I decided to haunt my yard at rather the last minute in 2000, and so I needed some headstones, and I needed them fast! At that time there were few fake headstones available from stores like Walmart, and there was no time to buy online, or make some of the foam ones for which instructions abound.

I collected some old boards that were about 7" wide and about 1" thick, and cut them into lengths of about 12". Next I took some wooden stakes (1"x2" with diagonal cut to make a point) and nailed them on to the back with some of the length (and the point) extending below the board.

I painted the boards white (the only paint I could find in the garage, but grey would work as well, and you don't need much). After they dried I put on some epitaphs.

First I tried painting the epitaphs on with black paint, but the brush I had wasn't very good, and so it looked rather bad. I gave up on that idea after one board and instead headed inside t the computer. Since the boards were painted white, I was able to type up the epitaphs in Word and print them on white paper.

I cut around the epitaphs and glued them onto the boards, then over this I used wood-sealer to make a glaze that would effectively "waterproof" the paper epitaphs.