Foam Tombstone Carving Plus Halloween Cemetery Tour

     I'm super excited to share with you my newest foam tombstone.  If you've been following my blog for a while, you may recall that I have posted several foam tombstone tutorials in the past.  For the first time, though, I now have  a video tutorial as well as a written tutorial.
     The video is part foam tombstone carving tutorial, part Halloween cemetery tour.  In the first part of the video, I go through the tombstone construction process, from the design stage up to the finished product.  In the second part, I'll show you my Halloween cemetery and tell you a little bit about each of the tombstones.  My Halloween cemetery is one of my favorite Halloween decorations each year, and I'm jazzed to be sharing it with you all for the first time in video format.

     If you're looking for a written tutorial on how to construct a foam tombstone, keep reading.

DIY Foam Tombstone

Materials:

*Pink insulation/crafting foam (can be found at home improvement stores)
*X-acto knife or box cutter (preferably with a fresh blade)
*Pencil or pen
*Painter's tape
*Fine grit sandpaper
*Sanding mask
*Goggles
*Hand saw or other implement to cut foam to size
*Metal tombstone stakes
*Drill (optional)
*Paper
*Scissors
*Paintbrushes in various sizes
*Gray acrylic paint
*White acrylic paint

Directions:

*Decide what size tombstone you would like and cut your foam to size.  I was working with scrap foam that was already the appropriate size this time, but in the past I've used a hand saw or a box cutter to cut the foam.

*Sand down the edges using fine grit sandpaper.  If the edges are really rough, you could start with medium grit paper and then work your way down, but I've found fine grit works well.  Make sure to wear a mask and goggles to keep from inhaling the foam particles or getting them in your eyes.

*Before you start adding design elements to your stone, you'll want to insert your tombstone stakes.  If you insert the stakes at an angle accidentally, the stakes may poke through the front of the foam, ruining your stone, so it's best to do this early in the stone making process.  Insulation foam tends to be soft enough that you can poke the stakes through the bottom of the foam, which is what I do, but if you are experienced at drilling, you can minimize the chances of damage by drilling.

*Now it's time to focus on your design.  I've included the rosebud design I made for this stone if you'd like to use it, but there are all kinds of designs you could use.  If you're new to foam carving, though, I would recommend keeping things fairly simple, as it can be a bit tedious and challenging cutting out a lot of fine detailing.  The design is also completely optional.  I've done a lot of stones with just an inscription, and they have turned out pretty well in my opinion.

*You'll also want some sort of inscription.  Again, if you're new to this, I'd recommend keeping it fairly simple and using a larger font to make it easier to cut out your letters.

*Cut out your design and inscription, leaving some extra white space around the edges, and tape to your foam with painter's tape.  When you're taping your design pieces down, try not to tape over the image or text, as doing so will make in more difficult to imprint your design on the foam.

*Trace along the design and outline your letters using a pencil or pen.  This will leave a faint imprint on the foam that will guide you with cutting.

*To darken the imprint, you can trace along it using a pencil or pen.  If the imprint is clear enough for you to see without doing so, then you can omit this step.

*To carve your stone, begin by tracing the imprinted lines using an X-acto knife or box cutter.  Make sure your blade is reasonably sharp, as duller blades may not cut through the foam as well.

*To remove the excess foam, I use a scraping technique, where I slide the blade into the foam that I'm trying to remove and lift up, pulling out a small chunk of foam.  See the video for a demonstration of this technique.  This is what gives the foam around my design and inside the letters a speckled appearance.  Be careful especially when working in small areas of the design, as you can nick the design or scrape out foam you weren't intending on removing.

*Once your stone is carved, it's time to paint.  I usually begin by painting the whole stone a solid gray color.  Make sure to paint all of the crevices really well, using a second coat if needed to make sure no pink foam shows through.  Let dry.

*To make the lettering and design pop a little more, the next thing I do is I paint the raised surfaces of the stone with a slightly lighter shade of gray.  You'll probably want about one part white paint for three parts of gray paint roughly.  Let dry.

*Once your stone is dry, pop in the stakes and stake it in the ground.