Both our current home and our previous home are lacking in the fireplace department. It’s definitely something on the top of our wish list for the addition come spring time, but we won’t have one in time for the holidays. So, every year about this time we struggle to come up with a solution for Christmas stockings. Especially now that we’ve gone from three to four of them. But not this year!
Instead of trying to come up with a logical place to hang our stockings we just painted a temporary fireplace instead!
We had some leftover chalkboard paint from our kitchen calendar wall, and it seemed like a fun paint option for the kiddos. And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a blast to chalk my dream fireplace to life. We chose to paint it on the large, empty wall in the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. We’re hoping to do something fun here down the road, but for now it’s pretty bare. A perfect contender!
And for anyone looking to get better oriented, here’s a few shots to better explain the placement of the fireplace.
I started by taping off the outside shape with painters tape. Frog Tape if you want it done right 
As far as the shape goes, I started by first sketching a fireplace shape on paper, based on a few inspiration pics I had, and then measured everything out on the wall.
I don’t always lay down a drop cloth when painting, but I’ve noticed in the past that the chalkboard paint tends to splatter off the roller quite a bit. Maybe it’s just my own experience, but thought it’d be good to know for first-timers. About three coats of paint later she was looking pretty good.
You’ll notice the roller marks in the photo above, but I snapped this just after painting, so they blended in as everything dried. I could not wait to rip that tape off!
I ended up outlining the fireplace shape with the chalk. This gave it more of a finished look, rather than the just the lines of the dark paint up against the gray walls. I think the contrast was just a little much.
I’m definitely not the best artist in town by any means, so when it was time to draw the actual fire I turned to google for some inspirational pics. Turns out, I’m not the first person to chalk a temporary fireplace! Which I’m very thankful for since the fire below was exactly the look I was going for! Since we’re hoping to have a real fireplace by the time next Christmas rolls around, we were only concerned for a one-year option, but I’m loving what they did for a more long-term option!
Something else worth mentioning, we tried to use command strips to hang the stockings – ultimate fail. Not sure what the exact problem was, maybe the strips weren’t meshing with the chalkboard paint, but they all fell down several times within the first 24 hours. So, it may not be as pretty, be we switched them out with push-pins. So far so good
Any other fireplace/ mantel alternatives out there? I was really surprised at the lack of options on the web. We can’t be the only ones without a fireplace…
Hi! I'm Jessie, a wife, mother of two girls, and an interior design fanatic. My husband Rick and I just purchased our second home, a 1950's ranch in dire need of some TLC, in our hometown of Cincinnati, OH. To find out more, click 
I love this idea! super cute.
So creative! And you are a really good fireplace designer. : )
Love this idea, and how fun for the kiddos! Pinning, just in case our next home doesn’t have a fireplace
Love it! Great idea
I love your chalkboard fireplace!! In our previous house, I hung our stockings from a chunky shelf I had mounted above our couch. My Mother-in-Law found a cute idea that solved the dilemma of how Santa would deliver presents without a fireplace to come down. She gave us a special key that is specifically for Santa to use to get in our house to deliver presents. It came with a little note explaining that we should hang the key on our door knob on Christmas Eve. A key very similar to the one in this link: http://www.ladybuggiftstore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=M848142&source=froogle
Ohh LOVE the key idea! So smart and fun!
Jessie
VERY cute!!! Great idea!! If we were still in our old house with no fireplace I’d do this in a heartbeat! But we have a beautiful one in the rental so now all I need to do is finish our stockings
I so love this! Wishing I could paint one right now in our rental!
That is such a cute and creative idea! I bet your kids love it.
Thanks Jessica!
Yes, Zoey always loves another place to chalk!
Jessie
I love this! Our house lacks a fireplace as well, and I am always looking for a creative stocking solution. Thanks!
What a great idea! This would be so fun to do even with a real fireplace too!
Good thinking! The chalkboard paint would be so fun on a real fireplace!
Jessie
So fun! What fabulous things one can do with chalkboard paint…
So cute and fun what a great idea. I also had problems using command strips for my stocking last year. They kept falling right off the mantel. I thought I was doing something wrong! Glad to know it’s not just me.
So weird! Wonder what the problem is. Any advice anyone?
Jessie
I am in LOVE with this idea! We don’t have a fireplace in my house either and this is such a great idea. I must figure out how to make this work
Love what you did for a quick fire place fix.
We did not have a fireplace, so we made a faux fireplace with a $350 ethanol insert built into our DIY entertainment center.
I call it my “Oil lamp +”. You can see it here if you want: http://shiftctrlart.com/BlogPost/uhh5.
Here is how I decorated it for Christmas: http://shiftctrlart.com/BlogPost/uij4
Love that fireplace! And you’re Christmas tree pics are gorgeous! Great shots
Jessie
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/Tamlynn/stockingholder3.jpg
I have a monstrosity of a brick fireplace that has no mantle, so I made this stocking hanger. It would also work hung on a wall.
So cute! What a great idea!!
Jessie
Cute, cute, cute!