I've been wanting one of these in my kitchen for ages. It took painting the walls for me to finally get around to making a recycled silverware wall hook for drying herbs.

Up until now, I've been hanging harvested bundles of fresh herbs from nails in my basement storage room. Far more convenient having them hang in the kitchen where they can be used for cooking fresh or dried.

Kitchen Wall Hooks For Drying Herbs

Several years ago I found a bin filled with natural wood house plaques on clearance for 35 cents each and you bet I grabbed the whole lot. I have one more left after this and I'll be sharing that project soon.

I've used these plaques for handmade gifts, a kitchen apron hanger, and a key and sunglasses organizer for our back door. It wasn't until recently that I realized it could be used for the herb drying rack that I've been longing for.

I also remembered I had a set of silverware that came with the flatware chest from Goodwill that I turned into a festive Christmas box last year. I grabbed the spoons and recycled them into spoon hooks for the herb dryer. I'll show you how easy they are to make further down in the post.

I wish I had smell-o-vision because the aroma coming from the herb rack is wonderful and making me kind of hungry. You may remember back in early June I started the plants in this upcycled herb garden caddy.

I made the Fresh Cut Herbs graphic in Cricut Design Space with white permanent vinyl. I'll provide a link further down in the tutorial if you'd like to upload the graphic to use.

I know you all are very observant and probably thinking, "Marie, that isn't rosemary hanging on that hook", and you'd be correct. I labeled a hook for rosemary because I grow it every summer but for some reason this year I couldn't find any. I planted Stevia for the first time and hung it to dry on the hook instead.

This is the second batch of fresh-cut herbs I've dried this summer and I'm quite enjoying having them dry in the kitchen. Our kitchen is very small so to have a convenient wall mount drying rack hung on the side of our pantry doesn't take up valuable real estate.

Plus every time we walk into the kitchen we are blessed with a whiff of fresh herbs and what's not to love about that.

Here's How I Made It

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Step 1 - Painting The House Plaque

Here's how I made the herb drying rack starting with the repurposed house plaque (similar style). While I didn't mind the carved lines at the top and the wood applique, I didn't want the oval detail in the middle. It took a few layers of wood filler to cover the deep groove but I like it much better without.

The plaque is painted the same Behr Premium Plus latex Mined Coal (PPU-18-18) color that we used on the DIY farmhouse lantern sconces in the dining room and the oversized farmhouse wall clock above the fireplace in the living room.

Step 2 - Recycled Silverware Hooks 

Recycling spoons into herb drying hooks is quite easy. You'll need an old sock or t-shirt, a sledgehammer, a wooden dowel, small bar clamps, and herculean strength.

I should note that you'll want to use a softer more pliable silver plated spoon rather than hard stainless steel.

1. Place a spoon inside of an old sock or t-shirt folded over twice.
2. With the spoon face down, hammer it flat with the flat end of a sledgehammer.
3. Flip the sock over to flatten the spoon on the other side as well.
4. Set a 1-inch dowel onto a work table and clamp it in place.
5. Slip the spoon underneath the dowel with the good side of the handle facing down.
6. With herculean strength bend the handle around the dowel to form the hook. The good side of the handle will now be facing you.
7. Line up the next spoon so it will bend at the same spot on the handle as the previous spoon.
8. Repeat until you have all five spoons bent.
9. Next, drill a hole on the top and bottom of each spoon with a small 1/8 drill bit.
10. Last but not least label each spoon with black permanent vinyl, an alternative to hand-stamped letters. In Cricut Design Space press the images tab and search the names of each herb. You'll find these subscriber readymade options and upload them into your design space project. Next, resize each one to the same 0.362 height, based on fitting the longest word on a spoon. Keeping them the same height makes all the labels look a uniform size.
11. I'm not going to lie, weeding those little tiny labels was a bit of a pain, even with a Cricut weeding tool. Use Cricut transfer paper to rub them onto each spoon.

Step 3 - Adding The Fresh Herb Graphic

While I had my Cricut Maker set up I went ahead and made the Fresh Cut Herb graphic with white permanent vinyl. If you'd like to use the graphic just click on the image below for a link to the project in Cricut Design Space.

Step 4 - How To Give It An Aged Patina

After transferring the graphic on the top half of the herb rack, I sealed it with two coats of Dixie Belle Matte Clear Coat that I had on hand. Once it was dry I went over the painted plaque with dark wax using a small round wax brush.

I brushed the wax over the painted wood and the white vinyl letters, removing the excess wax with a lint-free rag. This deepened the color and toned down the glossy white vinyl letters. Next, I applied just a little more of the dark wax along the edges of the wood for a time-worn patina (see the photo below).

Step 5 - Attach The Spoons

The final step is attaching the spoon hooks to the wood plaque. Space each hook evenly across the bottom and attach them with small upholstery tacks or nails.

If you like the idea of having an herb drying rack but don't want to make one, here are some readymade ideas that you might like.

If you have any questions about this wall mount herb drying rack tutorial, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this herb drying idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your DIY Wall Hooks or Herb Garden Ideas board on Pinterest.

I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.