DIY Halloween -How To Make A Coffin

We are always looking for ways to use up some of our left over laminate flooring and who doesn’t want a coffin sitting in their yard in October? We were able to complete this project using left over wood from other projects.

What We Used:

We had some planks left over from our basement floor. They have been collecting dust for 3 years.

How We Made It:

1. Cut one of the 60″ boards diagonally down the length of the board creating 2 equal 60″ long triangles
2. Cut the planks using the diagram below. 3 Planks needs to be cut diagonally
3. Assemble the top section according to diagram (Plank A, B, C, D) with the widest ends pointed down towards the bottom section
4. Assemble the bottom section according the the diagram (Plank E, F, G, H). with the widest ends pointed up towards the top section
5. Use a piece of 1 by 2 board under the top section near the head, lying across all the planks and screw the planks to that board.
   1. ensure this board is shorter than the width of the 4 planks. It is good to cut the board 1″ shorter than the width and center it
6. Use a piece of 1 by 2 board under the bottom section near the feet lying across all the planks and screw the planks to that board.
   1. ensure this board is shorter than the width of the 4 planks. It is good to cut the board 1″ shorter than the width and center it
7. Now attach the top section and bottom section by pushing the sections together and overlapping a 1 by 4 board across all 8 of the planks (on the top/surface) and put a screw through the board and into each plank (8 screws)
8. The coffin lid should be done and sturdy. If not, add some more braces to ensure it is strong
9. We made a frame, following the contours of the coffin using 1by4 on the side with hinges and 1by2 on the opposite side
10. We used 1by4 for the top and bottom sides and then angle cut the 1by4 down to 1by2 to match the front frame. This angled frame makes the coffin look like it is coming out of the ground on an angle
11. Attach the coffin to the frame with hinges
12. We put a black plastic liner inside using glue to give the illusion that it is deeper than it actually is.
13. When setting up, we dug a few inches down inside the coffin to give extra depth. We also put lots of loose soil around it and Inside we put bones and spider webs. On Halloween we will add some lights

Cut Diagram – Cut along the red lines. The head of the coffin is made up of boards A, B, C, D – arranged in that order, with all the widest ends butted up to the longer section of the coffin. The longer portion is made by first cutting a board in half diagonally and then placing them arranged E, F, G, H, with the widest ends butting up against the head section.