How to Make a Skeleton from Milk Jugs

Milk jug skeletons are an inexpensive Halloween decoration you can make at home, by using old milk jugs. This skeleton can be used indoors or outdoors, all the while giving use to an otherwise wasted jug. What you will need to make your spooky recycled skeleton:

Seven Milk jugs

Glue gun

Scissors

Sting

One-hole punch

To start, clean your milk jugs using hot soapy water and remove the labels. For the head, turn a milk jug upside down with the handle facing away from you, and cut out two circles for eyes. Some milk jugs even have two circles impressed in them already making this step even easier. Next, you'll need to make a mouth; you can cut out a smiling mouth or any other mouth you wish to make. Cut two small holes in the top of your skeletons head in order to loop a piece of string threw. Tie the string to make a handle to hang your finished skeleton.

To make the torso take a milk jug upright with the handle facing away from you and cut horizontal strips out of the sides to make a rib cage. Using a hot glue gun, attach the spout from the head and the spout from the torso.

For the waist you will need two milk jugs, cut the spouts off the top leaving around a half of an inch plastic circle around the spouts. Glue the spouts together using hot glue. Once it's cool use hot glue to attach one side to bottom of your torso.

Continue by making hips. Take one milk jug and cut the bottom off. You will want this piece to be around 4 inches tall. Once you've done this, you will cut a crescent shape on all four sides so that all the corners are raised. Using your hot glue gun, attach the hips to the upturned spout on the waist, with one corner in front, one in the back, and two on the sides. Using the one-hole punch make a hole in the two side corners.

To make the shoulders, you'll need to cut the handles off two milk jugs leaving a ring of plastic around one end of each handle to attach to the skeleton. To attach, glue to the top of the torso piece you've made earlier. Use your one-hole punch to make a hole at the end of each shoulder to attach the arms later.

Using the curved edge of three milk jugs cut out eight bone shapes for the arms and legs, these will be your skeleton limbs. You can use the two milk jugs that you've taken the handles off of and the second jug you took the spout off of, for this. Punch holes in the top and bottom of each bone piece. Tie two bones together with string; repeat this three more times so you have four limbs. Attach two limbs to the shoulder piece and two limbs to the hip piece for the legs.

Cut hands and feet out of the sides of the milk jugs. Punch holes in them and attach to the bottom of the arm and leg bones with string.

If you want to you can even paint your skeleton. Tempera paint works well. Neon paint is also a ton of fun, especially if you have a black light to put your skeleton by. Have a spooky and green Halloween!