Stone Fireplace for Theatre Prop

I'm working on the set for "Into the Woods" and started with Cinderella's fireplace.

I started with a 4x8 panel of insulation styrofoam found at Home Depot. I cut it to a 4x6 piece(using the extras for the sides) and sketched out the front. I carved the brick shapes and peeled the plastic covering off. After cutting out the opening, I carved smaller bricks for the back of the fireplace.

So, this is the cool part....if you melt the foam with a heat gun, you can soften the edges and melt the styrofoam appearance. This give you the brick and stone texture also.

Stick with water based paint...spray paint will melt the foam. I used flat latex interior paint. Then faux finished the stone, brick and wood.

This stuff can even be faux wood! You just carve and melt to your desired effect!

I used black card stock and gorilla tape to hold the pieces together. The whole thing looks like it weighs tons but is only about 5 lbs.