How to Build a Miniature Log Cabin

You are planning your holiday get-together. The kids are excited and underfoot; they are eager to help. It’s a stressful juggle keeping them occupied while pulling together your theme and decorations. Then it dawns on you, a miniature town is the perfect centerpiece for the buffet table and building log cabins is a perfect craft project to keep the kids busy all afternoon. Kids 10 and older can complete the cabins with little supervision, leaving your mind and hands free to prepare for your festivities.

Things You'll Need

• Various sizes of cardboard milk and/or juice containers
• Craft or utility knife
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Unsharpened pencils
• Tape
• Brown craft paper
• Glue

Instructions

Prepare the Project

1. Determine how many buildings you need in advance. Collect 1 milk or juice container per building. Vary the carton size for variety. Open cartons at the top seal; wash them thoroughly and allow them to dry completely.

2. Remove the seal lip of the cartons, the part that sticks up, with scissors. Refold and tape the containers closed to look like a classic slant roof for you miniature cabins. Use a craft or utility knife to cut the cartons to height, 5 inches for half-gallon containers. Get a better outcome with quart containers cut 2 ½ to 3 inches high. Save the bottoms to form roofs, doors and windows.

3. Use your knife to cut the bottoms off and cut the open rectangle in half at 2 folds. Measure and cut a piece ¼ inch wider than the taped top of your carton; glue the pieces together at the apex to form the roofs and trim so there is a ¼-inch overhang all around. Allow the glue to dry completely.

4. Cut the craft paper into strips 12 inches long and ½ inch wider than the carton. You need approximately 33 strips for a small cabin and 45 for a large one.

Construction

1. Wrap a strip of brown craft paper around a pencil to form a log. Use a glue stick to seal the open end to the log; repeat until all the logs are complete.

2. Work from the bottom to the roof. Glue a log to one side of your container and pinch the overhanging ends flat close to the carton. Turn the carton 90 degrees and repeat the process. Continue affixing the logs in this manner until all 4 sides of your miniature cabin are logged up to the roof eaves. Glue logs to the roof; work from the eaves to the peak.

3. Encourage the children to be creative. Use left over carton pieces to make doors and window. Make smaller logs to frame the openings and give them a more realistic appearance. Chimneys, porches and signs of the holiday season can be added to differentiate one building from another. Glue miniature log cabins to a piece of cardboard and add the decorative scenery to make your holiday centerpiece town come to life.

Tips & Warnings

• Brown paper bags or newspaper painted with brown tempra make excellent substitutes for craft paper. Paint rolled logs and allow them to dry before building your log cabin.

• Wrapping the logs can take smaller children a long time; if the kids are younger than 10 years old, make most of the logs for them, but leave a few for them to finish.

Resources

• DLTK Crafts for Kids