How to Make DIY Picket Fence Tombstones

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! The ghost with the most was missing from my DIY tombstone graveyard every Halloween. I had Jason, Freddy, Carrie, even Wes Craven and Dee Dee Ramone … because I, myself, am strange and unusual. But my favorite Halloween movie bad guy was not represented among my DIY Halloween decorations. This year, my goal was to make more tombstones, but I needed materials, and I don’t do flimsy foam. Randomly scrolling Facebook Marketplace, I came across free picket fence shutters. Like the red Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice sign flashing in my brain, my idea bulb lit up, and I went on a mission to make DIY picket fence tombstones.

From Picket Fence Shutters to DIY Beetlejuice Tombstone

Luckily for me, my picket fence shutters already resembled the curved shape of tombstones when placed together. To turn two picket fence shutters into a DIY Beetlejuice tombstone, I attached the two halves with blocks of wood across the back.

The added block of wood drilled onto two shorter blocks created a gap just the right size to fit a garden post stake through — perfect for securing the tombstone into the ground.

Painting a DIY Tombstone

Allow me to state the obvious: When painting a DIY tombstone, use outdoor paint to withstand rain, wind and whatever other elements your tombstone may face. With that said, I have always used whatever I had on hand, added a protective spray, and never had a problem.

For this Beetlejuice tombstone, I rummaged through the garage and found 13-year-old interior paint resembling a murky white color and similarly old gray automotive paint. I brush-painted my DIY Beetlejuice tombstone with the interior paint and added a smattering of the automotive paint to give it that creepy, weathered look.

After the base coat dried, I plotted the lettering in chalk before painting the DIY Tombstone with the signature “here lies betelgeuse” words and accompanying arrow.

Never Trust the Living: Finishing Touches on a DIY Beetlejuice Tombstone

“What's the good of being a ghost if you can't frighten people away?” Beetlejuice’s tombstone is pretty frighteningly epic. Carved gargoyle skeletons arise from the tombstone as if they could come to life at any second. While there are certainly some impressive DIY imitations online, I wasn’t spending money. I was working with what I could repurpose for the thrifty price tag of free. For this, I had Dollar Tree skeletons.

Upcycling Dollar Tree Skeletons

The Dollar Tree has, for decades, sold dinky gray and white skeletons. Sometimes they come with capes made of the thinnest, cheapest fabric known to man. You can rip those suckers right off. Upcycling Dollar Tree skeletons was as simple as coating them with automotive spray paint. The gunmetal color convinced my 7-year-old daughter the skeletons were metal. She expected them to be heavy! Amazing what a coat of spray paint can do to something you bought for a buck, back when The Dollar Tree actually lived up to its name.

To attach the upcycled Dollar Tree skeletons, I drilled their arms and bodies near the top of the tombstone.

Final Assembly of DIY Beetlejuice Tombstone

It’s showtime! For the last step, I pounded the garden stake into the ground, slipped the tombstone over the stake, and voila: I created a DIY Beetlejuice tombstone from picket fence shutters. As an added touch, I collected skinny tree branches and zip-tied them together to create a spooky tree.