Antique Ornate Frame
When I originally bought this large old ornate frame it had a vintage print in it.
And I replaced the picture with a mirror (I wrote about this and another mirror HERE)
I’ve had this up for sale in my booth at the Camp Hill Antique Centre for over a year now, with no takers. So I figured it was time for a quick makeover to see if we could make this more “sellable”.
Picket Fence & Zinc Wax – Adding Grey Tones instead of Brown!
Most times when wanting to age an ornate frame like this one, furniture painters will opt Antiquing or Ageing Wax, which gives a lovely authentic patina of old world ageing paint replicating dirt or grime collecting in the crevices.
This time I thought I’d try Miss Mustard Seed’s Zinc Wax. So instead of brown tones showing in the ornate frame details, I would see grey tones peeping through. This is awesome for those who are wanting to match their home decor in more of the grey tones around the house. 
Zinc wax has a very slight metallic appearance and shimmer on flat surfaces. However, in this project, I didn’t notice any metallic finish showing – just the lovely grey details appearing as aged patina on the surface.
I began with about 3 coats of Fusion’s Whitest White – Picket Fence. Aiming for a distressed finish with the Zinc wax showing in the detailed crevices, I wasn’t too concerned about getting the paint right down into all of the grooves (below pic) of this ornate frame.
After this, I distressed the edges/surface using my Sandi Hands Sanding glove using approx. 240 grade sanding grit.
Using my Madeline Wax Brush (mini rounded) I dipped the brush tips into the Miss Mustard Seed’s Zinc Wax and wiped the excess on the edge of the container.
Applying the wax in all of the details and across the surfaces of the ornate frame is super easy! Then I grabbed a lint free cloth (aka old sock!) and wiped the excess away, leaving the beautiful grey tones of the Zinc wax sitting in the ornate details of the mirror. (below)
In this example below you can see the far right of the picture where I haven’t applied the Zinc Wax yet. On the left, I have added the Zinc Wax.
** VIDEO TUTORIAL ON THIS EXACT FRAME AT THE END OF THIS POST
Handy Tip:
Here you can see where I added it to the outsides. Now if you don’t want as much wax to show up on the flat surfaces, use a little of the clear Furniture Wax to “erase” the Zinc Wax. I erased a little of the Zinc Wax on the sides in the centre, where I wanted it to show more white.
Results of Zinc Wax over White Ornate Frame
You can see it doesn’t stand out too much from a distance, but I do love the fact that there are subtle grey soft tones, peeking through the details.
I hope that gives you another option for Antiquing your frames AS WELL AS your ornate furniture details.
Video Tutorial for this Project:
As promised, here is a video tutorial that I recorded LIVE on Facebook as I was doing this project, to give you a better visual exactly how I created this look:
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