Hi Ho Silver.......Away!!!!!

You might think, by the title of this post, since I love horses,  this  might be about one of my favorite childhood TV series - The Lone Ranger!

              

                                          Fooled ya' !!

Thought I'd just jabber on about another favorite thing of mine - vintage silverplate, and old silver.

Gone are the good ol' days, when there was a day of the week designated for polishing the silver- when silver was what you set your table with, not the stainless steel forks and spoons we now purchase at Target.

Real silver, not the silverplate stuff, is still kind of out of my reach pricewise.

But, I LOVE thrift store and rummage sale finds of silverplate, and on occasion, if I am lucky, REAL silver!!

I have my grandmother's very nice silverplate serving spoons and utensils. I have a couple of Great Aunt Taimi's monogrammed shrimp forks, and serving platters.

                                      Monogrammed "K" for Kahkonen and below "C" for Caldwell

I have a weakness for Deco designs, and sometimes the most gaudily ornate mid to late1800's butter knives and jelly or bonbon spoons will catch my eye. A bonbon spoon- can you imagine????!!

Above: a bonbon spoon(or maybe it's a berry spoon) is now a necklace; an English captured faerie wing, Mexican cuff, and bracelet, sterling ring and brooch.

I love to uncover utensils that served a purpose years ago, when now, sometimes only hours of research will yield their extinct name and reason for creation..

I love old silverplate, tarnished and pitted, for repurposing, upcycling, and just plain decoration.

                                                             A pile above awaiting altering............
                                                             a pedestal to be, below.......

                                                
                                              

Much of .925 silver made today, does not, to me, wield the charm of an older piece- whether it be from England, US, or Mexico.
It is fun for me to research the marks, sometimes almost indistinguishable, stamped or incised on the backs or undersides of a newly discovered thrift shop or yard sale score!

I love to use old silverware, mismatched, of course, in a table setting, sometimes with a cast off orphaned vintage dinner plate or teacup of the same era. I often wonder where these might have originally been used, or what years ago dinner party, did these fancy plates and silver pieces grace the table of ?

                                                                   iced tea spoons



A tarnished, ugly and blackened with age spoon, sometimes surprises me, and cleans up to a beautiful glistening piece of silverplate (or with luck- actual SILVER!).

A blackened pedestal in the trash, cleaned up quite nicely to become a jewelry catch-all!

                                    Assorted servers and ladle that cleaned up pretty well

Others that are worn in much used spots,down to the base metal,  are perfect for artsy upcycling, taking on new life as a piece of jewelry or wind chime.
An old silverplate lidless sugar bowl becomes a planter for an African violet. A silverplate pedestal urn is now filled with a miniature array of spring garden plants. A knife is stamped with words of wisdom, or cut and recreated into a candle holder.

 A mid 1800's silver hand mirror (score!) adorns a same century dresser, as a companion to a silver clothing brush. It gives us a glimpse into an era of days gone by...........holding that mirror and gazing into the streaked glass, wondering who before you owned this, their visage stored in the mirror's memory.

                                                closeup of the detail on the hand mirror below

                                
                                             (plant stake/spoon coming soon to my Etsy shop)

It's a treasure hunt that never ends- with a Hi Ho, Silver...............AWAY!!!!

Thrift Store Treasures

Hearing an interview on GMA this morning about hoarders, did not stop me from coming home with another box of treasures, after volunteering at the thrift shop this morning!!! When the hoards start creeping up the stairs, and escaping the basement, then I will start therapy!!!LOL

Just thought I would give you a peek at some of the goodies.

There is a cute teeny, tiny briefcase, which will make a wonderful business card holder, a vintage horse head bookend, an Italian terracotta flowerpot, vintage silverware for altering, a tiny accordion altered booklet, a vintage wooden box, some Chinese postcards, some raspberry starts, a stack of "new" reading material, yet another pottery bowl, dangling lamp crystals for my upcycled china creations, etc, etc..........it was a good day!!!

If truly fascinated, you can click on the photos for a closer look!!!

An Upcycled Easter

Just thought I'd share some of the newest upcycling I've done. Some pieces are available at Julieanna's, some are staying right home with me!!! It is hard to part with things sometimes!!LOL

Close up below of the piece above- vintage silverware, an orphan blue lustreware saucer, and a jam jar. Real eggs and flowers can be substituted- faux eggs and greenery are easier for the shop!

The one above has some local Harry Lauder Walking Stick branches- they will last forever.

 

An ATC from a recent Bad Penny/Linen Shelf swap fits perfectly with the Easter theme.

                                      Vintage silver goblets and candlesticks have a new use.

                This is my favorite little thrift store bunny - he looks like a piece of molded chocolate.

                                                   This last one is waiting for the glue to dry!!



               Even tho it is POURING outside today (again!)- this is a sure sign that spring IS here!!!

"New" Stuff

Put together some new inventory for Julieanna's- I should get busy and put some of it in my Etsy shop. At least, in Julieanna's, I know it is selling!!!LOL

I like playing around with orphaned, vintage pieces of china or cutlery- giving them new life, altering them into something else functional, quirky, or cute. 

I was making these business card holders out of vintage silverware, and Julie suggested I make a set- for place card holders. Great idea!!
Another great idea from "anon", Lennie- use them for an easel for a tiny piece of art! I think these would be great to display mini paintings, ATC's, zentangles , maybe even twinchies!

Here they are:

The place card holders kind of look like a piece of odd art just stacked together!

ABAA's Latest Challenge

Completed another one - woohoo!!! Got out of my sick bed, and got a little creative.I actually did 3 pieces of vintage cutlery, and one vintage wood napkin holder( I will show that later).
Patty from Magpie's Nest, http://www.bitze.wordpress.com, is the guest artist, so , of course, I had to give this challenge a try!! Linda and Rosie at ABAA are coming up with some great challenges.
I don't have a DH to bend the cutlery for me - well, I have a DH, but he just had wrist surgery, so bending cutlery one handed doesn't quite work!! So, I did what I could.
One ice tea spoon is waiting in the wings for its paint to dry - when it does, I'll post that pic also.
I decided to see how painting them would work - I kind of like it. These pictures don't really do it justice tho.
The flower fairy has bent tines with tiny flowers on the end, a leftover scrap of paper for her hat,velvet leaf, and her face is an image from Art Chix. I spray painted the fork,and hand painted over the fork's floral design.

The ' butterflies' serving spoon had been flattened and holes drilled by DH prior to his surgery!! The face is another Art Chix image, sculpy butterfly charm,glass beads, vintage faux pearls from a broken necklace, and vintage rhinestone paste adorn the spoon.

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Don't forget - 3 more days to enter my Spring Giveaway drawing - don't forget!!!!
See previous post!!!