It wasn't until I got my druthers to stop at a hardware store in Houlton, Maine, while collecting a five gallon jug of fog juice (yeah, I have a condition), that I lucked out and got some foam blocks. But Murphy's Law slapped me in the face and that store no longer ships using them so that resource is no more. What is great is that I can say I worked with the foam blocks and built four columns -- two for the cemetery arch, and two as corner arches for the cemetery. And then I had to choose a name. Since there was no Silverwood Cemetery, and the domains were available, I chose that.
The arch is made of two 1/2" PVC pipes, slightly bent from the transportation in my vehicle (convenient) with wood letters drilled and hot-glued into place. The curly 14 underneath is for the address, made of vinyl tubbing with bendable wire inside to allow molding (sorry NB, I still spell differently). The columns Gorilla glued together, followed by caulking to fill the cracks and secure the bond. Learned how to cut crown moulding (purchased at local HD store) and add wood bases and wooden crown top pieces. The tops included pine to help keep the water off of the foam but to allow a bracket to hold the pinnacles, which happen to be table legs. The arch is attached to the legs with rubber straps screwed into place. I construction-nail caulked the candle holders in place and will use battery operated candles in October.
Soon I will build the gates, which must remain closed to keep the creepy-crawlies inside.
