If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, you probably know that I am the absolute worst at properly preparing for major holidays. I managed to knock out a few Mini Pumpkin Pies for Thanksgiving and some Wrapped Ball Ornaments for Christmas, but you may have noticed an extreme lack of turkeys and twinkle lights.
I really do love holidays, but when it comes to DIY decorating I have the hardest time committing to projects I can only use for one month out of the year! I browse blogs for hours, reading about adorable (intensely themed) holiday crafts and seeing how people have done and redone entire rooms of their houses in preparation for the festivities. I look on with envy. I admire their ability to commit so wholeheartedly while I pay homage to the nearest holiday safely within my comfort zone, creating things I can continue to use year-round. These upcycled utensils, for example, are my wimpy salute to Valentine’s Day. However, if you’re a hardcore Valentine’s fanatic you’ll want to keep reading. This little project can be very romantic, I promise!
I’ve got a massive collection of utensils from years and years ago. I have cafeteria spoons that somehow made it home with me when I moved out of my college dorm room, I have forks and knives from a cheapo flatware set I found at Walmart when I got my first apartment, I have mix-matched sets Dave and I inherited from our parents — basically we have a 20 pound box in the storage room full of utensils that just don’t belong on the same table together… or do they?
I love it when mismatched objects are tied together with one common thread. By simply painting the handles of these spoons white, the set was transformed from an awkward storage room nuisance to a quirky match made in heaven!
Does a project get any easier?? I used the Americana Gloss Enamels paint in White from DecoArt. This paint is perfect because once it dries, you just have to let it cure for 48 hours and then bake your utensils in the oven at 350 degrees for half an hour in order for them to be perfectly dishwasher safe. The 48-hour cure is really important so that the paint bakes correctly, preventing it from chipping later on.
Now for the romantic part! Try putting together a sweet breakfast place setting like this for your loved one(s) this Valentine’s Day! As much as red, pink, chocolate, sugar and hearts say “I love you”, nothing will start your special day off better than a pretty little breakfast where you can show off your “brand new” utensils!
You can try this “dipped” look in other colors too, giving a great spring makeover to some of that old flatware.
Finally, the amazing giveaway! DecoArt will be sending this awesome basket full of goodies to one lucky winner! You can do all kinds of great projects with this stuff. Enter with the Rafflecopter Widget below!!
What are your plans for this Valentine’s Day? Are you doing something special?
The lovely dishes I used in this post were purchased from FindersKeepers Market! They are currently available at Anthropologie.
#1 Why is there a hole in the handle of that spoon? #2 If you wanted to use more than one color in your design, would you have to go through the cure/bake process with each color separately? Meaning, would the colors combine like watercolors, or can they be safely layered without unintentionally blending? #3 Can the entire spoon be painted and subsequently used normally, or is there a toxicity issue? Thanks!
I’m not sure about the hole but I thought it was cute haha!
You wouldn’t have to go through the whole cure/bake process twice. You would just have to wait for each color to dry between coats. These dry within about 5 minutes, so using multiple colors would be really easy!
The paint shouldn’t be in direct contact with food, so I would only pain the handles.
Tiff – what a great idea!
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it!
I was just at the thrift store yesterday and saw that pile of unmatched silver…”someone should make these match”. You!! You!!
. You are too good.
P.S. Cause I just happen to have a container of eggs sitting by my beautiful setting
Ohh I would have been tempted to snag every single one of those! And yess I couldn’t pass up using the eggs for this.
I was pretending they were hardboiled so they made sense haha! 
Oh my gosh Tiffany…I adore this post. I love the pics and the place setting…and the photos! The flatware is, I agree, so perfect. Enough gushing. I’m off to enter the giveaway.
Thank you so much!!
So cute! I have a ton of extra silver…I’m thinking aqua!
Ohhh that would be so pretty!! Would look GREAT in your awesome kitchen too!
Oh my gosh- who would of thunk it? Not me– Love the dipped dip effect! CUTE!
Yay!! I’m so glad you like it!
Love this
Thank you!
I love it!
Thank you!
We are just planning on making some simple crafts with the kids from supplies that we already have on hand…kids will be excited!
That sounds so fun! I love simple.
Love the white DIY up cycled utensils! Beautiful idea!! Love your blog so keep posting!
My fav thing about V-tines day is outdoing our love for one another. We love each other everyday but I love the joy it brings to really love each other in each other’s love language.
Thank you!! That is so sweet and so true!
I love this idea esp for kids! One color for each child, no more fighting over he took my fork blah blah blah!
That’s a great idea!!
My plans are dinner and a movie at home with the hubby.
That sounds amazing.. probably what we’ll end up doing too.
I will be giving my grandchildren specially made Valentine purses and also doing homemade valentines with them. Maybe even some cookie baking and icing if we can find the time. : )
Aww that is so sweet! Hopefully you’ll find time for the baking.
Making a special dinner and Valentine’s Cake.
Ohh I’m sure that will be amazing!
I work late on Valentines Day
But I will make it for it that weekend during my WEEKEND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! <3 2/17 Baby! Valentine's Baby!
Aww it stinks you have to work but happy birthday!!
Finally getting a night out without kids with my husband!
Aww that will be great!
i forgot i had enamel paints as i had a project in mind when i bought them. well, as you will understand, i forgot all about it. now i can peruse our thrift stores for mismatched flatware and do some painting. i like what you have done!
Yayy! Suddenly those flatware bins have a whole new meaning!
oh, valentine plans, we’re going to celebrate our 30th anniversary!
WOW!! Congratulations!! 30 years!!
Awesome idea!
Thank you!
We are staying in. We have an almost 2 month old and five year old. It will be family valentine’s day.
That will be so nice! Congrats on the little one!
There’s this cute little pizza shop in our town we will probably go to, likely as a family with our baby. Then we have some free movie passes for the local theater so maybe catch a movie after that. We don’t usually plan something until that day.
Pizza and a movie sounds awesome.
What an awesome idea!!!
Thank you!
It’s my mom’s birthday, so we are making a special dinner to celebrate her!
Aww that will be so nice!
I big fat pink puffy heart LOVE this project … my silverware at home is all hodge podge and I can’t wait to paint ‘em up and prettify them!
OH, and I think we’re going to have our boys make dinner for us on Valentine’s Day
They have been dying to cook so we’re going to take the plunge and let them!
Sadly I will be alone as the hubby is out of town!
Not the first and won’t be the last. He is an EMS pilot, so sometimes it happens. More time for me to craft!
Vlalentines Day = dinner out!
hanging out at home with the munchkin eating yummy chocolates and watching a good movie
dinner out
I love being craftie, I made a huge widchime out of old silverware one time.
We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s day. I’m probably make a red themed dinner for my husband and daughter.
sadly, I don’t have any great plans, it will be pretty quiet.
Love it! This is such a great idea, I’m seriously regretting the baskets of mismatched cutlery we threw away from my grandparent place… To the thrift shops!
Love these ideas of yours, I’m now a fan and have subscribed
Thank you
love that idea for all my mismatched flatware that i have acquired over the years!! I am gonna do that!!! great idea!!
love it!
I love this idea. The gray scalloped dishes are absolutely adorable! Wherever did you find them?
LOVE this idea!
So simple but so clever!
Sharing this one for sure!
Dom.
Craftedblog.com
I have made several mixed media hearts that I shall deliver for Valentines. And I like your spoon idea as I just got a bunch of silverware from a local thrift for another project…now I have a second project!
I will be at home melting my valentine’s candles, watching a lot of romance movie along with a bottle of wine.
I’m going to bake something chocolate this year.
Very good idea! Who would have thought! Lol!
and I was just about to toss a pile of mismatched! Now what color??
I’m getting a couple’s massage & catered breakfast for Valentine’s day.
I love this idea! When I get my own house I want it to look like yours. It’s so adorable! This year for valentines day, I’m doing nothing. Last year I had science fair, but this year there is absolutely nothing going on. I’m forever alone :’(
I really like the idea of reclaiming what has been “junk” flatware until now. Thanks for the inspiration. No plans for Valentines Day.
My hubby and I will spend a lovely evening at home eating homemade lasagna and a chocolate cake.
I work and my boy goes to class til late this year so we don’t have any special plans besides sleeping in during the next weekend.
My Valentine Plan include the whole family. We are going to decorate cookies and have dinner.
Aww family cookie decorating is so much fun!
Valentine’s Day doesn’t hold the meaning to me it used to. This year I’ll be going with my middle daughter to get a remote starter installed on her car, and then take her to lunch. The rest of the day will be like any other day.
Aww a special lunch with your daughter sounds awesome! I’m sure she’ll LOVE that remote starter too. I’ve been wanting to get one of those..
I will be making sweet heart sundaes with my girls
That sounds fun and delicious!!
I have no big plans.
Absolutely love this idea and I’m definitely going to do this to my gaggle of mismatched utensils.
I will be making dinner for the hubby and I and probably cuddling up to Netflix
I’m so glad you liked it!
RESCUE THOSE MISFIT UTENSILS!! Dinner + Netflix = V-Day WIN! 
Staying home and have a nice dinner at home with my husband.
Aww that will be so nice!
I don’t have any plans yet
You sound like me haha!! I’ll probably try to make breakfast but after that it’s all a haze.
My plans for this Valentine’s Day, the first since my husband died, are really quite simple. I am going to take a picnic lunch to the cemetery. Will take some flowers and a card for my sweetheart for both his birthday and one for Valentine’s Day. We used to go to the Red Lobster, I’m not quite ready for that yet, but we both love picnics. Then I’ll head home for a nice quiet evening.
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s amazing and wonderful how you’re honoring him this year! That’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever read. Thank you so much for sharing that.
No plans, probably a movie and dinner
Movie + dinner = heaven… especially if dinner = pizza (extra cheese).
No big plans, just helping out in my twins’ classroom in school for their party!
Aww that’s fun! I remember the Valentine’s class parties, they were so exciting! We used to be able to send “secret admirer” carnations to friends (or crushes
) and I remember always being so nervous/excited to see if I would get one! 
I plan on combining a valentine theme with my daughters birthday on Saturday. Love your idea of painting the handles of miss-matched silverware. Will go on the Deco-art website to find out where I can get the paint. Thanks
That sounds so fun! I left a link in the post that leads directly to the paint if you want to click over!!
I honestly don’t know what my plans are for Valentine’s Day my ex and I are kind of back together s o Idon’t know
Aww I’m sure it will be special!
Love, love, love this….thanks for the great idea
Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it!
I’ve been lurking for a while and decided to finally “delurk.” Love this idea! I used to use enamel paint to personalize odd coffee cups to give to the teens in our youth group! and I love old flatware!! Thanks for the great idea!!
Valentine’s plans…. our youngest has a middle school swim meet so we will be going to that to cheer him on!
I don’t mind as we only have a few years of having the guys still at home!! I’ll probably bake up a special treat to put in school lunches and for an evening snack. 
Thank you for “delurking” haha! (love that word by the way!
) Doing coffee cups is a great idea too!! And family Valentine’s Days are amazing. I know V-Day for me was just with my family for the longest time and I loved it!
We’re staying home and I’m making Chinese food for dinner and we’ll watch some movies
Oooh homemade Chinese sounds amazing!
I plan to sneak over to my Grandkids house and leave a Valentine basket on the porch before they leave for school. (hopefully they see it before the dog eats the treats!!)
That is so sweet! What an exciting surprise!
A get-together with my fellow spouses whose husbands are deployed!
Aww that’s so great!
A movie and nice dinner.
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill12@gmail.com
Dinner with family.
Nothing planned for Valentine’s Day! That’s okay though, I’m sure something interesting will happen.
love this idea! very lovely
.
Just staying in together, small dinner for two and a movie. My favorite….
We plan on having a fun family valentines dinner at home with our children this year.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
Sadly, I have no plans. It will just be another day for me.
I get to spend a QUIET evening with my husband
I don’t have any plans
I am so doing this to all of my miss matched silverware. So fun!!!
No plans yet. Will be spending the evening with my hubby of 23 years.
We’re going to the kids’ talent show at school.
My hubby and I are hoping to be babysitting our 2 little grandsweeties while the kids go out for a nice dinner. We’ll be doing crafts and playing with our wonderful sweeties <3
Going to dinner at Maggianos……yummy!!
I am just planning on making some simple crafts with the family.
This was certainly a nostalgic visit for me! My mother, one of 14 children born to 100# Dutch parents, retold the story of the spoon jar (more than once)! With a family of 16, any extra dishwashing was frowned up, so spoons were placed in a jar at the table. Only if one needed a spoon would one ask (in Dutch), “Please pass the spoons!”
We are also babysitting our grandchildren so the kids can be on their own. I have crafts planned too.
We are going to dinner at Red Lobster and then we are going to see A Good Day to Die Harder
Plan to make a special dinner for the family.
A nice, quiet dinner with my husband.