How to Make a Styrofoam Gravestone

1) You will need some styrofoam. Any size will do - it's up to your
particular needs.

2) Cut the styrofoam into the shape of a tombstone.  There are special cutters you can buy for this, but I used an ordinary razor blade.  It will be a little messier, leaving a more jagged cut, but this is ok to make an older looking stone. DO THIS IN AN OUTDOOR AREA OR A WORKSHOP AS THE STYROFOAM BITS WILL FLY AROUND AND ARE HARD TO PICK UP.

3) You can sand down the edges of the styrofoam using ordinary sandpaper. 

4) Brush away any bits of dirt or styrofoam from the cut piece.

5) You will need to paint the styrofoam with an oil based paint. DO NOT USE WATER BASED PAINTS as they will deteriorate the styrofaom.  I like to use a gray base color paint.

6) Once the styrofoam has thoroughly dried (give it at least one day),  you are ready to put on the final coat.  I used the special canned paints that you can find at any hardware store, the one that gives a graveled finish. Spray it on evenly over the entire surface.  If you are doing a number of
stones, you will need a few cans of this paint, as they unfortunately don't go very far.  Do not use these gravel-like paints  without first applying the oil based paint as they too can detertiorate the styrofoam.

7) Allow this final coat to dry overnite as well.  You can then paint on whatever message you like.
You may want to nail the stone into a wooden base to prop it up.  We set up our little cemetary in a small section of the yard where no one walked through, so I propped them up with wooden sticks stuck into the back of the stone.