all just free handed our words. This is Matt's, he cut a jagged top to make it look broken with the jigsaw!

 Coming up with what to write on the tombstone was probably the hardest part! Sydney painted this one, it is a quote from one of her favourite Scooby-Doo episodes.

 

 I just rhymed a name with alive, not gonna lie, I wish I was more clever!

 Next came the time to get them out front. I took some bamboo poles, & cut them with a little hand saw. Various lengths that I kind of matched to go with the height of the tombstone, nothing exact.

 Then I held them & hammered gently. Voilá!

 I felt that they looked a little plain, so I bought a bag of soil & sprinkled some in front of each tombstone. I see a big difference!

 Next I took my bag of spiderwebs & draped it on a few of the tombstones. It really was coming together at this point.

 

 Matt suggested we take a few of my extra garden fences & spray paint them black, after all we want to make sure nothing & no one get out, spooky! Spray painting is easy if you work in a well ventilated area using quick even strokes & apply multiple coats.Once they dried I hammered them in place!

 While I was in the office typing I looked out the window to see a black cat wandering by the graveyard! Looks like Halloween is coming!!

During the day it's not too scary for the kiddos, but at night with the strobe light, it has a creepy feeling!

 It's just another everyday, holiday with Jillie