We have experimented with making coffins both out of cardboard and wood. All the photos you see on this page were made using these techniques! Click on the smaller photos to see larger ones.

Our first year, we made a life-sized coffin using a refrigerator box. This worked rather well. We cut out the pieces with Exacto knives and glued them together using a hot glue gun. We spray painted the outside black (You can also paint the inside black or red).

We made a lid for our coffin, but couldn't find a satisfactory way to attach it so we just propped it in place. This worked well since our mummies were climbing in and out of it all night. (Duct tape would probably work fine to hold the lid in place, but we wanted ours removable.)

When we knew we were going to continue the haunted house/yard tradition we had started, we decided we better build a sturdier coffin. After all, cardboard won't last forever! That is when we switched to wood.

Our second coffin was made using plywood. We cut out the same shapes as for the cardboard coffin and nailed the pieces together. We then reinforced all the seams with wood glue. This time, however, we could easily attach the lid! A few hinges screwed into the appropriate places did the trick.

We spray painted the outside of the coffin with primer and then painted it black. We lined the inside of our coffin with velvety, red material, but you could also spray paint the inside.