2026 Aedicula Headstone Prop Progress

Got the new aedicula painted yesterday and installed the permanent decorative corbels and appliques on it today. Just needs its final antiquing coat. We combined what was left of our Cape Cod Gray Behr Textured DeckOver paint with what was left over of our Quartz Stone Behr Exterior flat paint for the base color on this aedicula. It's currently a very light gray, but once the watered down exterior flat black paint is applied for the antiquing coat, it will be a darker gray and will look more like granite/marble in appearance.

2026 Prop Builds & New Additions

Our new 2026 aedicula style headstone prop built and ready to be painted. This one is going in the front yard cemetery space on Halloween. After it's painted and antiqued, the copper patina finished corbels for the side columns and the Victorian style appliques for the base's front and sides will be added permanently. We have a wide array of copper patina plaques for the top pediment and main body for this Halloween and future ones to choose from. Also to go with our 2026 "Frankenstein's Bride" theme we purchased some warm amber Edison LED bulbs to go in our garage carriage lights and found similar (although unfortunately not as warm looking in hue) rechargeable outdoor rated Edison LED bulb lanterns that have removable hanging arms. A pair will hang from the front porch and a pair will sit on our column props flanking each side of our front door. Because we did a laboratory themed vignette with Frankenstein's monster on our front porch for our 2022 Classic Horror Movie Monsters theme we are going for a different look this year.

Spray Paint Aged Copper Patina Finish

Finished painting the various plaques, corbels, and appliques that will adorn our 2026 aedicula headstone. We used a combination of 4 different spray paint colors to achieve the "aged copper patina" finish. The goal was to try to match the finish of a purchased faux Jacob Marley door knocker plaque. We used Montana Cans Black series "Mermaid" as a base coat, followed by a light coat of Rustoleum "Aged Copper", followed by Montana Cans Black series "Copper Green" and "Seal" colors. Three wood appliques were the test subjects before committing to the spray paint technique. A final coat of Rustoleum clear matte enamel spray paint was applied to weather protect the pieces. 

2026 Aedicula Headstone Prop Build

Going to be adding a new aedicula style headstone prop to our haunt this year. Once again the aedicula will have various different main body center plaques that can be swapped out for various haunt themes. We like the copper patina paintjob on a faux Jacob Marley plaque we got from an Etsy shop and the goal is going to be to try to match that finish on all the other plaques and adornments that will be used on the new aedicula headstone.

Aedicula Props Get A "Done Stamp!"

Got the main plaques for this year's haunt mounted on the aedicula props. These LED top light skulls were purchased from the now defunct JoAnn Fabrics last year. This was just a test to make sure the plaque mounting bolts were installed at the correct height on the two newer aediculae. While the decorative plaques on the upper pediments of the aediculae are permanently mounted, the main plaques can be swapped out to taste. This way the props won't always look exactly the same from haunt year to haunt year.

Prop Progress Update

New cemetery post columns and 2 new aediculas antiqued to match our 2023 aedicula prop. Still have to add the LED flame light sconces and D ring brackets for fence chain to the columns and the center plaque mounting screws to the new aediculas. The outdoor light stringers for the house will go up in ~ 2 weeks followed by our pre-haunt inflatable flame light jack-o-lantern decoration at the end of September.

Haunt Prop Progress Report

Our new carpentry prop additions for our annual Halloween yard haunt are painted and the permanent decorative plaques for the aediculas are installed. Next phase is applying watered down flat black exterior paint antiquing wash on all of these which will bring out the textured paint details and make all these items looked aged.

New Aedicula Props 2025

We completed building two new aedicula props for this year's haunt. Since we're moving the cemetery props out to around our now established maple tree in the front yard this Halloween, we needed a couple more aedicula props to accompany the aedicula prop we built back in 2023 to fill up the long stretch of garage wall along our front walkway. Painting and final touches for the aedicules and 4 new cemetery border columns will happen in August.

Victorian Madam Morticia Plaque

We got this plaque this past December for only $26 on Amazon in anticipation of this year's Haunted Mansion inspired ghost themed yard haunt. We weren't sure if we were going to display it in the bookcase prop on our front porch for Halloween, but it really pops on our aedicula prop! It may have been the last one available because it's currently unavailable on Amazon. We have learned over the years that if you see something special or unique for Halloween snag it ASAP because a lot of Halloween decorations, props, masks, etc. are produced in limited run batches and you may never see such items available ever again.

Aedicula Prop Completed

Our Aedicula prop for this year's haunt gets a "Done!" stamp. It stands 53" tall and has plenty of room for candles on the bottom shelf.

Aediucla Prop Painted

Prop is painted. Had forgotten how thick textured DeckOver paint is and had to cut it with the flat exterior paint we used on the bookcase prop last year. Mixing the two paints gave it a nice multi shade look. Next step is antiquing with watered down flat black exterior paint and shop clothes. The antiquing step will really bring out the details and give more depth to the prop. Skull plaques go on last.

Aedicula Prop With Base

Finished making the base for the aedicula prop today and spray painted the skull accessories that will adorn the prop after it's painted and antiqued. The small 3 skull plaque will go on the central arch space of the top pediment and the large skull plaque will go on the main interior wall of the prop. There's room on the bottom base shelf for candles and other accessories, but there's also room on the pediment overhang shelf for candles or draping vines over the prop.

Aedicula Prop Progress

An aedicula, by definition, is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment supported by a pair of columns. From a prop building perspective, an aedicula is actually an easy approach to making interesting looking headstones using wood and carpentry skills (not a fan of using insulating foam boards for props). The aedicula is making great progress so far. It's roughly 2 feet wide and a little over 4 feet tall. A base still needs to be built and then all the final detailing trim will be added before it's painted with Behr Textured DeckOver and antiqued. The pediment top came from Ekena Millwork and is intended to be used as a top trim for a window, but works perfectly for an aedicula prop!