Log Cabin Diorama

While my family and I were busy cleaning up the house, sorting items, collecting and preparing to throw out used and worn household items, I came across many of these household items that seemingly deserved a second chance to shine. Suddenly, I felt that throwing these items out without ever getting to know their full potential would be such a waste. Using this newfound potential and inspiration, my friend and I (10th graders) decided to use all this discarded trash and upcycle it into something with meaning behind it. By incorporating all of these elements, we constructed a log cabin diorama that symbolizes structural redemption, where historically, old and heavy timber would otherwise be overlooked as discarded material, often being burned, or left rotting away, but was instead used to build a fortified structure. Instead of using real timber, we built a scaled model of one using foamboard, scour pads, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, plastic, and cardboard to make something of value and meaning. This instructable will help guide you through our journey of restoring and upcycling unwanted materials.

-scour pads https://a.co/d/0bQs50tV, or use a sponge and cut off the green parts of the sponge to be used

-cardboard (from boxes and packages)

-popsicle sticks (ice cream, school crafts)

-sharpie

-scissor

-glue (elmers liquid glue works best, but superglue also works)

-tape

We cut a foam board and cut the scour pads to fit the board. We built the foam board to be 21.5 by 22 inches, and cut the scour pads to fit those dimensions. We used super glue, and applied glue onto the foamboard, then placed the pads on top, using a water bottle as weight to help it dry faster.

For the front porch, we used toothpicks. We glued the toothpicks together in a letter 'I' shape, making sure the cut off the sharp edges to prevent cuts. Then we glued them onto a popsicle stick. Refer to the images above for help.

Draw a rectangle, the size of 11.25 by 4.5 inches for the sides, and 14 by 4.5 inches for the front and back. Then place popsicle sticks as borders along the edges of that rectangle. Then proceed to the next step

This step is optional, you may skip to step 4 if you don't want this part.

If you used frames: Align the popsicle sticks and glue them side by side against the frame. The pattern we used for the sides (not the front/back) was 6 popsicle sticks, then a window, then 4 popsicle sticks, then a window, then 4 popsicle sticks, then another window, then 6 popsicle sticks. For the front and back of the cabin, place 2 popsicle sticks at the side, together, align them with a straight edge and glue. Then keep a space for the door, at least 1.85 inches wide, then place 8 popsicles, then keep a space of 1.11 inches, then place 7 sticks, then a space of 1.11 inches, then 7 popsicles. For the windows, use the steps as listed for the sides of the cabin. The door was a cutout of cardboard, slightly longer than 1.85 inches long and 4.5 inches tall. We glues the sides of the cardboard to the popsicle sticks, and used tape of the inside to make sure it doesn't fall off.

For us, we kept the windows are hollow, what we did was cut a popsicle stick to 1/3 of its size, and align them, refer to the 2 images showing one side if needed.

If you didn't use frames: For the sides of the cabin, align your popsicle sticks on a drawn rectangle with the following size of 11.25 by 4.5 inches. Then place your popsicle sticks as said: 6 sticks, window, 4 sticks, window, 4 sticks, window, 6 sticks. To make the window, refer to the pictures. For the front and back side of the cabin, draw a rectangle the size of 14 by 4.5 inches. Then place 2 popsicle sticks at the side, together, align them with a straight edge and glue. Then keep a space for the door, at least 1.85 inches wide, then place 8 popsicles, then keep a space of 1.11 inches, then place 7 sticks, then a space of 1.11 inches, then 7 popsicles. For the windows, use the steps as listed for the sides of the cabin. The door was a cutout of cardboard, slightly longer than 1.85 inches long and 4.5 inches tall. We glues the sides of the cardboard to the popsicle sticks, and used tape of the inside to make sure it doesn't fall off.

The windows are hollow, what we did was cut a popsicle stick to 1/3 of its size, and align them, reference to the 2 images if needed.

Attaching Cabin Sides Together, And To The Ground: We used tape to tape all the sides at a approximate 90 degree angle, then added glue to the edges to help stand it properly. We then taped it to the foam board, and added glue to the bottoms of out walls to allow that part to glue straight to the scour pads. By holding the cabin to the scour pads, our super glue dried within one minute, we kept tape to make sure it doesn't accidentally fall off.

Realistic Windows (Optional): If you have spare pieces of see-thru plastic, or screen protectors, you can cut them, make sure you cut them slightly bigger than the windows you have made, and place them on top and glue them to the sticks. This can slightly help on a later step if you want to add lights to your cabin.

For our roof, we used the box gable design (as shown in one of the images). We cut out cardboard rectangle, and 2 cardboard triangles, and aligned them as shown in the image. We however ran out of cardboard, and were unable to finish the backside of the roof, but we finished the front side, as shown in 2 of the images above.

For this step, I used leftover leds and a breadboard and some wires, and connected them to a double AA battery for lights. Another possible way could be adding a flashlight, or some led strip lights along the inner edges of the cabin, so you can see the lights from the outside from the windows, which in the pictures, can look cool in the dark.

Trash is something that everyone usually rejects and ignores. However, taking on this challenge helped open countless opportunities towards repurposing discarded trash into something meaningful, and creative. Throughout this journey, we discovered many discarded trash pieces that were ignored and rejected had the potential to shine again. While we did struggle over some obstacles and challenges, overall the experience and the engineering mindset from this project was priceless. From our unwanted leftovers from a house cleaning to a new, creative log cabin diorama, this symbolizes how even trash through effort and creativity could deserve a second chance to shine. My friend and I truly enjoyed the surprises and value of repurposed trash into treasure.