# Tombstones Flying Away?? Solution.



## dawnthedead

This is a simple and quick solution to tombstones flying away in the October wind. 

The wooden stakes cost me $5. 38 for a bundle of 25. The Velcro was about $16.00 for 15 feet which was more than enough.

I have 15 tombstones (may add more) I cut about 8" strips for each tombstone.

At first I was attaching the velcro to the very top of the stake but then realized, "Wow, thats a lot of stake to drive into the ground." So, I attached it a little further down the length of the stake.


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## Ilean

OH!!! I love! I live in a place where it is only moderately windy at times for October. This is perfect! You could then paint the sticks the same color of the tombstones, and no one would be the wiser! Thanks for sharing your idea!


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## dawnthedead

Thanks Ilean !! I was getting so tired of those flimsy little sticks you get when you buy the foam tombstones. I will definitely paint them so they dont show!


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## moonwitchkitty

Love it thanks for the ideas  never would have thought of that


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## Lazy D

thanks for sharing, i am going to do this to all my store ought tombstones


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## Madhatter00

Great Idea, Im gonna try that.


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## Skully123

So where did you buy the wooden stakes and Velcro? great idea by the way i would love to try it!


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## dawnthedead

Skully I bought both from Lowes but you can probably find them at any home improvement store.


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## WickedKitten

I love you. So very much.
I live in the east bay area of san fran, at night its horribly windy. I've been afraid to purchase tombstones. I loose at least two muddied pools every summer, id be heartbroken if I lost tombstones. Besides, they aren't exactly cheap like they used to be.


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## moonwitchkitty

1$ tree has them every year Brentwood has a store san fran should have some too. and if you dont like the way they look dress them up we do different things with ours every year. like add glow in the dark paint, spider web, ect. just a thought..


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## Fangoria

*I'd like to punch myself in the face*



moonwitchkitty said:


> 1$ tree has them every year Brentwood has a store san fran should have some too. and if you dont like the way they look dress them up we do different things with ours every year. like add glow in the dark paint, spider web, ect. just a thought..


I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to get my gravestones to stay put, thanks dude!


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## Broomhilda

A great way to keep them from flying away is with PVC pipe. Here is a great video on how to! 




Happy Haunting!


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## ghostuponthefloor

Great idea! Last October was a windy one by me- attempted many fruitless solutions, but nothing like this.


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## moonwitchkitty

Broomhilda said:


> A great way to keep them from flying away is with PVC pipe. Here is a great video on how to!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Happy Haunting!


I do enjoy your videos thanks for sharing


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## DaveintheGrave

I always just use Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive to glue a short section of 1/2" PVC to the back of the tombstone. Then slip it over some rebar or a wooden dowel in the ground.


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## HalloweenHorrors

This is the best way to keep you tomb stones from taking off and standing up nice and staight. I've been using stakes and velro for a long time. You can paint you stakes black or grey.


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## Deaths Reach

I glue my foam to 1/4 inch plywood backing before I paint. To mount, I pound metal fence stakes into the ground then attach the stones with screws. I had a tornado touch down 1/2 block away from my graveyard 2 years ago, and with all that wind nothing moved. Nothing. The plywood backing is the way I'll roll from now on.


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## jtr10

We carved out a section behind the tombstones we made out of foam board and attached pvc pipe sections with glue. Then we placed either something like tent stakes or rebar in the ground and they never move


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## xxScorpion64xx

I tried and tested this method today, it was real windy and the stone is still there, my stones are 33 inches tall so I went with the 36 inch stakes.


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## annamarykahn

been doing this for years ... works gr8

amk


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## jimw156

Little late responding to the original post (I just joined this morning). But I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to deal with "blowing tombstones" for some time. LOVE the simplicity of the velcro. Thank you for sharing!


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## dbruner

dawnthedead said:


> This is a simple and quick solution to tombstones flying away in the October wind.
> 
> The wooden stakes cost me $5. 38 for a bundle of 25. The Velcro was about $16.00 for 15 feet which was more than enough.
> 
> I have 15 tombstones (may add more) I cut about 8" strips for each tombstone.
> 
> At first I was attaching the velcro to the very top of the stake but then realized, "Wow, thats a lot of stake to drive into the ground." So, I attached it a little further down the length of the stake.


Thank you, thank you! I'm so sick of relying on those spindly plastic things that come with the store bought ones!


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## dbruner

dawnthedead said:


> This is a simple and quick solution to tombstones flying away in the October wind.
> 
> The wooden stakes cost me $5. 38 for a bundle of 25. The Velcro was about $16.00 for 15 feet which was more than enough.
> 
> I have 15 tombstones (may add more) I cut about 8" strips for each tombstone.
> 
> At first I was attaching the velcro to the very top of the stake but then realized, "Wow, thats a lot of stake to drive into the ground." So, I attached it a little further down the length of the stake.


Where did you get those stakes, I've looked at Home Depot and Lowes and Ace Hardware and they don't have them. All they had were thin bamboo ones. I put my tombstones up on Sunday and the big ones and some of the medium ones keep falling over.


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## HallowSusieBoo

*This is a great idea and economical! Really like the simplicity.

BUT-- For those that REALLY want a high wind fix -- you just GOTTA visit TERRA's method of making stones wind proof. We used velcro, stakes, wire, line - you name it. 

All worked great up to a point - and then you could win the Funniest Home Video prize money watching us chase tombstones down the street. UNTIL we used Terra's method of sandwiching a front and back of a tombstone together with a piece of PVC pipe imbedded inside. Then rebar hammered into the ground - slide the stone PVC over the rebar and you have my word -- 65 MPH proof!! 

Check out my pics in some of my older albums to see my stones. Terra's stone making tutorial video was our **inspiration. Get your tombstones Terra-ized -- and you have nearly twister proof stones in your display!*


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## HallowSusieBoo

Broomhilda said:


> A great way to keep them from flying away is with PVC pipe. Here is a great video on how to!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Happy Haunting!


*You can see Terra's method in the video that Broomhilda posted earlier in this thread. Thanks Broomhilda!
*


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## Halloween Anna

dawnthedead said:


> This is a simple and quick solution to tombstones flying away
> 
> 
> At first I was attaching the velcro to the very top of the stake but then realized, "Wow, thats a lot of stake to drive into the ground." So, I attached it a little further down the length of the stake.


I made wooden stakes out of the cheap yardsticks and then gorilla glued them to the back of the tombstones. Needless to say they are hard to drive i n to the ground. This is so much better!


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## Jaybo

We tried the Velcro and stakes method years ago and it never held up in strong winds. The Velcro on the back of the tombstone would just rip off of the stone. The embedded PVC pipe and rebar has never failed. We've made it through some pretty nasty storms and never lost a single stone.


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## Sassygirl

Great Idea !!!! Thank you so much for sharing


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## daddywoofdawg

I use the stakes on my stones but screw into the back;but I like this better but with one mod,place the strips as shown but instead of velcro on the stake place it on each end of a strap type materiel that way the straps fit anywhere,were as you have to match the stakes with the stone each year or they won't match up.


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## Scooter072

I came up with a very simple way of "staking" my tombstones to the ground. I use threaded rod. I buy #8-32 threaded rod in 3 foot sections at Home Depot and cut it down into smaller sections. I insert it onto the existing holes (or create new ones if I need to) to hollow them out a bit and then pull it back out. Then I put a little bit of gorilla glue down in the hole and reinsert the rod. Once the gorilla glue dries and expands the rods aren't going anywhere and they can be easily pushed into the ground without a hammer. We have some pretty strong storms here in Florida and I have never lost a tombstone.


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## annamarykahn

gr8 idea scooter!

the only downside is that the rods make storage more of a pain ... can the rods can't be threaded out with maybe vice grip pliers and re threaded back in next year?

amk


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## tinafromidaho

I would love to do Terras method, but tombstones are already built. I was going to just glue sections of pvc pipe on the back and slip over rebar. Yesterday I used elmers wood glue cause that was what I had in the garage and it glued nice and tight, had some pretty good winds over night and tombstone is like a rock. Today I tried liquid nail for foam and it several hours later it would set up, so I went back to the elmers glue and almost three hours later some thing, any thoughts? I am getting ready to try hot glue.


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## Scooter072

annamarykahn said:


> gr8 idea scooter!
> 
> the only downside is that the rods make storage more of a pain ... can the rods can't be threaded out with maybe vice grip pliers and re threaded back in next year?
> 
> amk


No, once the gorilla glue sets the rods won't come out. Since the tombstones are made of styrofoam, it would pretty much destroy them trying to get the rods out. Storage is a bit tougher, but worth the hassle in my opinion. I have a toe-pincher coffin I built last year and all my tombstones store nicely inside of it.


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## NormalLikeYou

We drilled into to bottom of our stones with an extra long spade bit (same diameter as the outside diameter of the pex), inserted 3/8" interior diameter pex tubing, and use 1/4" metal rods as stakes. Just pound the stakes in and drop the stones onto the stakes. We added the pex so the hole won't wallow out over time. We used gorilla glue on the pex so it's not going anywhere.


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## James Stevenson

Wind was so bad here last year it broke half of my tombstones and i used 3 stakes each velcro and zip ties


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## One Eyed Sam

I used a wire clothes hanger for mine. Unrolled it to make it straight. I left the hook on the end. Used a pair of wire cutters to snip a 12" section off of the end opposite the hook.
I snipped the 12" section in half. I bent each 6" section (from the 12") into an "L" shape with the short end about an inch and a half.
I stuck the 1.5" part of the L into the sides of my tombstones, one on each side, then the long end into the ground.
The remaining length of hanger, with the hook, I simply stuck in the ground deep enough for the hook to secure the top of the tombstone. I used the grey hangers so you can't see the hook on top of the stone at all.
We had a decent storm this morning with fairly strong wind and they held up nicely. Last year I would have been chasing them down the street in the rain...


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## ptbounce

A section of 2x4 or a cut piece of plywood has worked for me. 

I use all purpose adhesive caulk to glue the wood to my stones. Weigh it down overnight to get a good bond

To set up in my yard, I pound my stakes and attach screws to tyhe wood on the reverse of the stones. I like setting mine up at different angles to make my cemetery look run down and forgotten.


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## tinafromidaho

The ones I tried with elmers wood glue and hot glue came off in the wind today. Well poo.


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## StaceyLynn

Thanks for the idea. I literally just finished chasing mine around the neighborhood. lol


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## xxScorpion64xx

Fishing line through the stone tied to a stakes pounded into ground on either side of stone worked like a champ last year(I don't take credit for this, it was posted way earlier in this very thread)


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## GamblinFool

I just tried evaluated three different types of ways to secure PVC to foam.
1. Wood glue... Results: not a strong hold
2. Gorilla glue ... Results: strong bond, no or little eating away of the foam
3. Gorilla super glue... Results: strongest bond, a lot of foam disintegration
I may try epoxy this weekend...


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## tinafromidaho

great stuff foam seems to be holding well, we have a big windstorm coming this afternoon so It'll be a good test.


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## tinafromidaho

The pvc pipe glued to the back of the tombstones using Great Stuff foam worked great, we had a super windstorm yesterday 40+ mph winds and stronger gusts and not one of them came off. Yay. I like this because I can hammer in re bar separate from trying to push the stones down with anything attached to them. We have a pretty heavy clay soil here and you don't just "push" anything in the ground. Another benefit to this is I can space them all out and get the re bar and stones in place then look at it and very easily (by just sliding them off and back on) rearrange them. I previously used the fishing line with the stone tied to a little piece of decorative garden fencing and it was always such a hassle to get the little metal fence sections to go into the ground.


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## StaceyLynn

Thank you so much for this idea! Ours flew away 2 days in a row...boy did I look like a creep walking through my neighbors backyards! lol. We tried this and so far they have stayed up! It has been very windy so I have faith it will work. Now if I could only keep my heavy more expensive stones from tipping over!


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## girl77

*Better Solution than stakes*

Instead of stakes, I use mini shepard hooks! i can usually find them at the dollar store. Paint them black and stake behind the tombstone and fold the hook part over the top of the tombstone. Works great!! and the hooks are not noticeable at all !

I


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## Kingofpain86

We usually stay away from Styrofoam tombstones for the exact reason- they fly away. We can usually get some pretty strong ones from Target for cheap. But anyway, we did get 3 Styrofoam tombstones last year, and one had the sort of cross on the top. The wind ended up ripping it right off lol


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## drewah

I have seen rebar being used to secure the gravestones


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## Kritze

That is a great idea! My styrofoam tombstones always took to the wind. One was even run over by a car before I found it. Had tire marks on one side, bummer. But I have another much more drastic approach now... I use granite and marble:


http://www.halloweenforum.com/for-s...alloween-tombstone-your-haunted-cemetery.html


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## WitchyKitty

We make our tombstones, then carefully drill out two holes up into the bottom of the stones and push/twist narrow diameter PVC pipe up into them. (Doing two pvc pipes per stone keeps them from swiveling in the wind. The only stones that we have that can only use one pvc pipe are the narrow cross ones.) Then you can just easily hammer rebar into the ground and slip the stones right over them. We get lots of very strong wind here and this method is perfect...plus, the rebar holds them straight and nicely in place.
This method works great for thicker, handmade stones, but obviously wouldn't work for thin store bought ones, though, as the pvc would be too thick to go up into them.


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## thenightmarefamily

We have a very strong wind storm almost religiously on Halloween night. My solution is i build an inclosed walkthrough every year.


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## DarkPhoenix

Dawn the dead, 
You are genius!!!! TY so very much for this!!!!!!! 

Hauntingly Happy,
DarkPhoenix


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## GodOfThunder

Broomhilda said:


> A great way to keep them from flying away is with PVC pipe. Here is a great video on how to!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Happy Haunting!


This is a great idea and I have done this from the start. Since I made graveyard fencing out of PVC with rebar, I employed the same approach with this. Problem is, for the cheaper ones I've had (not the thick foam like in this vid), I've had the PVC come completely off the foam in a heavy wind/storm. I use Liquid Nails to adhere mine. 

It's not too high maintenance, but it seems we always get a big *** storm in early.mid October with monster winds that wreck my yard props and graveyard.


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## ldogg53

When I know a storm is coming I just run out and pick up all my tombstones and put them in the garage. Using the rebar/pvc method it takes all of 2 min to pick them up and maybe 5 min to put them out later.


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## DarkPhoenix

ldogg53 said:


> When I know a storm is coming I just run out and pick up all my tombstones and put them in the garage. Using the rebar/pvc method it takes all of 2 min to pick them up and maybe 5 min to put them out later.


Awesomeness! Efficiency and simplicity means the world to me. TY for the tips


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## AZHalloweenScare

Great idea!!!


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## crystalsmema

*velcro vs. styrofoam*



dawnthedead said:


> This is a simple and quick solution to tombstones flying away in the October wind.
> 
> The wooden stakes cost me $5. 38 for a bundle of 25. The Velcro was about $16.00 for 15 feet which was more than enough.
> 
> I have 15 tombstones (may add more) I cut about 8" strips for each tombstone.
> 
> At first I was attaching the velcro to the very top of the stake but then realized, "Wow, thats a lot of stake to drive into the ground." So, I attached it a little further down the length of the stake.


I couldn't get the velcro to stick on the styrofoam tombstones. Did u have to glue them ?


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## TosaTerror

I used velcro on the wooden stakes as well, but I used gorilla glue on the back of the velcro strips to help adhere to both the stake and Styrofoam. that's because I didn't trust the sticky backing the velcro came with by itself. Then I also used the glue to help stick the two velcro strips together for added support. I realize by doing that, I'll never be able to undo the velcro, but it's worth it.


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## GodOfThunder

DaveintheGrave said:


> I always just use Liquid Nails Construction Adhesive to glue a short section of 1/2" PVC to the back of the tombstone. Then slip it over some rebar or a wooden dowel in the ground.


This is what I've done religiously for 6 years now and, with rare exception (freak windstorms and sustained t-storms) this method has worked very well.


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## DarkPhoenix

crystalsmema said:


> I couldn't get the velcro to stick on the styrofoam tombstones. Did u have to glue them ?


I did find that the bigger sized Tombstones were no match for the winds this past season and the stake sizes so the foreman of the construction crew that was doing my remodeling of the store was making a trip to Lowe's and I overheard him asking someone else on his crew if they needed anything else and I kindly inquired about some bigger stakes (gave approximate size in description) and was rather shocked he had returned with them. He refused payment for them, but I paid him anyway. Lol. I know the winds did have them moving around (combined with the ALL the rain we had also) and falling over since the ground was saturated. I have learned from it, though and on to bettering this all next year!


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## DarkPhoenix

By the way, I DID happen to nab a few rebar sticks that was left behind from the crew also to tackle on that part of it for next year (with the pvc)....lol


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## Rigormortor

dawnthedead said:


> This is a simple and quick solution to tombstones flying away in the October wind.
> 
> The wooden stakes cost me $5. 38 for a bundle of 25. The Velcro was about $16.00 for 15 feet which was more than enough.
> 
> I have 15 tombstones (may add more) I cut about 8" strips for each tombstone.
> 
> At first I was attaching the velcro to the very top of the stake but then realized, "Wow, thats a lot of stake to drive into the ground." So, I attached it a little further down the length of the stake.


Great idea! We have alot of wind every Halloween here in KY. All my tombstones that are foam get blown down the street. Those cheap plastic
stakes they come with are a joke... I tried coat hangers but they are not strong enough. I will try the wooden stakes next. Thanks for the post!


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## TheHalloweenGuru

I have strictly free range tombstones


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## Saruman of Many Colours

This has probably been mentioned previously (or elsewhere, in other threads), but does anyone else hate those black plastic three-pointed stakes that come with most store-bought tombstones? Seriously, those things terrify me: Just the thought of a tombstone blowing away and then someone stepping on the sharp, upright, black points at night makes my blood run cold . . .

This year, being sorely pressed for time, I just used lengths of rebar and secured my tombstones with zip ties. *shrug* Didn't look too pretty, but don't think any of the ToTs noticed anyway.


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## CemeteryGirl

man, i just used pieces of welding wire my dad would snip for me....read through all of this but i think my favorite that i'm just going to HAVE to use is the wooden stake and velcro technique.^^

generally don't have to deal with much worse than some winds, so i imagine that would take care of it quite well! and such easy storage too!


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## bnb0627

What do you do if your front yard is all patio blocks?? I can't stake them, have tried taping a brick to the backside but they always fall over. 


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## Nightlites13

bnb0627 said:


> What do you do if your front yard is all patio blocks?? I can't stake them, have tried taping a brick to the backside but they always fall over.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Good Morning, Not sure if this would help or not. We were asked to decorate at our town library and we were adding gravestones to the scene. My first thought was how do we do this when we can't pound a stake in the ground. Here's what we came up with: We took a 1x4 board painted it black and then cut some 1 foot tall 2x4 pieces and painted them black. (I will try to find a pic to send later if interested) We screwed the short pieces to the long piece through the bottom and then laid it on the ground. This created a flat board with 3 to 4 vertical supports along the way which we then secured the tombstones to with black rubber bands. We of course did not have to contend with wind but perhaps this would work if you weighted the board which you could conceal behind the tombstones. As an added step which was a bit of a pain we stretched black webbing across the floor and then ripped an opening for the tombstones to stick up through. This helped conceal the boards laying on the ground. Just a thought.


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## bnb0627

Thanks! I'll give it a try!


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