Pirate Mugs

One of the things I want to do with the pirate graveyard is add some elements of fun to it. Last year I had the hand and arm of one of the piles of bones hold up a sign that said "I walked the plank." This year I am going to add something a bit more in theme. 

What you need:

• Two plastic mugs
• Silver or Pewter paint
• Super glue
• Hacksaw
• 2 thumbs up skeleton hand stakes (99 cent Store)
• Skull and Cross bones decal or  waterproof sticker

This build was fairly easy. got a pair of skeleton hand stakes from the 99 cent store and 2 mugs from either Dollar General or Dollar tree (I don't remember which... LOL) . I started out by spray painting the translucent blue mugs with silver spray paint/primer, inside and out. 

Once completely dry and cured (a few weeks later actually. You don't have to wait this long: I got sidetracked...) I used an Xacto knife to cut a small hole in the top of the fist of the skeleton hands. Taking the mug, I held it against the had with the top bar of the handle resting on top of the fist, and marked  on the vertical portion of the handle where the handle would be visible again if the had was gripping the mug. That is where you use the hacksaw to make your first. Please do this with a mask on so you don't breath plastic dust or particles. Yuck. Once the first cut is done, measure an inch above the first cut and saw through he handle there too, completely removing a chunk of the handle. 

Now you can insert the handle into the hand. The top bar of the mug should rest on top of the hand and the side of the mug should be touching the outside of the fist. Check the bottom. The visible part of the handle should fit nicely onto the bottom of the fist. Once you see how the mug is going to sit in the hand, drill a hole in the bottom of the mug at the lowest point. This will let water out if it rains. These 99 cent store hands are not super thick and I was worried if water built up in the mugs like a rain gauge, the arms will buckle... 

Get your super glue and squeeze some onto the various spots the mug and hand touch, especially on the top and side. Repeat with the 2nd mug and hand

I still need to get my wife's Cricut out to cut the Skull and Crossbones vinyl emblems, but once done, I will have 2 hands coming out of different grave clinking their mugs or rum together...