I love the look of wood in the house, and especially love the look of logs that are ready to go in the fireplace.  We have one fireplace in our home now, but we also live in a high-fire area, so I won’t take the chance of starting a fire.  Many people put in candles in place of a fire, but I love the look of birch logs….without the little critters that come with real wood.  So I’m creating faux birch logs that will warm us with inspiration, and look cute in the fireplace!  This is also a great gift for anyone who wants to get in the Christmas spirit. Here is how to get started!

You Will Need:

• Corrugated cardboard roll in 12” width (can find it online as “Single Face Corrugated Roll”)
• Craft knife
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Drywall mud (also Joint Compound)
• Scissors
• Brown acrylic paint
• Black acrylic paint
• Plastic gloves/rubber gloves

How-To:

1. Take a bit of your corrugated wrap and start rolling it tightly. If you would like the outside to be rough, keep the corrugated side facing out. If you would like the outside to be smooth, keep the corrugated side facing in.

2. Roll a few of these in your desired thickness. Mine range from 2” – 5” in diameter. Since we are mimicking real logs, no two rolls need to be the same!

3. Use your hot glue gun to glue each section as you roll it up. Keep the glue on the inside so that the sides will have a perfect rolled-look.

4. Set those aside…now you are ready to make some branches. Roll just a couple of times to create a diameter of about 1”.

5. Cut these small branches at an angle so that they will fit on your larger logs. These will be small, so cut down to between 2” – 4” in length.

6. Hot glue these into place, mimicking where real branches would protrude from the log.

7. With your plastic gloves, take your drywall mud and spread it with your hands along the entire log and branches. Apply a very thin layer, covering the ridges in the corrugated cardboard just a little bit since that will also lend itself to looking like a real log. If the drywall mud is too thick to spread evenly, you can add water to it to thin it a bit.

8. Set aside to dry. Depending on what type of mud you bought, dry time will vary. Allow it to dry enough to the touch.

9. Take your brown and black acrylic paint and put a little of it on your plate palette.

10. Lightly take your sponge and start adding a bit of faux finishing with the paint to mimic the look of birch.

11. You can leave them as a pile of logs or put them together with some twine to create a bundle! Enjoy

If you missed the episode or want to see it in action then check it out here. Tell us what you think in the comments below and remember we want to see your DIY’s on Instagram so follow @PaigeHemmis #PaigeDIY