Get Into The Spirit of Halloween and Make a Fairy Graveyard

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We’re not big into Halloween here in South Africa. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’ because it’s not safe to walk around after dark anymore. Or we have too many other real-life scary things to worry about. I really wish we could get into the spirit of things though. I love dressing up and there’s just something about the whole idea that appeals to me. Trick or treating seems like a great way to get to know your neighbors 😉 It reminds me of the good old days when it was okay to go next door and get some sugar when you ran out. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve met all our closest neighbors and we all look out for each other. I’m sure they won’t mind giving me some sugar if I ask nicely. But it didn’t happen overnight. We’ve become so used to living behind our security fences that it takes a while before we feel safe enough to connect with others. Whatever trick or treating happens here is normally on a small scale so we decided to make ourselves this little fairy graveyard.

It’s got grave stones and skeletons and spider webs and even a moon that lights up when the sun goes down. I can’t tell how many times I’ve done a double take in the middle of the night seeing that moon 😉 It adds that extra creepy factor. And the whole fairy graveyard took us less than an hour to put together.

What You Need to Make a Fairy Graveyard

If you’d like to make something similar all you need is:

• Steel wool
• Small skeletons
• Black and grey paint
• A ping-pong ball and solar lights
• Dried moss or coconut fiber and floral foam
• Balsa wood or thick cardboard and some texture paste or plaster of Paris
• Dried twigs
• A suitable container

I made my fairy grave yard in a large calabash or gourd. A hollow concrete pumpkin or store bought plastic one would also work.

How to Make a Fairy Graveyard

The gourd we used already had a large hole cut on the side, so we didn’t have to do much to prepare it for the graveyard other than spray the inside black.

If you can’t find one that’s already been cut, don’t worry. Just drill a pilot hole and then used a small saw to cut an opening. And if you’re using a plastic pumpkin, you can do the same thing. Line the inside with florist foam and cover with moss or coconut fiber.

Time To Start Making All The Bits That Go Inside

For the gravestones, we cut the balsa wood into gravestone shapes and slapped on loads of plaster of Paris to give it some texture. You can do the same thing using homemade texture paste. Grab a stamp set, if you have them, and squish it into the plaster of Paris while it’s still wet to mimic an epitaph. Or write your own using a toothpick. Once everything is dry dab on some grey paint.

A spooky graveyard wouldn’t be complete without a few spider webs 😉 One of the easiest ways to make realistic looking webs is to use steel wool. Gently pull it apart and drape the bits of steel wool on a dry twig.

Now for my favorite part………..

Making the Moon for the Miniature Graveyard

We cut a small hole in the ping pong ball using a craft knife and then inserted the solar lights. I used a crayon and smudged it on the ball so it looked kinda like the craters on the moon.

Did you know there are 28 craters on the moon and they’re all named after women scientists? How’s that for an interesting bit of trivia 😀 Anyhows, our gourd had this big split on the one side so we could simply slide the solar panel wires into the slit and glue the moon on. You may need to cut a small slit in yours.

Our skeletons had these weird red eyes so I used a Sharpie to change them to black. 

I didn’t want no zombie skeletons in our fairy graveyard 😀

He seems so friendly. Then again they all seem pretty chilled. What do you think?

Oh, and if you like the idea of making a miniature graveyard for Halloween, don’t forget to pin it for later

Sharing is caring 😉

Wanna see some more Halloween ideas?

• Realistic of eye balls with free printables
• Matilda the spider and her wire web
• 5 minute vampire wings
• A magical floating tin can filled with ghost breath
• Loving skeleton couple and the ghost in the mirror
• Working skeleton hands ice tongs for that extra creep factor
• Spooktacular polystyrene skull makeover
• Hovering bottle planter

Oh and for your convenience I’ve added some affiliate links below, in case you want to make something similar. Disclosure: If you click on them, we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and our fairies will send some fairy dust your way too 😉

Do you have any big plans for Halloween or is it just another day in your corner of the world? I’d love to hear about it and as always wishing you a very blessed week.

Last update on 2026-08-16 / Source Amazon Affiliates