coffee stained picture frame

For my sister-in-law's birthday, I wanted to make her a gift she could put in her home. In March, they had their second child so I thought this "What A Difference A Day Makes" gift would be nice. I had seen it a number of places on Etsy and Pinterest and decided to make my own. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:

To spruce it up just a bit, I decided to try a coffee stained picture frame. I figured this would be the perfect project for it. Here's what I did to turn an ordinary craft frame into the frame you see in the picture above.

[1] I bought an 8x10 frame and mat at AC Moore.

[2] I went home to prepare my stain. What you'll need to make a coffee stain is:

1/4 cup used coffee grounds

about 1/2 cup vinegar

Put the ingredients into a jar with a small piece of steel wool, shake it up, and let it sit for 24 hours. I initially used too much vinegar and my stain was weak so I ended up dumping some out and letting it sit longer.

[3] When my stain was ready, I grabbed a pair of rubber gloves, took my frame somewhere I could make a mess (our back patio), and rubbed the stain onto the frame with the steel wool.

After one coat when I realized my stain wasn't "strong" enough...

After 4 coats...

Do as many coats as it takes for your frame to become the color you wish (letting your frame dry completely in between coats). I ended up doing 4 coats. When it was all dry, I brushed off any loose coffee grounds and put my picture in it.

As far as stains go, this is a pretty thrifty option for turning an ordinary frame into something that looks more custom. The loose coffee grounds give it a slight rustic look making a new frame look loved.

Happy staining :)

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