This
week has been interesting for sure. I am still getting used to a new
schedule (youngest son needs a ride into town and back twice a week)
and I seem to be running late on everything.
Then
to top it off the weather guessers predicted a huge windstorm for the
weekend. We got a storm but not nearly as bad as they predicted.
Since this is early for big storms here I had to do a lot of prep
work to make sure we were ready for the storm. So that took some of
my time too.
We
did get a lot of wind and a lot of rain but thankfully no damage to
anything and the lights stayed on. They did flicker a lot on Saturday
so I didn't get much done that day. When the wind did kick up I
turned off my computer, shut off my lights in my craft room and
curled up under an afghan with a warm drink, a stack of magazines and
a cat. That was the perfect way to spend a really stormy afternoon.
The
high moisture and the low temperatures did a toll on my project in
that I couldn't finish as quickly as I would normally have. If you
have crafted for very long you know how fast the thin coats of
acrylic craft paint we use in minis dries on a normal day. My paint
took about 3 hours to actually dry the last several days. And that
coat of Mod Podge you saw me apply to the fireplace in the video, it
was 6 hours before it totally dried. My glue was just as bad so it is
no wonder that the project took a lot of extra time.
So
lets talk about the project.
I
used some foam insulation, commonly referred to by miniaturists as
“builder's foam” here is a link to the Home Depot site so you
will know what to look for/ ask for if you aren't familiar with the
product.
I
purchased a 4' by 8' sheet of this stuff years ago and I am just now
getting to end of it. I was happy to see that Home Depot has smaller
“project panels” available now. I plan to get a fresh sheet
soon.
So
measuring was not my strong suit this week, I had really planned to
make my fireplace 3” tall by 4” wide. I somehow cut it 5” wide.
I think in the end it was a better size for this fireplace style but
feel free to make yours any size that fits in your dollhouse. For
the opening for the firebox, cut out an area leaving about 1” on
the three sides, or the size that works best for your project.
The
next step was to map out and carve your “stones” this gets really
messy but is fun and didn't take as long as I thought it would. In
the end I did find it was easier to draw out my stones with a sharpie
marker before cutting but it is optional.
I
like to paint the entire piece with one of the gray paints I will be
using at this point. I find it easier to see what needs to be
adjusted and cut away once the pink is gone.
For
the paint colors just use an assortment of colors that make you think
“stone or rock” grays, browns, a few greens, what ever the stones
where you live look like. If you need inspiration look online for
pictures of real fireplaces.
After
you are happy with the look of the stones you have carved add a piece
of paperboard to the back. It is important to paint this before you
add the “bricks” to it because you don't want the color of the
cardboard to sneak through your paint. After this paint is dry I
glued on some “bricks” made of paper egg carton. I cut strips
that ¼ “ wide then cut them into ¾” lengths for my bricks. Glue
them into the back of your fireplaces and allow the glue to dry.
Paint
the area black again to cover the bricks.
Take
some amounts of your chosen paints and start painting your individual
stones. I like to use cotton swabs for this for several reasons.
First and possibly my favorite- no clean up- just toss them when you
are done. I also like the texture they give the paint, it looks more
like stone.
While
all this is drying get your hearth and mantle ready (if you haven't
already)
For
the hearth I used foam core cut the same width as my fireplaces (5”)
by 1 ½” deep. This makes it ½” deeper than the fireplaces. I
covered this with more egg carton on the top and the edges then
painted with some of the same gray paints.
For
the mantle I like to use balsa wood. Since this is a rustic fireplace
style it is easy to rough up the surface of the balsa. I like ¼”
balsa for this and it is cut 5” by 1 ¼” When you have it the way
you want it wipe on a coat of dark brown paint.
Now
you get to glue everything together, just line up the back side and
the ends and all should be good.
Let
the glue dry, hopefully you will have better luck with that whole
drying thing than I did. LOL
Once
the glue is dry give your fireplace a coat of matte mod podge to seal
it and allow to dry.
Now
we need to make the inside of our fireplace look like it has been
used. Take some more of the black craft paint and paint the area that
would be inside the firebox to give it a nice “sooty” look.
Once
that is dry you are done, unless you want to add a flickering bulb
set. I don't have one so I can't walk you through that part on this
one. Maybe in a future fireplace.
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