DIY Vintage Fork Easel
Hi there! It’s the second Wednesday of April and that means it’s time for another Thrifty Chicks challenge. This month it’s silverware. The idea is to upcyle the challenge item into something beautiful for your home. I think you’ll agree once you’ve seen all of the projects, that we’ve achieved our goal!
For my project, I took some left-over silver-plated forks and turned them into darling DIY vintage fork easels. I cannot claim this idea as my own, since I’ve seen it many times at various craft and antique shops, but it’s such an attractive and practical reuse, I thought I’d share it with you. I’m pretty sure you’re going to like it 🙂
They are perfect for holding little works of art, like this Victorian calling card, photographs, business cards, or what have you.
You’ll find links to four more projects created by my talented fellow Thrifty Chick friends at the bottom of this post.
Here area few forks that I had collected over the years.
Materials:
2 pair of “flat nose” pliers (left)
1 pair of “round nose” pliers (right) (optional)
cloth scrap
silver polish
Step 1: (Not shown) Polish your forks with silver polish. It’s much easier to do before turning them into an easels(!).
Step 2: Wrap your scrap fabric around the tine you are working on (not shown). This prevents your pliers from making unsightly marks.
Next, use the flat nose pliers (over the fabric) to bend the two outer tines forward, at just under a 90° angle.
Step 3: Bend the two inner tines backwards at about a 90° angle.
Now for the tricky part. The front two tines need to be adjusted outward in order for your stand to be balanced.
Step 4: Use one pair of flat nose pliers in your left hand to hold the fork just below the tines, while you use the second pair to–with all your strength–pull each outer tine out to the side by about 25° or so.
[Time for truth. I exerted such force trying to move the tines that I developed a blister on the inside of my ring finger. I didn’t realize it until I had completed all four easels, but it was kind of painful. In the future, I’ll probably apply a band aid on the spot before wrestling the forks into submissions.]
Step 5: Use the round nose pliers to curl the ends of the fork tines forward. Curled front tines allows your artwork to be held in place. Curling the back tines is for decoration.
[Alternatively, you can use the flat nose pliers to simply bend the ends of the front tines upward, at a 90° angle, and that will also hold things in place, if less decoratively.]
Done! It takes a little time to get things lined up and looking smart. Mine are NOT perfect. Over time, I’m sure I’ll get better at it, but for right now, I’m pretty pleased with myself, LOL.
This dessert fork easel is perfect for holding my business cards.
The easels work perfectly for displaying antique postcards.
Here’s a look at the back to give you an idea of how they actually work.
They also hold antique photos masterfully, like this one.
And this cutie, too.
I have to say, I am SO glad I tried this project. Even though it created a painful blister, it was well worth the effort. From a dealer point of view, they are wonderfully functional, but also very salable, perhaps in the $6-8 range(?). From a home decorator point of view, they are beautiful on their own, but, as you’ve seen, are designed to hold beautiful things.
Don’t forget to check out my Thrifty Chick friend’s wonderfully creative silverware posts:
1. Spray Painted Silverware Wind Chime by Thrifty Rebel Vintage
2. Upcycled Silverware Lapel Pin by Little Vintage Cottage
3. Vintage Silverware Art for the Kitchen by Lora B. Create & Ponder
4. How to Make a Candle Holder Using a Serving Spoon by Shoppe No. 5
5. DIY Vintage Fork Easel by Adirondack Girl @ Heart (that’s me!)
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I’d love it if you’d pin me 🙂
Good job, Diana. I use mine all the time, and they’re great for place cards on a tablescape too.
Thanks Rita–good idea using them for place cards. I really enjoyed making them so I see more in my future 🙂
Love this idea and I’m going to make some. If you heat the forks with a propane torch it’s easier to bend them.
Glad you liked the idea, Kim 🙂 I’m not sure about me and a blow torch, LOL.
How cute. I love this idea. I will be looking for forks on my next trip to my favorite antique shop.
Glad you like it, Karen–good luck finding some forks!!
Ingenious and really cute!! You always come up with something neat. 😃
Thank you Karen–so sweet of you to say 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Very sweet! I’d love to make one for my mantel.
I hope you get a chance to, AnnMarie!
Love these. Now if I could just find a nice fork!
Thanks Fonda! Hope you find one, or maybe two 🙂
I love this idea for display. And it is a great tutorial to show how to bend the tines of the fork. Great job.
Thanks Debra–so glad you found the tutorial helpful 🙂
A friend gifted me one of these; think I need a couple more. Thanks for idea! Pinned!
I love this and thanks so much for sharing your tutorial! We had/have a craftsman in our town that was known as the fork man and would do amazing things with stainless flatware. I’ve also incorporated parts of flatware in my stained glass work and have made jewelry pieces. It’s such a fun material to upcycle! Also, I’ve spent a good portion of my morning visiting the other Thrifty Chicks and am amazed by all creativity!
You’re so welcome, Tanya! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the projects developed by my friends for the silverware challenge. I’d love to see some of your projects using silverware–have you joined my Facebook Group yet? It’s called Your Vintage Headquarters and it’s full of vintage lovers who like to share their finds and projects. I hope to see you over there! [That is if you aren’t already there 🙂 ]
These turned out so cute diana! My mom and I made some of these years ago to hold our business cards when we used to participate in craft shows.
It’s a great idea, isn’t it?
Love these Diana. They are so cute! I have a ton of silver plate forks and this is a great way to use what I don’t need in my wind chimes.
I thought I had more, but can’t seem to find them. I’ll have to go hunting out in my garage because I’d like to make more!
Diana, your adorable vintage fork easel couldn’t have been more timely. Just yesterday I was going through some of my Mother’s things I came across two paintings she did on very small art canvas’ and I wondered how I could display them. Now I know exactly how I’m going to display them! Thank you so much for the inspiration – I love these!!!
Sounds like just the thing, Marie! So glad I could offer some inspiration 🙂
Those are adorable Diana. I’m not sure I’ve seen them before, so I appreciate the tutorial. You make it look easy!
Diana, I have one of these that I use for business cards but I love your different display ideas! Thank you for sharing at Vintage Charm–pinned!
These are soooo cute! I love the idea to display some older family pictures….gonna head out this weekend and find me some cute forks!!! Thanks for sharing such a neat idea!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post Karolyn! Thanks so much for dropping by 🙂
Love this idea. There are so many pieces of fabulous ephemera I seem to accumulate and this is a great way to display them instead of framing.