Birch Wood Fireplace Cover for a Faux Wood Fireplace Insert

Lindsey
by Lindsey
5 Materials
$40
3 Hours
Easy

I knew immediately after I purchased my vintage antique fireplace mantel what I would do with the inside of it. I thought about trying to find a nice electric heater that looked like real wood logs, but I couldn’t find the right size. My next option was a fun DIY. I decided to create a birch wood fireplace cover for a faux wood fireplace insert. I purchased it when we were living in our 'builder grade turned modern farmhouse home'. Let me show you what it originally looked like.Below is a picture from the Craigslist listing.

This beauty is from the 1800’s and it had so much potential. You can see the transformation of this vintage antique fireplace mantel here. Today, I'm sharing how to create that faux birch wood insert to make it look like real logs.



The first thing you need are these birchwood logs. I used a band saw and cut them in small 1"-3" pieces.

After all the birchwood was cut, I laid a black poster board on the floor and started to arrange the wood. Make sure the poster board is a little larger than the opening of the fireplace so you can attach it to the back.

Make it look random. You want it to look natural, not like a piece of art, LOL.


Looking better!

The next step is to buy some faux moss and hot glue the decorative moss around the birchwood pieces.

Eeeek it's looking good!

The last step is to attach it to the back of the fireplace mantel. What I did was temporarily hot glue it long enough to nail the board to the back of the mantel.

Ready to see the finished product?

This is what it looked like immediately after I finished it. I love the rustic farmhouse look, don't you?

In my typical fashion I can't leave well enough alone and decided to give the antique mantel a more chippy white look. You can see more of this  antique mantels different styles through the years.


I'm pleased with it! What do you think?


Lindsey

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Lindsey
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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Kdklee1 Kdklee1 on Mar 02, 2020

    What kind of glue do u use to attach the wood pieces to the poster board? Is the poster board strong enough to hold the wood pieces

  • Nan Nan on Mar 04, 2021

    What are the added "curly-ques" on the front made of?

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  • Jody Harris Jody Harris on Mar 04, 2021

    Love it!!!

  • Jenny Jenny on Sep 30, 2021

    This looks great. One caveat though: if you cut your own birch log pieces please bear in mind that birch saw dust is poisonous. Wear goggles.

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