Antique Silver Leaf Frame

How was your weekend? Mine was super relaxing and fun. My hubby and I spent some good time together Friday night at the Avengers (which was awesome), then Saturday we visited the Farmer’s Market and played putt-putt.

My brothers surgery went well on Friday. Thank you all for your prayers and nice comments. He’s back home and the doctor says it’ll probably take a while before he feels normal again. So we’re praying for a quick recovery for him.

I did this over the weekend:


Um no, I didn't paint the picture. I wish. I silver leafed the frame.

Remember my Silver Pinecone Wreath in the powder room?


I love it. I love it so much that I didn’t want to take it down after Christmas, so I justified that it’s wintery and can stay up through the winter. Yeah, so around the end of April it was starting to look really out of place in there. So I decided to find something else for the Spring/Summer months until I can hang the wreath again.

I promised last week that I would show you my two scores from my trip to Asheville with my Mom. Both items needed a little love, but I was able to fix one of them this weekend. I bought this oil painting for $20. Big spender. But hey, you really can’t buy prints for $20, so I think it’s a good deal. Plus I thought the picture was really pretty and the colors would look good in place of the wreath…


The frame however, was not so pretty. I applied an antique silver leaf finish and made it into this:


Better right? I love how the silver leafing looks really aged. I’ve seen this look on Pinterest on frames, mirrors and even furniture, but I couldn’t find any tutorials, so I kinda made it up.


No the picture is not hanging super crooked, that would be the photographer.

What you need:


The only thing I didn’t already have was the silver leaf and I bought that with my 40% off coupon so total for the entire project is $20 for the picture and $5 for the silver leaf = $25.

1. Protect anything you don’t want covered in silver leaf or spray paint. I used a thin plastic drop cloth and painters tape to cover the picture.

2. Spray paint frame with a silver spray paint. I used Rustoleum’s Brushed Nickel spray paint.. I only did one coat since the silver leaf is going on top. I just didn’t want the wood to show through. Let dry completely.

3. Working in small sections, spray the glue onto the surface and let dry for 30 seconds. You want it to be tacky, not wet.

4. Apply the silver leaf sheet onto the surface very carefully pressing into the creases. Pull off the wax backing and use the foam brush to tape gently on the surface. This helps it get into the ridges (it may crack and that’s ok) and helps it adhere to the glue.

TIP: Don’t use your fingers for this. The oil in your fingers will pull the silver leaf off.

5. Work your way all the way around until almost completely covered. There will be places where the silver leaf naturally doesn’t adhere or pulls off. That helps with the antique look. It’s also ok if the surface is slightly bumpy.


6. Once you’ve covered the frame (or whatever you’re covering) make sure that you have the amount of “antiquing” that you like. If you want more, if you touch it with your finger it should pull off slightly.


7. Apply two thin coats of the clear top coat. I used Rustoleum’s Crystal Clear Enamel. Let dry completely. Its important that you do this before the glaze because the glaze will pull the silver leaf off without it.

8. Using a brush and a brown glaze, apply a pretty heavy coat on the frame and wipe off. I use cheese cloth to wipe off, but you can use any rag.


9. Keep applying glaze until you get the look you want. I applied once to the entire picture frame and then a second coat in cracks and corners.

Note: I did not sand it to get this look. You may have success with that, but I liked the look of it being chippy but not rubbed off.

I love it this room. It made me want to find other things in my house to silver leaf. What do you think?