Milk Jug Skeletons

I saw the idea for creating these here. They use glue gun to make the connections but I found them pretty unstable, and I had to use tons more glue, so I thought I would modify it a bit and use wire and brads. For glue gun instructions see the above site!

Here's what you'll need:8-9 milk jugs (i only used 7 for this one but that was with practice fitting all the parts in)
small hole punch
2 brads
wire
wire cutters (not shown)
exacto knife
scissors
pen for tracing
Optional: glow in the dark paint (one bottle per skeleton)

1. The Head: Slice holes in the upside down jug for eyes, nose and mouth. Cut two holes in the top to thread wire through to hang. Punch two holes in either side of the 'neck' for later connection.

Make your face happy or scary - just like a jack 'o' lantern!

2. The Rib Cage/Body: Use your exacto knife to slash some ribs, leaving a big opening at the top so you can put your hand in it later to make connections. Remember, you are going for impressionistic, not perfect here!

You need to punch holes in the top for the neck and cut holes in the bottom with your exacto knife for the waist.

3. Hands & Feet: This is the fun part for your kids (and why I have to make 2 skeletons LOL). Trace their hands and feet on a jug and cut them out. Punch a hole at each ankle and wrist for later connection.

4. Leg and Arm bones: I cut my leg and arm bones from the curved part of the jug because they give lots of dimension and it is easy to follow the curve of the jug when cutting. You can get more bones and a shorter skeleton if you use both the curved and flat sides of the jug. I outlined where you could cut with black pen so you could see it but I usually just freehand cut.

Once you have your bones cut (4 arm and 4 leg) you need to cut the centers from 2 of each set of bones. Like your arms and legs, the lowest bone is actually two bones fused together. See picture below.

Once this is done, punch holes at the top and bottom of all 8 bones for later connection.

5. Pelvis: This is cut from the bottom of a milk jug and consists of drawing half circles on all four sides of the bottom of the jug and then using straight lines to connect them.
Then cut the pelvis out and punch holes in two sides of the pelvis for later connection.
6. Shoulders: These are cut from the handle of the milk jug. Use your exacto knife to cut large circles around the top and bottom of the handles to get them off the milk jug. Using your scissors you can now cut more precise circles around the top and bottom of the handle. Once you have two cut, punch holes in the top and bottom of the handle for later connection.

7. Waist: The waist is made up of two of the collars or spouts of the milk jug. Cut them off any jug and punch two holes in each side for later connection.
8. Paint - **OPTIONAL**. Paint all your parts with glow in the dark paint. Paint one side, lay on wax paper, let dry, paint the other side. I used one bottle of paint per skeleton. This is where the kids can go crazy! If it has streaks or blobs it just looks even cooler in the dark!
9. Assembly:
a) Use wire to connect the head and chest at the 'neck'.
I threaded mine through the holes and put my hand in the mouth to twist the wire tight. I used thick florist wire for all my connections to the body and used thinner wire to connect the leg and arm bones for greater flexibility.

b) Use brads to connect the shoulders to the chest. You can poke a hole where you want it with the tip of the exacto knife and put your hand through the top of the chest to open the brad.
c) Use wire to connect the chest with the waist collars and the pelvis. Thread wire through the bottom of the chest, through each of the waist pieces and into the pelvis. Twist the wire tight inside the pelvis.

The body should be together now! Woot Woot!

d) Attach the hands and feet to the arm and leg bones - forming arms and legs (using thinner wire if you desire).

e) Attach arms to the shoulders with thicker wire and remember to get the hands on the right side LOL!

f) Attach legs to the pelvis with thicker wire and remember to get the feet on the right side (big toes face in)!
g) Attach a loop of wire through the top of the head for hanging and hang it up to enjoy!

10. After Halloween, discard in your recycling box.

For those without kids or who don't drink a lot of milk, start early with the milk jug saving and cut out the relatively flat pieces like arms, hands, collars etcetera. Store them in a big plastic bag as you go along and before you know it you'll have all the pieces except the head, chest and pelvis. Do those closer to Halloween so you aren't storing the big pieces for long.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!