Q: how do I get skinnier legs without building muscle

A: If you want to get skinnier legs or skinnier anything else, you have to lose fat and weight. By far the most effective way to lose weight is through good diet, heavy whole-body weight training, and some cardio as I explain in http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/how-to-lose-fat . This means you will be lifting weights, including exercises for your legs. However, it is NOT true that you will build muscle and get bulky just because you lift weights. If you lift weights and overeat, then yes, you would build muscle. However if you are careful with your diet and under-eat instead of overeating then all that weight lifting will actually burn fat instead of building muscle. This is a very important point.

So read the article I linked as well as http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/nutrition and http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/weight-training to learn about proper nutrition and weight training. Then you could use http://www.mikesfitness.com/content/fitnessguide to get a starter training program and diet. Monitor your weight closely to make sure it's decreasing and not increasing over time. Losing 1 pound per week is a good weight loss pace. If your weight is not decreasing, then lower portion sizes slightly.