Who says that leg lamps are just for Christmas?  This creepy and kinda cool leg lamp is just what you need to add the finishing touch to your Halloween parlor scene.  And as an extra added bonus, we’ll use the leftover arms to make a picture frame!

Supplies needed:

1 plastic miniature skeleton
1 unpainted wooden flower pot (large)
Eyelash yarn for fringe
Red paint
Bead for finial
Small round, octagonal or square piece of plywood
Tacky Glue or hot glue gun

For picture frame:

1 square or rectangular piece of plywood or foamcore (window punchouts work well for this)
Black or brown paint
Picture of your “mummy”

Begin with painting the flower pot inside and out as well as on the bottom.  Allow the paint to dry.

Cut a piece of eyelash yarn to fit around the outside edge of the pot and glue in place.  If the yarn is twisted or won’t hang straight, rub a bit of tacky glue between your finger and thumb, pinch the yarn lightly between them and stroke downward.  This will “starch” the fringe in place nicely.   For a more ornate look, you can add a bit of gold embroidery thread around the top of the shade and the top edge of the fringe.

Leg bones don’t stand up well when they’re removed from the rest of the skeleton.  Paint the small piece of plywood for the lamp base and allow to dry.

Cut on leg bone off of the skeleton at the hip joint.  Glue the foot to the base.

Coat the top of the leg with glue and position it exactly in the center of the hole of the flower pot.  Allow the glue to dry.

Glue the bead in place over the hole of the flower pot to create the finial.

There’s always the question of what to do with the remaining parts of a body if you’ve only used one limb.  Remaining limbs make a great picture frame!   Paint your piece of wood (or foamcore) black or brown and allow the paint to dry.  Cut your picture to fit the wood and glue it into place.   (I’m using open source clip art for this tutorial but any spooky, creepy or ghostly picture looks great.)

Cut the remaining leg off the skeleton, then cut it in half at the knee joint. Trim the bones to fit the short sides of the frame and glue in place.

Cut the arms off the skeleton and trim to fit the long sides of the frame.  Bend the hands and hold them for a minute so they have a natural curl to them. Glue the arms to the long sides of the frame, placing the hands so they appear to be grasping the side bones.  

What a great way to display the picture of a loved one!

Add the picture frame to the leg lamp and a spooky chair (the chair tutorial is also in this edition of the Gazette) and you have a great mini Halloween scene!