Ever since I was a child, I’ve always had this image in my mind when I think of Christmas decorations in a house – a Christmas tree with twinkling lights beside a roaring fireplace with Christmas stockings hanging from the mantelpiece. Don’t ask me why… Blame all those American Christmas shows I watched growing up! Since I grew up in Australia where Christmas is in Summer, the roaring fireplace never happened. Now, I live in a tropical country so fireplaces in general are just a ridiculous concept.
I started experimenting with the DIY fireplace a couple of years back, but I think I’ve finally got the effect I was after:
The Mantelpiece
The mantelpiece is the ledge from our breakfast counter. We have a light under the breakfast counter so it creates a nice effect for the fireplace in the dark.
The Brick Fireplace
This was just a large cardboard covered with black felt and “brick-coloured” felt.
The Fire
The fire was painted with acrylics on a piece of canvas using the following tips from:
There is also a video on how to paint realistic fire with an airbrush – if you have one.
Well, it seems I’m not the only one with the idea, because cardboard fireplaces appear to be all the rage…
This cardboard fireplace was created by Somewhat Simple with full instructions but if you want an easy 15 minute job, you can also get a DIY cardboard fireplace kit from Amazon…
Nurture for the Future 