I recently found a beautiful stained glass fireplace screen in the thrift store. Even though I don’t have a fireplace I decided to buy it. It was listed at $20 but I had a gift card so I only paid $10!
Finding that beautiful fireplace screen is what inspired me to make the cardboard fireplace. A quick search on Pinterest you will find a lot of ideas for a diy cardboard fireplace. I couldn’t find a lot of tutorials that show step by step processes and dimensions so I decided to make my own! My version is on the larger size that measures 5FT long by 14Inches wide by 45 inches tall. Most likely you probably already have all the materials you need to make this. Thank you to a friend who recently moved and donated the boxes for this project! Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the updates I made for 2023.
What you’ll need:
3 XL U-Haul boxes (24”x18”x24”)
Paper packing tape
Heavy duty scissors or box cutter
Glue gun
Step 1: Start with two of the boxes and fold each into a long rectangular shape.
Step 2: Cut one of the sides of the boxes and insert the second box into the first. Mine measured 53 inches across. Then tape them together. Make sure to save the cut out as you’ll be using that in step four.
Step 3: Draw your shape to make the insert for the ‘fireplace’. Mine measured 32 inches wide by 31 inches tall. A helpful hint here: Where you draw your side lines will actually be folded into the fireplace. So you’ll need to do a little measurement before hand. Where you draw your lines you’ll need to measure over 9.5 inches on each side, that’s where you will make the cut.
Another helpful tip here: cut out the square first then only cut out one half of the curved top. Then flip over your cut out to make a template on the other side. That way you will have a symmetrical shape.
Step 4: Now that saved piece of cardboard you cut from step two. Roll it a little so it becomes curved and this is what will be underneath the fireplace curve. You may need to make a few cuts to fit in place.
Step 5: Add tape to all edges around the fireplace. For the top curved portion, you’ll need to make small pieces of tape, but if I did this again I would use hot glue here. You’ll get a smoother look for the end result. A helpful hint here: I use a water based paper tape and I like to fold my tape before I add it. It helps form the shape and makes it easier to form to the cardboard.
Step 6: We need to add some strength to the inside of the fireplace to make sure it doesn’t change shape over time. Cut out a few squares and tape them to the inside like shown below. This will help stabilize the top portion once we add it.
Step 7: Cut 20 small triangles with a 90 degree angle. These will be place inside the cardboard box on each the right and left sides. This is the only step where you’ll need a glue gun. I glued 10 inside from the bottom to the top. Again this will help with strength and stability over time.
Step 8: Time to add the ‘mantle’. I saved two of these small ikea boxes from my husbands work desk that measure 5 foot long by 14 inches wide with a thickness or 2 inches. The inside has these hard cardboard crates that it came with to protect the desk legs. I kept them inside as I knew it would really help the mantle from not sloping and give it a lot of strength. If you don’t have the hard cardboard crates maybe try adding a cardboard egg box or just fill it with multiple pieces of cardboard.
Step 9: Tape the mantle to the base of the fireplace. Again a helpful hint here is to fold your tape to make it easier to attach. Since the tape is under the fireplace it doesn’t really matter what it looks like during this step.
Step 10: Next you’ll need to make a bottom threshold, this is where your ‘fire logs’ will be placed. Just measure the whole length of your fireplace (which is 52 inches long) and provide about 5 inches of overhang in the front. (So 13 inches width) You can either tape it down or glue it.
Step 11: Paint it! I added a contrasting color to the back section where the logs are. A darker color could look nicer here, but I just used the colors I already had on hand. I did notice here depending on the type of tape you used that once it’s painted you can see those lines a bit through the paint. It’s not a big deal, but if that bothers you; you could add brick like pieces you cut out from cardboard. However that will take a long time to make, which is why I opted for just paint.
Step 12: Add some logs at the bottom for the ‘fire’ part. Mine are actually pieces of a tree bark that fell off in our neighborhood last year. I wrapped some small LED string lights around the bark. Along with some battery operated tap lights that change color. I think the little pop of red resembles the fire.
I decorated with Christmas decor but honestly once the holidays are over I’m definitely keeping this cardboard fireplace up year around! It’s actually quite sturdy with all the supporting steps we made and I hope that it will last for years to come. It stands quite study on its own but you could always add some command sticky’s to attach it to the wall.
If you’re looking for something to hang stockings on here I would highly recommend these mantle clips. They fit in really nicely on the top cardboard!
Some optional steps could include adding cardboard pillars to the side. My friend gave me this long cardboard tube that once held a rug. I cut it into two sections and painted it a contrasting color for a little pop. It wedges in perfect and I can remove them if I don’t like the look later on.
Hope this tutorial inspired you to make your own upcycled cardboard fireplace! Below is the fireplace screen that inspired it all! Let me know if there are any questions I didn’t address. If you enjoyed this upcycle please consider subscribing to my newsletter here. All my tutorials are free of charge and I only send emails out once every 2 months. As a subscriber you’ll be the first to be alerted when new upcycle tutorials are posted on the blog, Thank you and happy upcycling!
Just to show you that this can used year around as well, here she is all ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Here are some of the updates I made for 2023. I found a massive box with some corrugated fiberboard inside the box. It was the perfect size to completly cover the face of my fireplace. I mostly wanted to do this to cover some of the seams and bumps. For a Christmas look I painted it brick red from Bier. Then I added some brick looking squares with the help of a stencil. I highly recommend taking a pre stencil to figure out your placement if you are making bricks around the arch.
I used this stencil from Etsy via Sammie on State to line up the brick easy. I just traced a white sharpie on the lines.
In fact I added Velcro to the back of the red brick. That way I can easily change out the look of the fireplace without having to paint it every time.
Here is the final look for this year! I added my bedroom tv with the fireplace app to make it look like a ‘real’ fire. All I had to do was cut a little square in the back to run the plugs to. I also painted the back black, which makes it look more real. The candles on top are battery operated as well.
Also if you have no kids or pets like myself you could also try switching the tv and the candles, haha! If you go back to step 8 you’ll see why the tv can actually support the weight of the tv. Happy Holidays!
0 Comments