The Dimmick Family's Halloween Haunt
Posts tagged Gravestones
Halloween 2010
Nov 2nd
This year’s Halloween was very trying and frustrating. After last week’s storm that damaged the fence and tombstones and having to repair them, then a hail and wind storm hit shortly before the ToTs were to start that broke one more tombstone and removed paint from the fence columns again, I was ready to throw in the towel and call it quits for the year. Luckily, the wind settled down enough to allow me to set the tombstones back up and put out most of the props. Gourdon Rotsworth made his debut appearance and the two ghosts were set up inside the house to greet the trick-or-treaters. It ended up being fun and I was relieved that it was finally done at the end of the night. 
I have big plans for next year already. Enjoy this years haunt pictures.
Making Tombstones Glow Under Black Lights
Nov 2nd
I wanted to make some of the details of my tombstones “pop” more under the black lights that I use in my haunt. I opened a yellow highlighter and soaked the fluid-filled cotton stick with water to make a kind of paint to brush onto the tombstones. Once the highlighter fluid/ink was dry I hit those spots with a flat clear spray paint to seal it.
Mother Nature 1, Tombstones and Fence 0
Nov 2nd
On Sunday, October 24th, there was a terrible storm that came through and damaged several of my tombstones and “power washed” a lot of the paint off of my fence columns. The wind and rain were fierce. I was really frustrated and upset, but was relieved to find that an anonymous neighbor of mine found the missing tombstone pieces and returned them to my house. Thank you to whoever found them. Here are some pictures of the aftermath of the storm.
Repairing and Strengthening Tombstones
Oct 17th
I’ve been collecting various tombstones over the years and every year I get frustrated when the wind blows them away or the screws or stakes holding them in the ground rip out or break them. The little plastic “T” stakes they come with DO NOT work to keep them from blowing away. This year I dedicated some time and budget to repairing and strengthening all of my tombstones. Here is what I did and it seems to be working so far:
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- 1″x1.5″ around the base glued with Liquid Nails and nailed to 1″x6″ board
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- Sealed and textured with joint compound
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- Painted with exterior latex paint to seal and waterproof joint compound
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- The whole gang.
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- They stand on their own now too. Useful for storage and using on hard surfaces.
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- Spray painted with gray and black to try to match original colors. Holes are for staking to ground.
