How to Make a Wooden Pet Headstone
- 1). Shape the top part of the wooden plank using a chisel. It can have a rounded or square shape. If you are good at woodworking, you can opt for a more ornate shape. Sandpaper the edges to smoothen them out.
- 2). Treat the wooden plank with a pentachlorophenol-based wood preservative. This is available in hardware stores. The preservative will protect the wood from degrading outdoors due to moisture, rain, fungi and insects. Pour the preservative into a container large enough to hold the headstone. Immerse the headstone into the preservative and allow it to steep for a couple of days. Take out the wood and let it dry before using it again.
- 3). Select a pattern for the headstone. You will want a pattern that represents your pet. You can even make a mosaic of your pet, if you like. Photocopy the pattern to make it as big as the wooden plank. This will give you the right dimensions when tracing it.
- 4). Trace the pattern on the wooden plank using tracing paper. You can even use carbon paper for tracing the pattern onto the wood.
- 5). Put on the safety goggles and work gloves and cut the tiles into various sizes with the help of the tile cutter. The color of the tiles will depend on the pattern and the colors you would like to include in your design.
- 6). Place the cut tile pieces on the traced pattern on the wooden plank. Once you are satisfied with the tiles placement, begin gluing individual pieces onto the wooden plank using the tile glue.
- 7). Apply the grouting powder between the tiles to close small gaps. This will give a smooth appearance to the mosaic and keep dirt from entering between the tile pieces.
- 8). Place the wooden headstone into the ground where your pet is buried. Dig a few inches to insert the headstone in the ground and pack dirt around it to keep it steady.
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