Haunting Your Yard!

This summer is flying by and we have so much to do to get ready for Halloween!  One of the things on the list obviously, is adding to the graveyard.  What better way to get inspiration than to visit an old cemetery.

Shane and I recently did this on our way up to the mountains while out for a weekend ride in the Lotus.  There is a wonderful old cemetery not too far from the house and we stopped by to take a look at some of the headstones.  

We are always looking for new ideas in regards to not only shapes and wording but also the little things – cracks and how they form, what they look like when they are weathered.  If you want headstones in your Halloween graveyard to be realistic looking, then I would suggest not buying them at your local retail store.  You really need to either do it yourself, or pay to have custom ones made.  It’s all in the detail.

I loved some of the shapes we saw at this cemetery.  Some of the carvings and intricate work.  These types of things can easily be duplicated when you have the right tools.

Now a recent trip of mine to visit my brother in Wisconsin, took me to a very old cemetery.  There is a noticeable difference in what the climate does to the markers.  Here in Colorado, due to the dry climate, we don’t get all the heavy, wonderful moss.  This is such a great element to add to custom tombstones.  A must really.  And the picture to the left – I love how they are leaning.  This is a very easy thing to duplicate as well.  We have done it to one of ours and I plan to add another like this this year.

Some of the markers were so old and falling apart, that there were rock sitting behind them in order to keep them propped up.  What a great idea.

To have a realistic looking graveyard, you need all these elements.  You don’t want perfect looking headstones all lined up.  You need small, large, cracked, mossed, broken, etc.  Will people notice every small detail on each headstone?  No – especially if your graveyard is large like ours.  People can’t get up close.  But all of them put together is what makes it look the way it does – old, creepy, realistic.