I'm sure all of you have tried to make Halloween tombstones, only to have them come out silly-looking and amateurish. Nothing that will evoke fear into all those who dare beg for candy at your doorstep. In this simple tutorial, I'll show you how to transfer any kind of font on your computer to your custom headstone.
Step One: Get Styrofoam!
Many sites recommend Styrofoam insulation and that's fine and good if you live up North where they carry the thick stuff. Down here in 120 degree land, the thickest Styrofoam insulation that you can find is only half an inch think and that just won't cut it.
Instead, go to a craft store like Hobby Lobby and purchase a three pack of crafting Styrofoam. It's about $14.99 per pack, but that's cheap compared to buying the store brand Halloween tombstones and you can customize it any way you want. Plus, it has a stone-like texture that enhances realism.
Step Two: Find your Font!
There are thousands of sites that offer free fonts online. Find them and find your font. Old English fonts are always good, but you use whatever you like. Write out whatever you want to go on your stone, increase the font to the size you want to it to appear, and print it out.
Step Three: Cut it out!
This is the time consuming part. Take the paper you have just printed and secure it to your tombstone exactly where you want the print to appear.
Now, you may do one of two things -- the easiest is to get a big sheet of carbon paper and trace it onto your stone. On the Styrofoam Insulation, it might work but on the craft Styrofoam, with its bumps and divots, it won't. So try this:
Firmly attaching the paper to the stone, take an exaco knife and remove the lettering like so:
This font, by the way, is called "Blood of Dracula." Use toothpicks to hold down delicate lettering.
Step Four: Spray it!
When all of the lettering is secured with toothpicks and the rest of the Styrofoam is covered in newspaper, spray a light coat of black spray-paint over the stencil you have just created. In theory, the paint will eat away at the exposed Styrofoam and literally burn your letters into your tombstone.
Step Four and a Half: Dremel it!
Note, I said in theory. In reality, I used a high-end spray-paint I was redecorating my home with. Apparently, it has less corrosive chemicals and would not eat through the Styrofoam.
So, I had a minor setback, but that's why they invented the Dremel, isn't it? Come to think of it, if you have a delicate font like the one I chose, a Dremel is a great tool to use. Just make sure that you have some wood nearby that you can use to scrap the melted foam off of your bit with.
Step Five: Finish it!
That is how it is done. Paint your stone with a latex paint (other paints will eat away the foam) and add touchups. Use a white paint to simulate rainwater corrosion. Something else you might want to try is painting the stone a dark color - even black - over your paint job and then quickly washing it off with a hose to simulate aging.
To be honest, this is not the final product and the paint job is only rudimentary -- I just wanted to show it off for Halloween. Next year, I will add some details to it to make it really creepy.