Woodworking Family Life Style: faux

I love fireplaces. To me, they warm your soul, not just your body. Since hubby and I have been married, Ive dreamed of having one. I grew up having a fireplace. I loved helping my dad carry in wood and build a fire during the cold winter months. He taught me all about kindling and what worked best. Sometimes, he would even let me start it myself and I always felt so proud when I was able to get a fire going as good as he could. To this day the scent of a fireplace burning somewhere in the air outside takes me right back to those special times with my dad. It stops me in my tracks and I remember how much pride he seemed to take in building a fire for his family on cold evenings.
Our house doesnt have one and since I cant build a functioning fireplace, I decided to do the next best thing, a faux version. It might not be just like what I had growing up but it certainly reminds me of that and brings back wonderful memories. And hopefully it will provide a feeling of warmth for our kids too.

I used the cheaper wood from Lowes that is full of knot holes and it cost me a little under $100 to build. I followed this tutorial, somewhat. It took me an afternoon to build and I painted and added the barn wood the next day. Not too bad as far as being time consuming. And it really wasnt as hard as I thought it was going to be. Ive wanted to build one forever but always felt it was too intimidating. It wasnt once I got started.

To achieve a glowing "fire" look, I built a box from the remaining scraps of barn wood and filled it with burlap, Christmas lights and wood logs. To really make it seem real and have a little fun with it, I play my crackling fire in the fireplace app on my ipad. :) A couple of times, I even caught myself going to stand in front of it to "get warm". Silly, I know.

I am so happy with it and really, when I look at it, I cant believe I did it. I know my dad would be super proud.

For the top, I used an extra thick piece of barn wood that I sanded down and waxed.

I decided against using candles in the box as I didnt want to be worried about wax dripping everywhere, which seems to always be a problem when I group candles together and burn them. Luckily, there is an outlet directly behind the barn wood so I cut a small hole in the wood to provide an opening so I could plug in the lights and have it be perfectly hidden.

Cant wait to decorate it for the holidays!!
Have a wonderful day!
Follow along between posts on Instagram!

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

BUFFED BUFFET black and faux seal antique buffet

The veneer was cracked, lifting, and missing on the

top surface of this old buffet when we got it.

It was also in its original brown stained finish.

*Sorry no before pictures*

The mirror was purchased at a local antique store,

and was the perfect size to match up with the buffet.

It was gold and the elaborate decorations were

chipped and broken.

*Sorry no before photos*

I had removed all the veneer on the top of the buffet

a year earlier but the gouges and missing wood was

just not going to match with the sleek black look I

was now wanting.

The day I was working on the top I had gotten

interrupted by the cable man come to rewire some

connections, and really that was the main cause for

the end result of what you see in these photos.

It was one of those trial and error projects.

In a moment of surprise this faux seal skin look magically

appeared on the top. Some have compared it to marble.

Im going to explain how the top was finished in point form in the hopes it is easier to follow:

I filled the gouges with white wood filler
then painted it black
next spray painted with metallic silver
then belt sanded the whole surface
6 layers of clear coat

I had started spraying the metallic silver on the top

over the black thinking if I dont like it the acetone

is right handy to wipe it off. I had forgotten about

the cable man coming and when he arrived in the

middle of this process I had to walk away without

seeing what it looked like. Well once he was done

the paint was also now dryish. I hated it! It looked

tacky! In my anger I grabbed the belt sander with a

35 grit belt (very coarse) and started trying to

remove everything. This is when this beautiful

finish started to come thru.

You can find more piece finished in black here.

Sharing this mistake at:

Friday, April 22, 2016

MY MANTLE IS FAUX but my passion is not

This week was suppose to be my week off.

Ive been working crazy for over a month preparing for last weekend

and the 2 shows my furniture and other stuff was in.

Both George and I agreed it was much needed time off.

My plan was to clean up the house after the tornado of work and

start the Christmas decorating around here.

I did get started on the decorating on Monday being ever so creative

and doing up our Faux mantle.

We have a large piece of furniture that simulates the look,

and these are the photos Im sharing with you today.

But while I write to you there is only one thing one my mind

and if you wish to follow along Ill tell you the story.

Unfortunately early last week I had a tooth start to ache and

also agreed to get in to have it looked at this week.

Well the appointment was set for Wednesday to have a look see what was going on.

Then Thursday the next appointment was set to fill the cavity.

Later Thursday evening we had been invited to the pub where my 2 commissioned red buffets

were being used. Well the appointment at the dentist on Thursday took a terrible

turn for the worse and there was no way I could attend the customer appreciation party last night.

The cavity got too close to the root and so did the drilling.

It was then agreed upon the tooth had to come out.

Little did I know how much pain I was going to be in that evening.

A temporary filling was put in till the tooth could be pulled at the set appointment

on Tuesday next week.

Pain killers werent working and I couldnt think straight for the agony I was in.

So between George and I we had to get on the phone with the dentist to get some resolution.

George couldnt see me in this kind of pain for 5 days and I know Im strong

and stubborn but I couldnt do it either.

The resolution is the extraction appointment was moved up to this afternoon,

but in all this turmoil I just couldnt stand not working.

Having my mind and body on auto pilot would do me good

while I painted something, so last night I threw down everything

in my way and stormed the hall way to my work space.

I cant eat anything on that side of my mouth, pain killers

arent doing much good, and I just couldnt put George through

watching the pain in my eyes.

So I grabbed a paint brush and some paint and set forth.

So much for my week of relaxation.

Till the wee hours in the morning I worked steadily on painting a

big dresser in grey, and it did me good.

George was able to get to sleep on his own not worrying

and my mind was able to fly away from the place it had been.

For now the dresser project will be my safe haven while

dealing with my tooth issues this weekend. There will be several more days

of soft foods, pain killers, and gauze once the extraction takes place today.

I only choose to share this story with you to emphasize how much I enjoy

what this part of my life has put before me.

Ive always embraced each and every task Ive had to this point in my life,

but my furniture and artistic abilities are truly a life long passion

that I seek comfort in.

So I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you again for the support

you offer each and every day while I chase this passion and ...

watch for a big grey dresser coming soon.

Sharing our mantle at:

Woodworking Family Life Style

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Faux Fireplace

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

BUFFED BUFFET black and faux seal antique buffet

Friday, April 22, 2016

MY MANTLE IS FAUX but my passion is not

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