Friday, April 27, 2012

SILVER TRAY, THRIFT STORE FIND

Here is an $8 thrift store find from a few years ago that I want to put on the coffee table. It's silver plate and was tarnished beyond belief.  Then, it sat in storage for about 3 years and got even worse.  I got it out recently and this is what it looked like.  I wasn't even sure it would ever turn out like I hoped it would.  So I scrubbed hard the last few days, and this is the result!
I used a toothbrush and scrubbing sponge, soaked it with vinegar and baking soda, and finally rubbed it with SILVER POLISH.  I would NOT recommend vinegar and baking soda for your fine silver, but it's perfect for getting out the small bits of tarnish in a shabby chic piece.  It ended up shiny with the edges and handles still kind of dark, sort of a casual chic.  Next stop, coffee table!

16 comments:

  1. well worth the effort!
    rather nice too

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    1. You know, I "almost" gave up about halfway through cleaning it, I just thought it wasn't salvageable. That's when I thought, well heck if I'm going to just throw it away, why not let the vinegar and baking soda soak for a few hours (something you probably wouldn't want to do to Grandma's silver, ha) and when I started scrubbing, more stuff came off. So this is the end result.

      It is a pretty piece, not real silver of course but still real silver plate and I just like the ornate design, it's a neat contrast to the farm house. But more on that when I get it put on the coffee table.

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  2. Look at you luring me over with shiny objects. ooh.

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    1. LOL! That made me laugh!!! Hey, whatever works, right? :-)

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    2. Why don't you remember the colored lights next time and make it official. ;)

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    3. HA!! I'll see what I can do. ;-)

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  3. Replies
    1. Thank you, it did come out much nicer than I expected but just as pretty as I had hoped, ha.

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  4. Replies
    1. It turned out to be one huh? My only wish is that it was solid silver, dang, why do I never find THOSE deals? Haha. Thanks for commenting!!

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  5. Okay. . .a trick I learned in furniture painting classes. . .spray it with a good coat of lacquer. . .I like the high heat ceramic automotive spray paint! Looks great. . .

    Janice
    FaceBook.com/ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing

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    1. Wow, what a great idea! I never thought about that. Thanks for that tip. I'll check it out!!!

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  6. Replies
    1. I love a thrift store find that can be cleaned up and turned back into something pretty.

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  7. Ok, I'm convinced now, I'm going to shut down this computer and go do some looking at my local thrift stores. I might even go to one I've never been in before.

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    1. It's like a treasure hunt, you just have to search until you stumble across that one thing you can't live without! Good luck!!! :-)

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