When you don’t have room for a real fireplace and you still want to decorate a mantle then you “wing it”! Let me show you how I turned someone else trash into my treasure!
Supplies I Used
- Mantle: I found mine from Facebook Marketplace and paid maybe $40?
- Sander and sanding paper
- White Lightning by Dixie Belle: this is the product I love using to clean with. Click here for other blog posts where I have demonstrated how to use this awesome product.
- Rope appliques from Regal Trimmings mould and Winter Bloom mould by Redesign with Prima.
- Paper clay or Alumilite casting resin to make your mould appliqués. I now prefer casting resin. Click here for more information on how to use casting resin to make your own appliqués.
- Elmers Wood Glue
- Wood filler or joint compound: I use this to fill in the gaps between the appliqués and my mantle
- Dixie Belle’s Boss in White to prep the wood so the tannins wouldn’t show through later when I applied sealer.
- Driftwood and Black Wax by Dixie Belle
- Dixie Belle’s Cotton: because I changed my mind and decided I wanted my mantle to be white
- Clear Coat in Flat by Dixie Belle.
- Paint brushes, painters tape (optional), drop cloth
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Prepping my fireplace mantle
I had been searching for a fireplace mantle for a few years and they eluded me!
And there were some really neat, decorative ones I nearly cried over because I responded on Facebook too late!
But finally, I find not one but two.
And I almost came home with both of them, but Merrill was with me so he squashed that, lol!
So once we brought my new baby home, I cleaned her thoroughly with Dixie Belle’s White Lightning.
I love this product!
Don’t forget to check out my blog on the basics of using White lighting, here.
There were a few small repairs I had to do plus, we also had an almost 12″ baseboard issue to deal with in our home.
We have beautiful baseboards and I could not see having Merrill cut into them, so instead he used a jigsaw and managed to make a cutout on the backside of my mantle legs so they would fit over the baseboards.
It was a little precarious and since we were cutting about half of the wood on the legs of the mantle we had to be careful we didn’t bust the remaining portion of the base of the mantle.
But we succeeded!
After cleaning up the wood shavings I did a rough sanding over the smooth wood so my Dixie Belle paint would have a surface to adhere too.
embellishing my fireplace mantle
Then I decided to pull out my moulds and see if I could find a design I could use to embellish my mantle, and I found the rope from Regal Trimmings and a flower from Winter Bloom.
On each end there was circular pattern I did not want.
By using wood filler, I filled these areas in, sanded them smooth and then added a Winter Bloom Appliques made from casting resin and placed them with Elmers wood glue.
Then I went about making appliqués after appliqués of rope moulds and applying them to the fireplace mantle with Elmers wood glue.
It was a little tedious, but it dressed up my mantle from a plane jane to something a little extra special!
Once I had them all applied, I once again needed my hubby’s help!
We installed the mantle in our living room, centered on the one an only wall that was wide enough.
We have a lot of windows in our home, arched Gothic windows, so I lucked out because this was the room I wanted her in!
Now mind you, installing her was nothing fancy.
We debated on insetting the screws into the fireplace where I would then use wood filler to cover up the holes before I painted but, down the road if we every move, we might take her with us.
Or if we ever get our wrap around porch, we may have another door in just that area too!
You never know.
So my hubby made them as flush as he could and I instead camouflaged the screws the best I could with my paint.
He also made sure to screw them into studs and not just the wall itself.
painting my fireplace mantle
Now comes the funny part!
Not being able to make up my mind!
I first painted the entire mantle in Dixie Belle’s Boss in white.
This product is used to prep the wood before painting.
It helps seal any odors and wood tannins.
I initially planned to have a white mantle, then I changed my mind and went with Driftwood and added little black wax to age it.
Over the summer, Ieft my mantle in Driftwood with black wax an decorated her to get a feel to see if this was what I wanted.
Then I went back and painted her in Dixie Belle’s Cotton, so I ended up back to where I had originally planned on going with my mantle!
And I love it!
You’ll be seeing her more of her now that she is officially done!
Once she was all painted in Dixie Belle’s Cotton, I then used their sealer, Clear Coat in Flat.
Now she is all decorated and fits right in!
Next on my to do list?
I think I want to add a decorative insert where a fireplace would be.
Stay tuned!
click below to see my video
I had several videos showing my progress on my mantle however, all but one I was corrupted.
If I manage to salvage the video, I will be sure to add it when, if I can!
Check out my video below where I show you some of the steps along the way plus my finished, dressed up mantle!
Join me on Facebook!
Join us in my new public Facebook group, MPD Community, so we can share our creations with each other, click here to join.
I’d love to see your creations!
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Hope you have a great week and happy crafting!
xoxo
Melissa
THE LINKS ABOVE MAY CONTAINS AMAZON, HOBBY LOBBY and WALMART AFFILIATE LINKS. THIS MEANS IF YOU MAKE A PURCHASE, I MAY RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION, AT NO COST TO YOU.
