My mother used to pickle wood frames by rubbing white artist's oil paint into the wood grain, but the frames were unfinished wood.

I did a crackle glaze on one that turned out nice. I will try to post a picture when I get home. I bought the crackle glaze at home depot. First I primed the frame, then painted with some left over tan wall paint. When that's dry you paint on the crackle glaze and let it dry. Then you top it off with a lighter color. I used white as my top coat. The glaze causes the white to pull apart in a crackle pattern and the darker first coat shows through.

suero - my frames are finished (w/ some metallic) but I kind of think you method would still work on them.

artlover - sounds wonderful! I hope that you can find the time to post pics. I'm ready to start on these frames this week.

Does anyone think that off-white/cream would NOT work on these frames?

I've antiqued a lot of my frames, but I tend to go darker instead of lighter, Jynxed. Either way, the process is basically the same. To get the look you want, I'd try painting the frame with a creamy white acrylic paint . . . or chalk white if you prefer. The kind you can buy at HL or Michaels.

When the paint is totally dry, pour a bit of antiquing medium or even a bit of Raw Umber mixed with an acrylic glaze medium (you get that right where you buy the white paint); brush it onto a section of the frame, making sure to get it into every crevice. Wait about 30 seconds and ~ with a small, soft dry rag, start wiping off the antiquing paint, leaving some in the crevices. See how you like that look. You can add more to adjust the color or wipe off more to get the look you want. If you wait too long, it'll be harder to get off, although the antiquing medium is formulated to dry slowly for just that purpose. A damp rag can get off a bit that's too dark. Work in 6-12" long sections, depending on how much detail you have on the frame itself. Some of the larger, more ornately carved frames are best worked in 4-6" sections.
Here's one they called a Shabby Chic frame, although I doubt it came from one of their stores! I painted, antiqued and then used a bit of Rub-N-Buff on it to get this finished look.
Lynn
Before:
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After.I actually went back and antiqued the gold inner frame after I took this pic. The flash is making it look a brighter gold that it really is.
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Nice transformation, Lynn.

My color blind DH bought some 8"x10" picture frames. They were made of a "rough" type of wood in a not too pretty moss color. No matter what pictures I put in them they looked awful. I lightly painted them with some leftover white paint and took some sand paper to them when the paint had dried. It was the first time that I had tried this and I got the shabby, beachy look that I wanted. Good luck!

Your before pic is exactly what I'm going for! I'm headed off to Michael's and will post pics this weekend. Thanks for all your help!

Finally got a chance to post photos of the shabby chic frame I painted using Laura Ashley Sand3 undercoat and flat white top coat with crackle glaze:

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Color on this one is off, but shows the detail a little better:
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Great job on the shabby chic frame. I have the crackle stuff but have not used it yet. Any hints?