The template is built on a stock photo of a cloud staircase climbing into a bright sky, originally published in a 2010 Meditationcenter.com lecture page1. Editors drop cutout portraits of the recently deceased onto the steps, usually with the newest arrival at the top and earlier meme-famous dead figures already waiting further up2. The tone sits somewhere between sincere tribute and dark humor, since the crowd on the staircase quickly grew to include gorillas, lions, and cartoon characters alongside actual celebrities2.

Part of the joke is the running roster. Once a new figure like Harambe is added, the image gets recycled for the next celebrity death, so the staircase acts as a growing group photo of the internet's departed2. Some edits break the rules entirely and put living people or non-living objects on the stairs to mark a metaphorical death, like a cancelled show or a lost meme2.

To make a Meme Heaven edit, start with the cloud staircase background and paste cutout images of the subject at the top step, typically facing up or looking toward the sky. Common convention is to include earlier meme-famous dead figures like Harambe or Cecil the Lion lower on the stairs as a welcoming committee. Captions are often minimal, a name and dates, since the image does most of the work.