Stone Fireplace for Theatre Prop

by happyhill9

23K3421

Intro: Stone Fireplace for Theatre Prop

I'm working on the set for "Into the Woods" and started with Cinderella's fireplace.

STEP 1: Big Sheet of Styrofoam Insulation

I started with a 4x8 panel of insulation styrofoam found at Home Depot. I cut it to a 4x6 piece(using the extras for the sides) and sketched out the front. I carved the brick shapes and peeled the plastic covering off. After cutting out the opening, I carved smaller bricks for the back of the fireplace.

STEP 2: The Power of the Heat Gun!

So, this is the cool part....if you melt the foam with a heat gun, you can soften the edges and melt the styrofoam appearance. This give you the brick and stone texture also.

STEP 3: Base Coat the Foam

Stick with water based paint...spray paint will melt the foam. I used flat latex interior paint. Then faux finished the stone, brick and wood.

STEP 4: The Mantle

This stuff can even be faux wood! You just carve and melt to your desired effect!

STEP 5: Back and Front

I used black card stock and gorilla tape to hold the pieces together. The whole thing looks like it weighs tons but is only about 5 lbs.

11 Comments

Kimiaz 1 year ago

I love the looks of your fireplace...great job! What did you use to glue the side pieces to the front and the mantel to the top & sides?

happyhill9 8 months ago

I am sure it's too late...I'm so sorry. I didn't see the notification.. I hope your production went great!
Duct tape is the answer...to most of life's problems in fact LOL! And glue guns!

happyhill9 1 year ago

oh and duct tape! hot glue and duct tape

happyhill9 1 year ago

Thanks! It was a fun project. I just used hot glue. ;)

sanfordarts4kids 8 months ago

What did you use to make the mantle? If you cut it to 4x6 and used the scraps to make sides, all material is gone. Did you get a second sheet of foam board?

happyhill9 8 months ago

Hello!
I just say this, sorry for delayed reply. It was such a long time ago, I'm not sure. But yes, most definitely used more than one sheet. For the mantle, I cut the sheeting and made a box out of it, if that makes sense. look closely at the last picture, maybe you can see the seams?

Woodlawn60 5 years ago

Hello again, did you add any coating to strengthen the fireplace after painting?

happyhill9 5 years ago

nope. It was for a short run of Into the Woods. No long term protection needed.

Woodlawn60 5 years ago

Hi - What did you use to carve the fireplace bricks? Thanks!

happyhill9 5 years ago

I just used a mat knife. using the heat gun after the cuts made all the difference to smooth out the styrofoam.