Gravestone Rubbing
Gravestone rubbings are great way to create a copy of a grave marker and can be part
of an exploration about your ancestors.
Things You'll Need:
- Crayons
- Drawing Pencils
- Pencil Sharpeners
- Tracing Paper
Instructions
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Purchase large sheets of tracing paper.
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Sharpen a drawing pencil or take crayons.
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Get information about the cemetery you are visiting so that you know its hours and can learn where the
graves are that you are looking for.
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Find the grave you wish to visit.
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Hold the tracing paper over the front of the stone or marker.
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Rub over the entire paper with the side of sharpened end of the pencil, or peel a crayon and rub it on its
side over the paper.
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Roll your paper up carefully so you don't crease it or smudge the tracing.
Don't forget to take a digital camera with you as well just in case it doesn't work out as you have
planned.
This technique can work with fabric as well, give it a go it you have to.
There is a lot of talk that you should never do headstone rubbings, with the digital camera so easy to
use you shouldn't really need to do a rubbing. If a headstone is difficult to read then spraying
it with water may make it easier to read or go back on a dull day or a sunny day which ever makes it easier to take
a photo.
Ask the cemetery trust they may have a photo of the headstone that has been taken some time ago.
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