This week we are starting what I hope will be a really fun project, a very simple fireplace that you can put into your dollhouse or room-box. I love the look of a decorated fireplace in a room and decided that it would be fun to do some of that in mini.
I know I did do a fireplace on the channel a few years ago, here is a link to that video if you are interested in seeing it. That one was a larger stone fireplace. This time I wanted to make a much smaller simple white fireplace. I was greatly inspired by a photo in a magazine I was looking at.
We are making the fireplace from some foamcore from Dollar Tree. I was really hoping to get the white foamcore but all my Dollar Tree had the was the pieces with the black paper on the outside so that is what I am using today. Either will work the same though,
Today we are only cutting the pieces of foamcore for the body of the fireplace, the mantle and the hearth. Next week we will cut the pieces to create the firebox.
For the body of the fireplace you will need a piece cut 3” by 3” (with an opening cut out like in the diagram) and 2 pieces that are cut 1” by 3”.
For the mantle you will need 1 piece cut 3 ¾” by 1 ½”.
And for the hearth 2 pieces cut 4” by 2”,
To begin glue the 3 fireplace body pieces together and reinforce the joint with some cut off pieces of round toothpick as shown in the video.
For the hearth glue the two pieces together and put under a weight to keep it flat until it dries.
Once the glue has dried it is time to cover the body part of the fireplace. I am using the same medium weight card-stock I use when I make the Cricut projects. For this piece I simply cut a strip 3” by the width of the paper (8 ½”)
Then to glue it onto the fireplace I used some of the wallpaper paste that I had from when I built the Beachside Bungalow. You do need a very thick low moisture glue for this.
Add the paste to the front only of the fireplace body and lay it on the paper strip lining up the top and bottom very carefully and making sure there is plenty of paper on each side to wrap around the sides and to the inside of the fireplace. Allow the glue to dry.
Once the glue dries a bit go fold the sides of the paper at the corners of the fireplace so that it will bend nicely then add some more paste and smooth the paper to the sides of the fireplace body. We are doing this in small steps so that we can make sure everything lines up correctly and stays where we want it to be. Be sure so smooth out any air bubbles that might be under the paper right away.
Now we can trim the paper so that it will fit the inside of the sides and add some wallpaper paste and glue the sides in place the rest of the way.
Now carefully cut a “Y” shape in the opening of the fireplace front and glue those tabs to the inside of the fireplace front, this will cover those edges of the opening.
Allow this glue to dry completely before moving on.
The next step is to add the mantle to the top of the fireplace. Make sure you have the mantle centered side to side and the back edges lined up. Glue and add the toothpicks just like we did when we glued the fireplace body together. And allow to dry.
To cover the mantle cut a piece of card-stock that measures 4 ¾” by 2” and then cut out a ½” square from the two front corners as shown in the diagram.
Glue this piece to the top only and allow the glue to dry for a few minutes.
Now fold the extra card-stock at the ends of the mantle around the foam-core then add the paste and glue it in place. Then repeat on the front edge with the card-stock that extends past the front of the mantle. Trim if you need to to make a good shape. I do recommend clamping the front edge so the card-stock stays in place nicely. Allow the glue to dry completely before moving to the next step.
Once all the paste is dry give the entire outside surface of the fireplace a thin coat of white craft paint. (or the color of your choice) And allow this to dry.
Once the paint dries give the fireplace a quick coat of Satin Mod Podge. This will give the finished fireplace a put together look and disguise the fact that we made it from card-stock and foam-core. Allow the Mod Podge to dry.
As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment