Three Recycled Craft Activities to Celebrate Frankie Feetsplinters' Birthday

We're excited to announce that Ballard's favorite troll, Frankie Feetsplinters has found a permanent home at the National Nordic Museum! 

The artist, Thomas Dambo, is considered the world’s leading recycle artist — famous for his larger-than-life troll sculptures that are all made from recycled wood.

From a young age, Thomas' parents instilled the value of recycling and sustainability. His clever mind saw the opportunity to use free recycled materials to build tree houses, games, and artistic creations right from his imagination.

We've put together the following three recycled craft activities to celebrate Frankie's third birthday and finding a home in the Museum's permanent collection. We hope these activities will inspire you to turn your trash into treasure. ♻️

Directions:

1. Gather up scrap paper from past art projects, as well as one full sheet for your base
2. Optional: Draw out a design on your sheet, think of this as a guide of where to put different colors and shapes
3. Using your scrap paper and glue, tear or cut your scraps to create a new image! You can overlap paper to create a layered collage or leave gaps for a mosaic effect.

Directions:

1. Optional: Cut the top ½ in of your toilet paper roll off. Cut that piece down the middle to create a rectangle. Using patterned scissors, cut the rectangle in half. Color in to create grass or a fence for your troll house!
2. With adult support, use scissors to poke a hole in the center of the toilet paper roll. Carefully, cut out a long semi-circle to create a window
3. Grab your circular piece of paper. Make a cut to the middle of the circle without cutting your paper in half. Overlap the two new edges to create a cone.
4. Using glue or tape, attach the cone to the top of your toilet paper roll; this is your roof!
5. Decorate your new troll house! You can add a door, vines up the sides, even a beautiful mural!

Directions:

1. Wash out your milk carton thoroughly with soap and water. Let dry.
2. With adult support, cut a long rectangle out of three sides of the carton, making sure you leave at least 2 inches from the bottom of the carton intact.
3. Poke a couple holes at the bottom of your carton. This will allow rainwater to drain out of the feeder.
4. Using non-plastic tape, tape along the edges of the windows you cut out. This will prevent sharp edges from harming any birds!
5. Poke a hole at the top of the carton, directly opposite the carton's spout. Guide your string through this hole and the cartons spout, knot it off to create a loop. This will be how you string up your feeder.
6. Optional: Paint your bird feeder! If you are doing this, make sure to use nontoxic paint. Do not paint the inside of the carton.