DIY A Spooky Graveyard Scene With Affordable Dollar Tree Supplies

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If you're hoping to ace the "scariest house in the neighborhood" contest, you need more than spooky specimen jars to bring home mad scientist vibes this Halloween. Up your game with an eerie graveyard scene that would put the cemetery near the Addams' mansion to shame. Worried about the pocket pinch? Don't be. You can get most of the affordable supplies from your local Dollar Tree. You just need to decide the theme and buy decorations accordingly. For instance, if you want to depict a realistic graveyard, you'll need a couple of tombstones to mark all the graves buried in your yard.

Greenbrier Kennel Club's Decorative Halloween Tombstones are available in four different designs and are a budget-friendly option. Since they're made of foam, you can dull their glittery finish and make them look scarier with some primer and paint. Skeletons, chains, ghouls, and bones will complete the spine-chilling scene. If you have posts for your plants nearby, you can even hang decor wherein spiders weave huge webs. For a scary Halloween decoration that will creep out your neighbors, sprinkle in a few bats and frightening signs. But in case you don't want to turn your yard into a full-blown cemetery, or you don't want to scare your kids or ruin your partner's plans for an "awesome land," use milder decor elements, like Squeaking Rats Decorations and Black Cat Tabletop Décor, to go with your tombstones.

Once you have a few foam tombstones with you, it's time to make them look creepy. You can either prime them before painting, so you get a clean slate to work with, or directly use Rust-Oleum's Stone Creations Spray for a textured look. After the paint is cured and your base is ready, decide if you want the text to blend in or stand out. If you opt for the former, your imitation tombstone is ready to be staked. Otherwise, use acrylic paint to set up a dreary scene. To illustrate, use black color to bring out the text and the eyes of the skull. The color will depend on what your base coat is. For instance, if you pick gray, dry brushing silver on the decorative details can have a spooky effect.

Another idea is to fashion a scary headstone out of two decorative tombstones. You just need to cut an empty cardboard box at an angle such that it can stay upright on its own. After you have the basic structure ready, fit a stone on it and stick the other one behind it for a towering look. Prime and paint it as discussed above and you'll have a morbid marker ready. Dull its shine with watered down earthen tones, like gray and green. This will also help them age disturbingly and make for a sinister graveyard scene. To further sell this story and indicate the growth of lichen, get out your hot glue gun and adhere Floral Garden's Floral Moss around their edges.

Although the main character, a tombstone is just one part of your graveyard. You'll need other elements to make it look realistic. For example, stake the marker in your yard and set a small cardboard in front. Ensure that it's rectangular in shape and looks proportionate to your plaque. Cover it with dirt or Back to the Roots' 100% Organic Potting Mix to signal a freshly dug grave. You can even use your hand shovel to make it seem authentic. Add in a Plastic Halloween Human Skeleton Hand or foot decor for a scary peek-a-boo.

You can even use them with plastic skulls and bones to facilitate a scary atmosphere. Or, drape mini skulls around a ghoul. Spiders sprawled over the markers will also amp up the sinister feel. Also, place dead and dropping florals in front of a few. As for the entrance to your imitation graveyard, create an arch using plastic broom handles, pool noodles, and tape. Drape a dark old cloth over it or DIY foam gates and set them against the arch. Even better, if they're leaning on a side. Hang ghouls and badly cracked skulls to give your cemetery a dilapidated finish. In case you have a window or glass decoration nearby, stick a few Bloody Gel Cling Halloween Window Decorations from Dollar Tree.

What if you're in the mood for mild Halloween decor ideas? Tamp down your graveyard's menacing factor and stick with cutesy decorations. Flickering Halloween-Themed LED Lanterns, glowy pumpkins, garden gnomes, boarded up houses, and fall-esque conifers and flowers are all good examples.