Fireplaces are a crucial element of Christmas, providing a place to put up decorations and giving Santa an easy entry point to deliver his presents.
When mum-of-two Danielle Kay realised she had nowhere to hang the stockings she had bought for her littles ones, she decided to get creative.
The keen craft-maker spent three evenings and just £2 building her own faux fireplace, complete with realistic-looking brickwork, which has received rave reviews online.
Danielle, 35, put it together by using cardboard, a piece of wood and brick-effect wrapping paper which she already had in her home, and spending £2 on glue - her only expense.
It's proven to be a massive hit with the care worker's two young daughters, Jess, eight, and Poppy, four.
The mum from Chester said: "We didn't have a fireplace to hang the stockings up and my daughters really wanted to have stockings this year.
"I had seen a few ideas online and took inspiration from them, but I love crafts anyway so it seemed like a no brainer to make my own.
"The sides are made from old Christmas tree boxes and a third for the mantle piece, then I got a piece of old wood and used it as the base.
"I used a glue gun to assemble it all, I went through a whole pack of glue but it was needed because the fireplace needs to stay up until Christmas day.
"The girls absolutely love it, it was just a nice bit of fun to get them in the mood for the big day.
"I think they were worried that Santa wouldn't be able to get down the chimney this year but they're reassured now that he'll be able to pop down and deliver their presents this year.
"I posted it in a group on Facebook and hilariously had comments saying I had laid the bricks wonky so I had to politely let them know it was wrapping paper."
Danielle loves creating her own crafts, which she does with patients at the dementia care home where she works, and always aims to do it on 'as little a budget as possible'.
She waited until Jess and Poppy had gone to bed each night to continue the build to keep it as a surprise and says it was well worth it when it was finished.
After posting photos of the fireplace online, the pictures racked up thousands of likes and comments from people who were impressed by how realistic it looks.
Danielle got a couple of comments from worried parents that it was blocking the air filter behind, but the mum reassured them that she had made holes in the cardboard.
She added: "It was much cheaper than buying a fireplace, so I think we'll do the same again next year!"
