Rustic Fireplace Instructions

Supplies:

• Large Sheet of 1/4" Foamcore board (24" x 36" or thereabouts)
• 1/8" thick balsa wood - a piece cut 9 1/2" x 2 1/2" 
• Small pebbles & stones (bags purchased at garden supply centers)
• 2 bottles Duncan Snow Accents paint compound (found at Joann Fabrics, Michael's and Ben Franklin, to name a few)
• 1 Necklace jewelry box bottom
• 1 piece brick flooring (found in Dollhouse miniatures sections of craft stores)
• Craft knife
• Beacon Fabri-tac glue
• Straight pins
• Plastic Knife
• Newspaper
• White acrylic paint (optional)
• Black chalk or black paint (optional)
• Paintbrush (optional)
• Brown shoe polish (optional)
• Black or white posterboard (optional)

1. Cut the foam core pieces with the craft knife first, as follows:
• Mantle - 9 1/2" x 2 1/2"
• Hearth - 9 1/2" x 3 1/4"
• Front - 7" x 7"
• Sides (cut 2) - 7" x 2" 
2. Cut bottom of necklace box so that one side is missing.  This will become the interior of the fireplace hearth.
3. Cut fireplace bricking 9 1/2" x 3 1/4"
4. Cut mantle from balsa wood 9 1/2 x 2 1/2"
5. Glue mantle foam core piece to balsa wood mantle.  Put aside and let dry.
6. Glue fireplace bricking to fireplace hearth foamcore piece.  Put aside and let dry.
7. Cut hole into bottom front of fireplace.  I used a coaster and drew a 1/2 round then drew straight lines down either side for a curved fireplace interior.  You could always measure a box or rectangle and cut the insert out.
8. Glue the fireplace front to the fireplace sides with the Fabri-tac glue.  After gluing, I secured the sides with straight pins into the pieces for extra strength.  The sides were glued behind the fireplace front. 
9. Glue the necklace box, interior facing the front of the fireplace.
10. You can now paint the interior of the box, if your necklace box is printed or is a dark color to show just a white interior. Let dry.
11. Glue the mantle to the fireplace top.
12. With the Snow Accents, using the plastic knife paint the four sides of the hearth piece, so that you cannot see the bricking attached to the foamcore board.  Let dry.
13. With the Snow Accents, using the plastic knife paint the front and two sides of the mantle piece, so that you cannot see the balsa wood attached to the foamcore board. 
14. With the Snow Accents, cover the underside of the mantlepiece, but use a light covering.  You just want to mask the foamcore underneath.
15. Using the plastic knife, cover the front wall of the fireplace.  Start in one upper corner and cover with a generous amount.  Now you can begin to affix the pebbles and stones in a random pattern.  I tried to find ones that had a flat side to them so that they would adhere more easily.  You don't want to cover too large an area before you can get all the pebbles arranged as you like.  I use larger stones and surround them with the small pebbles to fill in the spaces.   You may have to add more Snow Accents to the bottom of a row to keep the heavier stones from falling off.
16. Work from the top corner to the opposite bottom corner.  When you get about halfway down the front side, you can cover the opening of the fireplace.  I used just the small pebbles around the opening.  I also used a light covering of the Snow Accents around the inside edge of the fireplace opening to cover the foamcore.
17. Once you've covered the fireplace front with the rocks and stones, let the project dry for several hours.
18. You can then cover one side wall of the fireplace exterior.  Let that dry for several hours.
19. Then, cover the final side wall of the fireplace exterior.  Let dry for several hours.
20. Using the Snow Accents as a joint compound, spread enough on the bottom of the fireplace walls to adhere it to the bricked hearth piece.  Let dry.
21. Now you can add the optional elements:
• Use some brown shoe polish and darken the appearance of the fireplace mantle or rub some over the fireplace walls.  You can use a paper towel for this application, but go lightly.  You can always darken it if you don't like the shading, but you can't lighten it.  Let dry.
• To add soot to the fireplace interior, rub the black chalk on a piece of scrap paper.  Using a cotton ball, sponge on the chalk dust to the interior of the fireplace hearth.  You can even put some black chalk dust onto the fireplace front just above the opening.
• Cover the exposed back of the fireplace by gluing a piece of posterboard onto the back.  You can use the craft knife to cut to the exact size after the glue dries.
22. Finally, accessorize the fireplace!  Add some twigs to the interior with some red and orange construction paper strips to simulate the fire; add candlesticks, pictures, plants, small paintings, or a clock to the mantle.  Then, display this creation with your newest dolls and outfits!