Heirloom Silver

One of the things Mom gave me recently was a pile of silver pieces that we had won as awards back in the days when we were exhibiting cattle at fairs and shows.  I think all of it is silver-plate and all of it was badly tarnished.  I hated to see it go to Goodwill or somewhere like that but I also hated the thought of polishing all of it and had no idea where I would store it especially since we were consolidating or getting rid of all the things in the basement to make room for Mike's mother to move in.

For a while it sat in a stack on an extra chair and I simply ignored it.  Then, I set it down inside the flour/corn meal bin to get it out of sight.  Then, one day back in the summer I ran across a post by Ann Drake at the blog On Sutton Place.  She made cleaning silver seem more approachable than it had been years ago when Mom would have us use an old T-shirt, stinky silver polish, and lots of rubbing and scrubbing so that the pieces could be used for a friend's bridal shower or wedding reception.  So, I decided to give her How to Clean Silver Naturally method a try.

I am a believer in Ann's method!  Oh, there was still a good bit of rubbing and polishing required but I think maybe that was because the pieces were so tarnished.  All of them had so much tarnish that they had a black look to them like the bowls stacked above.  I know that tarnished silver as decoration is quite trendy right now, but, like Ann, I really like the shine of the silver when it is cleaned up.  In the center of each tray and on the side of each bowl is engraved something like Champion and the year - most of them are from the 1980s.

As you can see, they all cleaned up pretty well!  I took just a couple of pieces at a time and placed them in the hot water, baking soda, salt, aluminum foil solution and let them soak for about ten minutes.  Some pieces got soaked twice.  Then, I took a little toothpaste and worked on the places where tarnish was still clinging.  A quick rinse with hot water, dry with a soft towel, and I set them on the table to dry - and easily admire.

 The clean pieces sat on the table for a couple of days while I tried to think of where to store them.  I decided that I wanted to try to put as much of it to use as possible.  I don't mind using the trays to corral things or draw attention to a collection since I think it will be fairly easy to clean now.

One tray went to the guest bath as seen above to corral a wax scent burner/night light, a mug for the grands' toothbrushes, a crock with lavender sugar scrub, lotion, and a candle.  Later, I thought the size of it would be better for another little collection and was replaced by an oval one that can be seen in the corner of this photo.  (You can also see how I added a little bit of fall to the guest bath with that ceramic pumpkin.)

The smaller round one went into the front guest bedroom to corral my childhood blue and white tea set - or what is left of it.

One tray went to the den to corral a trio of items on the ottoman/coffee table.  I did a bit of a switcheroo and used a little larger tray later.

The larger tray fit well on the ottoman/coffee table.  So, I had to do a bit of thinking to decide what to do with the one that was here.  It was a bit older and was awarded for a different reason than having a fine cow.

That tray is one that I won as a showmanship award the year I graduated high school.  I teased my daughter-in-law that I was going to give it to her for Christmas along with my high school drape portrait.  Instead, the tray got moved to the kitchen.  I put a command hook on the back to loop a burlap ribbon through and hung it on the front of the china cabinet.  The bay leaf wreath that was hanging there had started to look faded and tired because it was so dry.  I liked the look of the greenery hanging there.  So, I moved a preserved boxwood wreath there but it just lacked substance.  Rather than going out and buying a larger preserved boxwood wreath, I think the silver tray added the bulk that was needed.  Plus, it added a bit of sparkle to the front of the cabinet.  I simply wrapped a piece of twine around the boxwood wreath and hung it down in front of the tray.

Some of the other trays are scattered around the house and used to group a few items together and a little narrow one sits on the base of the china cabinet and holds a twig pumpkin right now.  The juxtaposition of the shiny silver and the rustic natural twig pumpkin looks nice.

If you look closely into the china cabinet, you can see that I have four of the smaller trays propped up in the four corners of the cabinet behind a china plate.  The little bowls are stacked inside the cabinet as well because I couldn't think of a purposeful way to use them right now.  At some point, maybe I will, though and knowing that they are pretty easy to clean makes me not be concerned about them just adding a little sparkle to the kitchen.

It makes me smile a little bit that I could come up with a practical use for something like a silver tray award.  So, my 'heirloom silver' that was awarded to us for having outstanding cattle once again has a part in our life.  And maybe when the time comes for the grands to honor their friends with bridal showers or use at wedding receptions, we can easily clean it up and make it purposeful as well as sparkly and pretty!