Happy Halloween and a little DIY

 I was inspired to do a little DIY when I came across these glitter skulls at Target. I was going to make a concrete base for them, but while I was at the craft store gathering supplies, I came across these wooden boxes on sale instead. I started with weighting the boxes with plaster, since they are light weight. After letting the plaster dry for 24 hours, I drilled holes in the back of the boxes, above where the plaster stops. Then I cut wooden lids out of a separate piece of light weight wood, I also drilled a hole in the center of the lid for the rod and wiring to come through. I used a acrylic gray paint to finish the boxes, I wanted to still see wood grain, so I watered down the paint, brushed in on, and quickly wiped it off.
I had the threaded rod already, so I just used a hack saw and cut it in half. I used a long sharp object to cut through the skull enough to run the rod through. I purchased 16 feet of cloth cord from the lighting store, along with two plugs. I already had the nuts to secure the rods through the lid of the box, I just used one on either side to secure the rod. I had two brass Hubble sockets from an auction, laying around, and decided to use them since i wasn't planning on using lamp shades. They are really heavy duty and quite beautiful for a lamp socket, and design wise can stand on their own. I also top the sockets with chrome dipped light bulbs, which can be found at most hardware stores. This helps cast the light downward since there aren't any shades.
And that is it. I really easy DIY, that has a spooky look, but can be kept out year round. You can also adjust this project to your own needs if you aren't in the the glitter skull thing. You can put just about anything you want and the threaded rod and have custom lamps.