Handmade Halloween: Horrifying Headstones

Clever epitaphs make homemade tombstones unique. I borrowed ideas from celebrity stones: "in" was Jack Lemmon's epitaph, "That's all folks" was Mel Blanc's, and "Nevermore" was part of Edgar Allen Poe's.

It's no secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Perhaps it was my past life as an art student in the '80s (yes, I was goth for a brief period of my life), but I really get into the costumes and I decorate the whole house, inside and out. I tend not to be too over the top in my outdoor decor, opting for a more subtle, haunted house look. This neighborhood has always been a big draw for trick or treaters, but now that several episodes of Grimm have been filmed here, I felt I needed to step up my game. I headed to Home Depot for supplies.

Horrifying Headstones

• 1 Styrofoam Insulation Sheet (1/2" x 2' x 8')
• 1 can Stone Textured Spray Paint
• Sharp knife or saw
• Assorted Acrylic Paints and brushes

Cut tombstone shapes from stryofoam board using a knife or thin bladed saw. Do this outside, as it gets pretty messy. First, I plotted out the general size of the tombstones and marked with pen on the plastic my initial shapes. I cut out the rectangles first and then cut out the domed top.



Peel off foil and plastic protective skins from the styrofoam. Using a sandpaper block, sand down the rough edges. Wear a mask, because styrofoam dust gets everywhere. Dull any "sharp" corners and edges. Remember, these tombstones have been sitting out in your front yard for ages and are weathered and worn.



Next, line up tombstones on a tarp and evenly apply stone textured spray paint. If you spray each stone individually like I did, you may run out of paint (I ran out of paint), so try and do them all at once and get a light, even coating, then go back and add more "texture." The paint will need to dry overnight if left outside in a garage in the Pacific Northwest. It may dry faster in a drier environment.

Once dry, the fun begins! I applied black and green splotches to the sides of the stones to look like moss and mildew, using a piece of sponge and acrylic paint. After researching epitaphs online, I sketched the designs using chalk, then I painted the final art using latex acrylic paint.

One sheet of styrofoam will make four assorted sized tombstones. Dowel rods can be inserted into the bottom of the stones as supports to prop them up in the yard. Happy Halloween!

Coop Part Deux

We added to our chicken coop a week or so after building it. As there wasn't a way to access the inside of the pen without dragging it away from the coop, we decided (after several chicken escapes) to create a couple of hatch doors. We also elevated the coop because the Pacific Northwest is rainy, our yard gets mushy, and we want the coop to stay as dry as possible.

The reclaimed lumber came from The ReBuilding Center in North Portland. We also picked up a window as one of the two hatch doors. When I went back the next day to pick up a mate for the window, all of the matching ones were gone. Lesson learned: if you see something you want at The ReBuilding Center, buy it then and there. I brought back some 2x2s and we fashioned a screen door for chicken access door #2.

Basically, we built a box large enough to support the coop and pen. The box was framed for two access doors and we wrapped hardware cloth along the inside. Spring locks were added to the doors for security and the coop and pen were secured to the box.

I may paint the top part of the pen, leaving the reclaimed lumber in its natural state. The chickens seem to be happier in their new pen, as the coop creates a shaded area for them to roll in the dirt.

Old-growth lumber from The

ReBuilding Center.

Coop access door #1.

We built a box.

Coop access door #2.

Pen on box.

Coop & pen. And the ladder I made.

The finished product!

Coop Du Jour

Where do I begin? Do I start with the tearing up of the lawn in the formal English garden to put in raised beds? Do I tell of the conversations where we dream of a not-so-urban farm? I guess I start with the text message.

July 12, 5:43pm

I received a text from the S.O. asking if we wanted to inherit three chickens that belong to The Kid. The hens were living on a horse ranch south of town, but the owner of the ranch no longer wanted to deal with chickens, so there was a mad dash to home the girls.

My response "Okay." Of course I wanted chickens. I have wanted chickens ever since I gave my hens to my neighbors when I moved to Indiana over two years ago. But I know the daily work and the overall expense that raising chickens entails. I know the early morning chores. I know the odds of breaking even after spending hundreds on a coop, food, and other supplies. I also know the entertainment value of watching chickens do chickeny things, not to mention the joy of collecting the eggs ("hey, we made food!").

"We need a coop with a run." I texted. "But, yeah!"

During dinner, we compiled a list of everything we would need for the chickens. A secure coop with a secure run, waterer, feeder, bedding, food, hardware cloth. I sketched out ideas for the perfect coop, but we had one in mind that we had seen at Coastal Farm and Ranch earlier this year.

We woke up early and drove to Coastal to pick up supplies for the ladies. The coop we wanted was gone. The others were outrageously expensive and cheaply made. All of the locks would need to be replaced and the coops needed to be predator-proofed. Fortunately, the dog houses were right near the coops, and there was one that was just under $100. With a few mods, it could be the perfect hen house for the girls. We grabbed some hardware cloth and a waterer and headed home to start the Extreme Coop Makeover.

When the S.O. went to the local hardware store for hinges, locks, screws, and wood, I swung by the Urban Farm Store for the rest of the supplies: Portland Layer, a metal feeding trough, oyster shell and grit. We finished the coop around 9pm. We were exhausted and the hens were relieved to not have to spend the night in the dog crate.

Enjoy the pics below, but this isn't the end of the story. Remember, I drew what I thought would be the perfect coop for our backyard farm. This coop was a wonderful start, but in order to open and shut the door and reach the food and water, the pen had to be dragged to and fro. Not an easy task should there only be one person around to care for the girls (such as a house/pet sitter) and this coop had to be easy. 

Coming soon: Coop Part Deux.

The girls in the dog kennel, on the ride to the big city.

The Perfect Home for Every Dog,
or chicken.

One plank was removed from each side
panel, to allow airflow through the coop.

Hardware cloth was stapled to the
inside of the side panel.

And voila! One side wall of the coop
is ready.

View of side panel and front of coop.

All the walls are up. Time to put in a floor.

1/2" hardware cloth was attached to the
bottom, using a side plank for support.

The coop came with 3 floor panels.
We used one for the floor under the 

nest box and one for the door.

The roof was attached with hinges along
the front wall, so the inside of the coop
can be easily accessed for eggs
and cleaning.

I later switched the door hinge so it
swings from the top.

Here comes the run. Most of the wood came from
scrap in the basement.

The (almost) finished coop and run.

Chick & Clinic Update

Here is a picture of the chicks on the day they arrived, L to R: Munkey, Penguin, and Buttercup.

And here are the chicks today (L to R, Penguin (hidden), Buttercup, Itchy (my roommate's chicken), and Munkey. These birds are growing fast!

Penguin the White Cochin is still the smallest of the bunch. Her feathers are coming in and she looks like she's wearing aprés ski boots.

The clinic space is coming along, as well. This past week, after a couple of trips to Ikea and hours of assembling the purchases, everything started to fall into place. Holistica Healthcare should be up and running in a week or so.

Recycle, reuse: Dish scrub

Image by hownowdesign via FlickrImageI wish I could remember where first I saw this idea so I could give credit where it is due. A quick and easy way to make a dish scrubber is to take a sponge and slip it into a plastic mesh bag, the type onions come in. Tie the excess into a knot and cut the mesh. Instant dish scrubber!

Watch out Martha, here I come. Oh...I think I got my idea from Martha.

For the advanced DIYer, Girl on the Rocks knitted a dish scrubber. You can check it out here.