You don't have to settle for a dirty wire fireplace screen in the summer months, when you can trade it in for a beautiful faux topiary screen. Renee Sparks, formerly of Back Street, Inc., re-created a lovely screen by using and incorporating everything faux, from the paint techniques to the delicate flowers.
Materials:
wooden fireplace screen
-32" x 36" overall, with
- 9" x 32" wooden panels
Paper Dimensions prints
- mixed floral (#15002)
- fruit basket (#15014)
two 8" plastic foam balls, each cut in half
two 8-1/2" plastic urns, each cut in half vertically
four natural branches, approx. 12" long
Anita's Faux Easy Glaze
- moss green
Anita's Faux Easy Basecoat
- metallic gold
Anita's Faux Easy Designer Kit
- faux stone (#16500)
acrylic paint
- ecru
Anita's Fragile Crackle
Anita's Gold Foil Leafing
Anita's Gold Pearl Spray (#16250)
Anita's Varnish (semi-gloss)
Anita's Dimensional Adhesive or hot glue sticks
floral foam
green moss
hot glue gun
tack cloth
Steps:
Fireplace Screen Preparation
- Seal the wood with one or two light coats of Anita's Varnish. Let dry.
- Sand the wooden fireplace screen until smooth and wipe with a tack cloth to remove sanding dust.
- Basecoat the fireplace screen with ecru paint. Let dry.
- Apply Anita's Fragile Crackle to the entire fireplace screen following the package instructions. Let dry.
- Using a damp cloth, antique the fireplace screen by rubbing moss green glaze over the entire screen and wiping off excess. Repeat with metallic gold basecoat. Let dry.
- Following the package instructions, apply gold foil to all edges of the fireplace screen.
- Finish the fireplace screen with one or two light coats of Anita's Varnish.
Urns - Create a textured mossy stone look on all four urn halves using the Anita's Faux Easy Designer Kit. Follow instructions on the package.
- Place a piece of floral foam into each urn half and attach with hot glue.
- Cover the floral foam with green moss, and secure with hot glue.
Topiary Balls and Branches - Cover the rounded portion of all four plastic foam halves solidly with green moss, securing with hot glue.
- Assemble Paper Dimensions flowers, leaves, and fruit, following instructions on packages.
- Use hot glue or Anita's Dimensional Adhesive to adhere flowers, leaves, and fruit to the opiary balls. Refer to the photograph for suggested placement. Note: Any Paper Dimensions design can be used on the topiary balls to coordinate with your particular decor.
- Very lightly spray the fruit and floral arrangement with Anita's Gold Pearl Spray.
- Push one end of the natural branch into the bottom of the plastic foam ball. Secure with hot glue. Repeat with all four branches and balls. Set aside.
Assembly - Measure approximately 2-1/2" up from the bottom of the fireplace screen and make a mark on all four panels. Use hot glue or Anita's Dimensional Adhesive to attach an urn half on each panel, aligning the bottom of the halves with the 2- 1/2" marks.
- Push the bottom end of a branch into the foam inside an urn and secure with hot glue or adhesive. Hot glue the branch and the topiary ball to the panel. Repeat until all four urns and topiaries are glued in place.
Renee's Tips - Gold foil is less expensive to use than gold leaf.
- A hacksaw is the best tool to cut through plastic flower pots.
- To apply the faux stucco finish, natural sponges or kitchen sponges work best.
- When you cut out the flowers, keep them in a plastic photo sleeve. It keeps them flat and all together.
- Use tweezers at the bottom of each petal to form a more natural flower shape.
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