Sculpt a Stone Faced Fireplace for a 12" Doll's House

The finished stone faced fireplace
 for a twelve inch fashion doll.

         Craft a luxurious, faux stone fireplace for a Barbie or a Fashionista by combining both sculpted faux rocks for the face and mosaic stone pebbles for the floor beneath. 

       The logs are cut from small tree branches and the mantel is made from a piece of scrap, stained wood. 

       Like our other doll fireplaces, this one is free-standing so that it may be stored separately from a dollhouse and also displayed in any room that it's child owner would like to arrange it in. We decided to paint this fireplace with a white/cream colored faux stone because our American Girl Doll fireplaces are grey and brick. 

 

Supply List:

• heavy cardboard and shallow box
• masking tape
• grout
• scrap wood for the mantel
• twigs and (tree branch perhaps)
• Sculpey
• wood glue
• hot glue gun and hot glue
  
• small stone pebbles
• paper mache pulp
• acrylic paints in earth tones
• acrylic clear sealer
• river pebbles  

The box is cut to size and masked.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First cut a shallow box to scale and then cut from it an opening for the logs to go in the fireplace. 
2. Glue this box onto a floor surface.
3. Cut a nice decorative piece of wood for the mantle, stain it and glue this onto the top of the fireplace.
4. Cover all of the cardboard surfaces with masking tape, including the inside of the fireplace.
5. Prepare the paper mach pulp according to the packages directions. 
6. Layer approx. 1/2" inside the cavity cut from the fireplace.
7. Grout the floor base of the fireplace and push small river pebbles into the grout with a bit of glue on the bottom of each. Let this grout harden overnight.
8. Use a pebble mold to help create the texture for the fireplace if you have one. If not, simple roll out many stones and layer these onto a cookie sheet in order to sculpt the stone faced fireplace. Cut these tiles into square sheets approx. 2" square.
9. Bake the Sculpey as directed. Then glue these stone "tiles directly onto the fireplace. It's o.k. to leave gaps.
10. Roll small smaller stones with the clay and bake them. Then hot glue these "faux" rocks into the gaps between the faux rock tiles. See photos for details below.
11. Now use a small dry brush to work color into the walls of your doll fireplace, alternating five different colors as you go. I chose: ivory, grey, tan, black and white.
12. After all the paint has dried, seal the surfaces of your fireplace with clear acrylic varnish. 

The sculpted fireplace unpainted.

Far left, base coat of grey for the grouted areas. Middle painted details. Right, finished 
firebox interior with blackened wall where smoke from pretend fires has left a bit of soot.

More Barbie Fireplace Crafts From The Web:

1. How to make a fireplace for Barbie from Styrofoam from DIY For Dolls
2. DIY Miniature Dollhouse Fireplace using cardboard and paper mosaic technique