Last year I built a firepalce so we would have a place for our stockings since we don’t have a fireplace in our house. After looking at last years pics I was not real impressed with the way it looked. I wanted it more classy and realistic looking. Thanks to some Pinspiration I was able to come up with a awesome fireplace and an actual fire light to sit by!
I love how it turned out and the box was super easy to make! My hubs just laid a 2×6 down and then measured scrap 2×6’s to fit around the one on the edges of the bottom. Then he cut them and nailed them all together. To age the wood I used a dark walnut stain
and rubbed it over the whole box. When it was almost dry I took an old nasty paintbrush brush and roughly brushed a creamy white craft paint over it. Old yucky brushes are great for projects like this – don’t throw then away! Then I let it dry for 3 or 4 hours and took some rough sandpaper to it to finish it off.
For the inside of the box I added Epsom salt about half way up in 2 quart jars and then added a candle on top of them. I placed them in the box, added a few cut logs we had from last year, and shoved fake greens and pine cones everywhere else. The box is super sturdy and the jars are really tight with the logs in there so I feel really safe having the candles lit. I love how it looks at night and it really brings a calming feel when we read our Christmas book for the night.
To build the actual fireplace frame, John found 3 logs that were relatively the same width. He cut two to the same height and the 3rd to the width I wanted it. Then he cut a rounded groove in the top of the vertical logs so the top piece would fit in and not roll. You can see in this pic how the log rests inside the one that holds it up.
No problem hanging our stockings anymore! All this fireplace hasn’t done is solved how to answer Beckham when he asks if Santa will come through our fireplace on Christmas Eve 🙂
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Barbara
Will use this idea on my porch. Will use the birch logs, real pin, pine cones and Ball jars with a string of mini battery operated lights on a timer. All inside an antique box! Will look incredible. Thank you for the idea!
Sheena
I love the box. We have a fireplace but don’t use it. I could put the box in there to dress it up. My question is where did you get your stockings? Did you make them or buy them. Super cute!
Lisa
I bought them off etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunshinedaydream4u?ref=seller_info
Paula Kelly-Bourque
This is just adorable! I want to make one and I have a fireplace in my home 😉