How a Simple Cutting Board Became a Countryside Treasure
Have You Ever Seen a Cutting Board Become Cottage Decor?
Sometimes the best projects start with the most unexpected surfaces.
In this tutorial, a simple layered MDF cutting board is transformed into an elegant vintage-inspired wall hanging featuring a charming goose portrait, woven basket textures, molded embellishments, crackled porcelain effects, lace details, and antique finishes.
The layered construction creates natural depth from the beginning, while careful paint blending and dimensional embellishments bring the entire scene to life. If you love cottagecore décor, farmhouse style, vintage geese, or layered mixed media projects, this one is packed with techniques you'll want to use again and again.
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Materials You Can Shop Here
You can shop the featured finishes and supplies below, then use the tutorial steps to bring the project together.
- MDF Cutting Board
- Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish
- Animals Rice Paper
- Textured Rice Paper
- Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint
- Pentart Acrylic Paint
- Air Dry Clay
- Silicone Molds
- Cream Paste
- Adhesives
- Fineline Crackle System
- Antiquing & Glazing Medium
- Brushes & Tools
Also Needed
Flowers, greenery, ribbon, hot glue gun, twine, bronze ball chain.
Step 1: Paint the Boards White
The project begins with a layered MDF cutting board set.
Both pieces are painted using Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in Cotton. Donna applies the paint with a sponge dauber rather than a brush because it delivers heavier coverage and works especially well on large flat surfaces.
A white base coat is essential when working with rice paper because it keeps colors bright and vibrant. Dark backgrounds can dull the artwork and reduce the detail in the images.
Step 2: Prepare the Goose Rice Paper
The focal image features an adorable goose wearing a straw hat.
Using a water brush, the goose image is carefully torn rather than cut. This creates feathered edges that blend much more naturally into painted backgrounds. Excess paper is removed so only the portions needed for the design remain.
Step 3: Decoupage the Basket Background
The larger cutting board receives a woven basket rice paper design.
Because the paper isn't quite large enough, Donna cleverly pieces together additional sections while carefully matching the pattern. Once assembled, the seams virtually disappear.
The rice paper is adhered using Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish Satin, which serves as both adhesive and protective finish.
Donna thoroughly saturates the paper, especially around the edges, ensuring excellent adhesion. A lightly misted piece of plastic is placed over the paper and smoothed with a paper towel to eliminate wrinkles and bubbles.
Step 4: Sand the Edges Clean
Once dry, excess paper is removed using medium-grit sandpaper.
The paper is sanded downward along the edges of the board. This technique cleanly removes the excess without lifting the rice paper. The result is a crisp professional finish.
Step 5: Seal Before Blending
Both boards receive an additional coat of Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish Satin.
This seals the rice paper and prepares the surface for paint blending. Sealing beforehand allows paint to glide smoothly across the paper and blend seamlessly into the background.
Step 6: Add Depth Around the Edges
Using Pentart Dark Brown Paint, Donna creates soft shadows around the perimeter of the board.
A slightly damp sponge helps apply the paint lightly and gradually. Most of the paint is removed from the sponge before application, allowing the color to build slowly and naturally.
The subtle shading immediately adds depth and helps frame the design.
Step 7: Blend the Goose into the Background
To make the image appear painted rather than pasted, custom color blending is added around the goose.
Donna uses:
- Pentart Off White
- Pentart Country Blue
- Pentart Dark Blue
- White paint
The colors are blended directly onto portions of the rice paper and surrounding background. Extending paint onto the image itself helps eliminate visible paper edges and creates a seamless transition.
Step 8: Create a Layered Shadow Effect
Before attaching the oval goose panel, a soft shadow is painted onto the basket board.
This shadow extends beyond the oval shape and creates the illusion that the top piece is floating slightly above the base. It's a simple technique that adds significant dimension to the finished project.
Then give the basket board a coat of Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish Dead Flat.
Step 9: Add a Vintage Crackle Finish
To give the goose panel an aged porcelain appearance, Donna applies Pentart Fineline Crackle Varnish.
This two-step crackle system creates beautiful fine cracks that resemble antique ceramic finishes.
After Component One dries clear, Component Two is applied in thin even strokes. Once dry, delicate crackles appear across the surface.
Step 10: Highlight the Crackles
To reveal the crackle pattern, Pentart Antique Paste is worked into the cracks and then wiped away from the surface.
The antiquing remains inside the crackle lines while the surrounding surface stays clean, instantly creating a vintage heirloom appearance.
Step 11: Add Vintage Splatters
For additional age and character, watered-down dark brown paint is splattered around the outer edges.
Using a fan brush, Donna taps the handle to create fine scattered droplets that mimic natural aging and wear.
Step 12: Create Faux Lace Details
The original rice paper contains delicate lace imagery, so Donna recreates that detail dimensionally using Cream Paste and a shallow silicone mold.
Unlike air-dry clay, cream paste works beautifully in very shallow molds and dries flexible. Once dry, the lace strips can be curved around the oval shape without cracking.
The result looks remarkably similar to the printed lace found in the original artwork.
Step 13: Add Decorative Ball Chain
Bronze ball chain is glued around the oval panel.
This fills the transition between the lace trim and the wooden panel while adding another layer of vintage detail. The metallic border also helps frame the goose image beautifully.
Step 14: Create the Molded Geese
Using Das Air Dry Clay, Donna molds small decorative birds to enhance the design.
The clay is:
- Pressed into silicone molds
- Smoothed with water
- Frozen for approximately 20 minutes
- Removed while frozen
- Cleaned up before fully thawing
Freezing allows the delicate details to release perfectly from the mold without damage.
Step 15: Attach the Clay Embellishments
The molded pieces are attached while still damp using Aleene's Tacky Glue.
Attaching wet clay allows the embellishments to conform naturally to the curved surfaces and creates a stronger bond as they dry. Any excess glue is immediately cleaned away with a damp brush.
Step 16: Paint and Antique the Embellishments
The molded geese are painted white with soft peach-colored bills and feet.
After sealing with satin varnish, a thinned antiquing glaze is brushed over the embellishments and wiped back.
The glaze settles into all the recesses and details, creating realistic shadows and making the molded pieces appear far more dimensional.
Step 17: Mix Matte and Satin Finishes
One of the most effective design choices in this project is the contrast of finishes.
The basket background receives Polyvine Heavy Duty Wood Varnish Dead Flat, while the goose panel and embellishments retain their satin sheen.
The combination creates beautiful visual contrast and helps each layer stand out.
Step 18: Assemble and Decorate
The oval goose panel is glued onto the basket background.
To finish the piece, Donna adds:
- Twine wrapped around the handle
- A blue velvet bow
- Coordinating greenery
- A matching blue flower
These final touches reinforce the cottage farmhouse style and perfectly complement the goose imagery.
The Finished Project
The finished cutting board hardly resembles its humble MDF beginnings.
Between the layered construction, basket textures, vintage crackle finish, dimensional lace, molded geese, antiquing, and carefully selected embellishments, the final piece feels like a treasured antique found in a countryside cottage.
It's a wonderful example of how layering multiple techniques can transform a simple craft blank into something truly special.
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