A $1.99 Frame and 25-Cent Butter Knives Became Vintage-Style Kitchen Art

I made vintage-style kitchen artwork with a chunky Goodwill frame, butter knives, and loose pages from an old cookbook. The frame cost $1.99 and the knives were 25 cents each; I described the project as a $4 makeover using supplies I already had.

Paint and age the butter knives

I liked the knives’ texture and decorative pattern. First I spray-painted them. Once dry, I applied dark wax, let that dry, and dry-brushed Antibes Green Annie Sloan Chalk Paint over the surface.

Give the frame a worn green finish

I painted the frame Antibes Green too. Instead of sanding it, I scraped it with a butter knife to wear away parts of the finish.

Layer cookbook pages onto the background

The cookbook already had loose pages, so I used them as the backdrop. I applied Mod Podge to half the canvas, added the recipe pages, and brushed more Mod Podge over them, working in layers. I smoothed wrinkles with my finger where I wanted a flatter finish and let the background dry completely.

Attach the knives and add twine

I hot-glued the painted butter knives onto the background in a loose arrangement, then wrapped some twine around them.

The artwork in the kitchen

The finished piece joined the kitchen display, where I also found a new place for my copper rooster mold.

The magazine-clipping kitchen canvas uses a different paper background. The two-tone thrifted chair uses Antibes Green with Louis Blue.