Picture Frame Herb & Flower Drying Rack

Hey Friends! Long time no see 😉

I like to dry my herbs by hanging them off of shelves in my enclosed pantry because it keeps the dust that gets on the drying herbs to a bare minimum. Unfortunately, when I try to get something off the shelves I inevitably brush against the drying herbs, which causes them to break into pieces and scatter all over everything, making a big mess in my pantry.

I have some empty wall space behind the pantry door I where I can hang a rack, but I didn’t want hang a plain ol’ flat rack against the wall because a. the herbs wouldn’t get a lot of air circulation; and b. it wouldn’t look very cute. So it had to be flat enough to fit behind my pantry door without hitting it when the door is opened (did I mention my pantry door is glass?) but not so flat-flat that the herbs are hanging against the wall.

I love picture frame wire stuff (like my Shabby Chic Fall Wreath Tutorial) so I decided another picture frame wire DIY tutorial was in order!

Here’s what you’ll need:

20″ x 40″ picture frame
3 pieces of 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ x 4′ wood,  cut to fit the back of the frame
framing nails
wire (I used wire racks left over from an old greenhouse rack; you can use chicken wire or whatever you like)
liquid nails
caulk
paint
antiquing wax
hammer
caulk gun
4 adjustable clamps
paint brush
wax brush
rags
x-acto knife
sandpaper

Directions:

Obviously, if there is a picture in the frame you plan to use, remove it. Here’s what mine looked like before I started:

Strip any laminate, paper, etc. from the frame. I made the mistake of not doing this at first, and when I painted it, it looked terrible and I had to strip it all off and start over. This was a mass-produced “painting” from the 70’s when they apparently thought covering perfectly good wood with faux-wood laminate tape was a great idea. 

Here’s what stripping-after-I-painted-when-I-should-have-done-it-before looked like:

Cut the wood pieces to fit the back of the frame, nail together and test the fit against the back of the frame. 

Remove the wood pieces you just nailed together from the back of the frame. Measure and cut the wire to fit the back of the frame and test for fit. Remove the wire and run a bead of liquid nails around the back of the frame. Fit the wire back onto the back of the frame, pressing it into the liquid nails.

Fit the nailed together wood pieces onto the front frame over the wire, pressing into the liquid nails, applying more liquid nails if needed. Use the adjustable clamps to clamp everything together. Allow to dry overnight.

 Remove the clamps the following morning. Use caulking to fill any gaps between the frame and wire. Allow to dry, then scrape off any excess caulk and liquid nails.

Paint the frame and wire. I just used some leftover wall primer in white. It looked great and since it was primer, it covered everything well and I didn’t have to put on 50,000 coats.

Use antique wax to give the wood and wire an aged look. Allow to dry, then distress the frame and using sandpaper.

Hang up your new picture frame drying rack, cut and bundle some herbs and/or flowers, and hang them on the rack. Take pretty pictures of your herbs and flowers hanging on the rack (optional, but fun!).

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

Until next time!

Michelle