You don’t need much milk paint to paint a spoon handle. I wanted to have several colors on hand to create a flexible pallet, but didn’t need to buy the colors in packages large enough to paint a chest of drawers. Conveniently, both the Real Milk Paint Company and the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company sell sample bundles, allowing you to choose a group of colors. They can all be mixed to create a wider variety of shades. The RMPC sample jars contain one ounce of powder. One little jar will paint a lot of spoons. The OFMPC bags contain two ounces of powder. Accordingly, their samples do cost a little more. I’ve used the paint from both companies and both work well.
I’ve got the carving just about finished on a batch of spoons. Some of the handles will be painted. I’ll take some shots during that process and get a follow-up post together soon.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
Great post, Dave! If anyone is interested in a discount on paint from Real Milk Paint Co, coupon code SRHEARN10 will get you 10% off. Hope this helps someone.
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Thanks!
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Interesting! I am not sure what “milk paint” is?!?
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To add color to a project, I’ve typically used either artist oil paint (linseed paint), inspired by the example of Jögge Sundqvist. Recently, I’ve begun to also use milk paint. Both have unique properties and both (as long as the pigment is considered) are non-toxic.
Artist oil paint is simply a mix of linseed oil and pigment. As the linseed oil cures, it binds the pigment to the substrate. It dries slowly, typically over a few days. This can be advantageous in certain situations such as blending and glazing. Here are just a couple projects I’ve used it for, but there are many other posts as well:
Milk paint relies on milk casein and lime as a binder for the pigment. It dries very quickly, and forms a very hard coat. It is like a very thin plaster wash, given the lime content. So, If I plan to carve through the paint, oil paint would make more sense.
Both can be mixed to various consistencies for different effects — and even in very small amounts.
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Thanks.
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Hi, Just select –> https://milkpaint.com/product/old-fashioned-milk-paint-bundle-8-buy-5-get-1-free
This is a great company, great service, all information needed on their very excellent web site. Happy to hear about the small size for when I am ready to use for my spoons (in progress)! Janie
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David, your examples really show off the milk paint accents that are possible. Your “Spring Inspiration” has awesome detail.
I also need to mention that the two companies links are the same to OFMPC. To go to RMPC I just did a search to find it.
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Thanks, Skip! I’ll fix that link.
The Spring Inspiration spoon was artist oil paint. But a couple of my most recent post of spoons were painted with milk paint. Also my Amy Lowell Green Bowl: https://davidffisher.com/2023/08/16/amy-lowells-green-bowl/
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Your welcome David
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ok can’t wait
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David
What do you do to get a hard edge on the painted handle? Blue tape? Duct tape? Thanks
Rick Brickley
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Rick, for a painted handle I just do a wrap of masking tape around the neck of the spoon. Could be blue painter’s tape or whatever. I think for my last batch of spoons it was Frog Tape brand, their yellow stuff.
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thanks Dave I’ve been wanting to paint some of my spoons but wasn’t sure what to use!
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