Pickling is a process of creating an aged appearance to wood. It is achieved by mixing some white paint (any white paint will due, some say it's best to use flat white but I didn't find a difference) with a thinning agent like water, linseed oil, or even natural stain to create a thin paint/stain combination. You need to make sure you make enough at one time for the whole project so you can ensure that it will be a uniform color.
Apply the paint/stain combination to the wood wiping with the grain. Put it on liberally, and then wipe it right back off. If you use water you will get some grain raising, you can lightly sand it after the piece drys. Second and third coats can be applied when the wood dries if you want a deeper pickled appearance but the more coats you apply the more grain show through you loose. Always put it on in sections and wipe it back off immediately.
You can further age the appearance by using brown mixed with water, oil, or stain and applying in patches. But wipe it off right after you put it on (even faster then the first coat of the pikcling stain). You can even achieve different effects by substituting colors for the brown (blue, green, red, etc.) Mix these colors the same way with the water, oil, or wood.
Another type of stain is the Driftwood which is a kind of olive greenish color applied to wood (in the same way as above) giving it a kind of moss hue. (I like this one a lot as well).
Here is a great blog that talks about this process. It's where I learned how to do it. You might like to read it for yourself.
http://woodplay.wordpress.com/2009/0...o-pickle-wood/
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