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Styrofoam?

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:22 pm
by Celtic Ghoul
Any suggestions on where I can go to get styrofoam that is at least 1" thick and big for tombstones? Being in Texas I can find thin styrofoam, but not thick, sturdy stuff. Looks like hobby and craft stores only carry small pieces for exhorbitant prices. Any help will be appreciated! :D

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:54 am
by MHooch
Go to a big hardware store like Home Depot, and make them out of insulation boards. The material is easier to work with and doesn't fall apart like styrofoam. I'm thinking that the Yardhaunter.com website has inst for those kind of tombstones, and they sound pretty easy. Of course this is all arm-chair quarterback talk, because I've never actually DONE one. Check the website first. :idea:

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:32 pm
by mandy0221
I am not sure if you have already found any but Michaels has some that thick in a board about 12 inches wide and 3 feet tall. It probably is not as wide as you would like and it runs around $11 per piece.

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:22 pm
by Celtic Ghoul
Thanks MHooch and mandy... I am still hunting.

Home Depots down south (I'm in Texas) only have very thin styrofoam sheets - nobody down here needs the thick ones. Also, the sheets are the pink expanced foam material and I am not sure that will work.

Michael's down here does not seem to have the sheets or I have not been to the right Michael's. So now I am calling furniture stores to see if they have leftover pieces of styrofoam packing material.

The other possibility is fish stores... they ship fish in big, thick styro boxes so that may be a good bet. Anyway... still looking. :(

Tombstones

Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:30 pm
by kiki
I bought the thin styrofoam (although the 2in thick is supposed to be better, I made my own) from Home Depot it came in a 4-6 sheet package for around $6-7. 3 feetx12in. They were too flimsy so I hot glued 2 together (Elmers glue works too). I put those free wood paint stirring sticks ( I had lying around garage), and glued half of stick inside tombstone leaving the other end to use as a stake to prop. You can also use coat hangers( cut with wire cutters and straightened, 2 per tombstone. Then you take an electric turkey cutter and carve away into different shapes. Turkey cutter works like butter and makes nice clean lines. WILL BE MESSY. I looked at some websites and found a few stones I liked and took a pencil and drew where to cut to match. Then, you CAN spraypaint on styro foam, the trick is to stay far away from it or it will melt. I sprayed some grey and then went back and sprayed edges with black, ( or vice versa) add a little green for mold. Then for this type of styrofam it is hard to carve letters into it because the scalpel makes chunks come off. I did use a dremel on some to put letters on but it was difficult and sux if you mess up, so I just took acrylic paint and painted on them. Then just dig a little hole and put them in the ground. I've had mine for 3 years and every year I just put a little touch up paint on them and they are good to go. Nice and easy. The other styrofoam the 2in kind, the tombstones come out very nice, but they seemed to hard for me and expensive.

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:05 pm
by Celtic Ghoul
Thank you very much Kiki! :D