Creating A Life Studio: brick

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Faux Fireplace Mantel

Awhile back I shared with you about a couple of crib panels that I found on the roadside. One of them I turned into this fun chalkboard. Yes, I know I need to work on my lettering skills.

Original post here

I just hadn't had the big inspiration moment for the second one, until a couple of days ago.

One of the things I've missed since moving into our current home almost two years ago is a real fireplace. (I'm thinking you've heard me whine about this before) As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats the cozy warmth and ambiance of a real wood burning fire. But, alas, it is not to be in this home.

But wait, take a look at what I DO have!! Wait for it....wait for it...

TA-DA!!!

Um, hello? Is that crickets I hear?

I've had this little baby for about three years now, and I really do like it, but it's just a glorified electric heater. It blows hot air and has a ~~fake~~ simulated fire. It warms up my cold bedroom pretty darn quickly, but a little lacking in the charm department, know what I mean? Little black charmless fire simulator needed...

A SIMULATED MANTEL! HELLO INSPIRATION!

The light bulb went on....the wheels started turning.....it all started coming together in my mind. THIS would be the beginning of my faux mantel.

By sheer magic (and about 20 blows of the hammer) the pieces just fell before me.

The faux brick wall panel is a leftover piece from a project at our previous home. I use it as a backdrop for photographing things for my Etsy shop , The Penny and the Pearl. I should have taken a couple of photos of the process, but it really wasn't much!

I originally thought I would use the top piece with the spindles, but I would have had to resize the brick panel, and I didn't want to do that. I realized if I flipped the "leg" pieces upside down, and set that cute curvy little bottom piece on top of them that it would frame the brick panel perfectly! Yay! I love it when things happen the easy way. A (very) little sanding..

.....a quick brush on with some white paint, giving it a bit of an aged look, and....

VOILA!

A kinda sorta mantel-ish backdrop.

I just leaned the brick panel up against the wall, added the wood pieces and put the electric fireplace in front of it. Then I started to fill in the area around it.

I found this heavy glass dome at a thrift store (pretty sure it had been from a light fixture) and I knew it would probably fit the round wood base I already had. The board is a little wavy so the glass doesn't fit precisely in the groove, but close enough for my taste. Just the thing-one large, simple piece I needed for the top of the fireplace heater. Another bird (can you ever have too many?) and a white bottle brush tree with that little flag from my birthday that I love so much, complete the display.

I filled a large blue-green basket with pine cones, a vintage style glittered bird and large glittered snowflake, and...

...these darling vintage sheet music origami boxes, made by my daughter Tess a few years back.

Then I put up a black shelf above the white brick panel to hold all the "pretties" you need on a mantel. I also thought it helped balance out the black of the fireplace.

I had the hardest time photographing it, but I made a miniature flag bunting with fabric scraps and rubber stamp letters that says, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing". I hung it in the space between the black mantel shelf and the white trim on the brick panel for another layer of interest and texture and cuteness.

Now to add some pretty stuff to the shelf.

Some sweet little glass candlesticks that belonged to my Grandma, a frosted pine cone in a silver vase and a vintage inspired postcard.

A little mercury glass bird, a real bird's nest, and a little stand I made from an ironstone bowl and silver candlestick, filled with vintage looking ornaments, and a small glittered star.

I hung a chippy white antique window above the shelf and layered a vintage mirror behind it and a John Derian deer ornament in front.

The view from the bed.

I brought in my little work-in-progress chair. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it up and do a post about it soon. See the stuff on the desk? Yeah, don't look over there : )

What do you think? Doesn't the little black box look much more charming with a little simulated mantel?

I think it's looking pretty cozy. I might just have my coffee here in the morning. I'll show you the rest of my bedroom soon....when it learns to behave and pick up after itself.

Night night, all!

P.S. Don't forget to check out Part 2 of the free vintage Christmas images I'm sharing from my Grandpa's childhood book! I'll be sharing the last several images in the next day or so-stay tuned!

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