Vintage Silver Adds Personality to Decor

Silver adds personality to vintage decor including candelabras, Champagne buckets, vases, coffee and tea service, silverware, and jewelry.

An easy way to add instant personality and character to your decor is to find nostalgic items and intersperse them throughout your room.  Keeping with the same material or theme will create a cohesive look.  Also, make sure the items reflect your personality.  If you love them, as time goes on you will not grow weary of your selections.


Silver adds personality to vintage decor.  Tarnished silver pieces like candelabras, trays, champagne buckets, vases, coffee and tea pots, and water pitchers look great in shabby chic, farmhouse and vintage settings.  The shiny items above are now tarnished because I don't have time nor the inclination to polish silver with regularity. 

Feature a silver tray on a dining room table or coffee table layered with other finds like old books, figurines, votive candles and flowers in a silver vessel.

Add  mixed height candlesticks to a shelf or mantle.  Candelabras are stunning, especially when lit. One of my favorite items is diminutive tea pots with lots of detail work. 
 

These look lovely as flower receptacles tucked in here and there in any room. Consider using them as vases at bridal showers and vintage weddings.  We threw a bridal shower for my niece at the Rose Garden Tea Room at the Huntington Library and Gardens.  Since we were in a beautiful historic garden setting it seemed appropriate to have beautiful flowers in the little tea pots on the tables.  The guests wanted to take the arrangements home when the party was over.  Silver water pitchers are great for flower arrangements too.


Think outside the box and use your silver pieces in unusual ways.  I put my Yorkie Raleigh's dog treats in a silver bowl on my mantle so they are available when he comes in from the backyard. No one knows the treats are there except Raleigh, of course.

Pearl's Cottage has beautiful silver items for sale at Etsy including my favorite mini coffee pots.  https://www.etsy.com/shop/pearlscottage?ref=si_shop

Time to Decorate Your Mantle for Christmas

Consider switching things up this year when you decorate your mantle for Christmas.  Use beautiful items that you have around your home, grouped together, to create a beautiful display.

Consider using like materials for a cohesive look.  Here I have silver plate items that are for sale at Pearl's Cottage's Etsy site coupled with greenery with red accents and some peppermint candies.  My business partner, Michelle, set up these items in just a few minutes.  The pickle castors are my favorite items because they are so detailed in their design and they harken back to a day where pickles were held in high esteem.  Now they are filled with peppermint candies to give them a little holiday cheer.

The other items on the mantle include a mini tea pot, a creamer and a vase that are filled with flowers and greenery.  These beautiful items can stay on a mantle all year by simply removing the holiday themed items.

Rare Antique Pickle Castor

Crystal and glass collectibles including vases, creamers and bowls look pretty grouped together too.  Try milk glass, pottery or whatever items you appreciate

Find greenery and flowers at your local Michael's, Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's stores.  You don't have to spend a lot, just pick up a few things to drape across the mantle and fill your receptacles.

The same decor looks good on a buffet table and dining room table.  How do you plan to decorate your home this Christmas?

Antique Christmas Tree Ornaments

It's time to start thinking about holiday decor and setting the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Each year I like to do things a little differently from the previous year.  A while back I was lucky enough to find and buy hundreds of old glass Christmas tree ornaments.  It is a beautiful collection, from a woman that cherished her holiday decor.  I marvel each year at the beauty of the ornaments and the number of years that have passed since they were made.

It takes me hours to set up the tree and it feels like days to take the ornaments off the tree and put them away.  I love them so much I keep them under my bed for the remainder of the year.  No attic time for these beauties.  One of my favorites is the bird ornaments that clip onto the tree boughs.  They are extremely fragile and so I only have a few of them.

Since I've redecorated my house this year, I'm planning to make a tree skirt out of a drop cloth. I found this one at http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/ruffled-drop-cloth-christmas-tree-skirt.  I like the way the ruffles move from the center to the edge of the skirt.  Drop clothes come in large sizes so it is easy to make a really big skirt without any seams.

Antique ornaments can be found on Ebay and at auctions and estate sales.  It took me more than a year to collect enough to fill the tree.  When I found an abundant, pristine collection at an auction, I was willing to pay whatever it took to make them mine.  My advice is to pass up the beat up ones that you come across.  I bought some because I was happy to finally find them, but in retrospect I shouldn't have wasted the money because they were too scratched up or plain.

Once you have them, be VERY careful because they are delicate.  It is amazing that things can last for a century in someone else's house and then be in dire straights when they get to my house.

Share your holiday decorating ideas with me.  I need some new ideas.

Silver Spoon Jewelry Adds a Special Touch to Christmas Stockings

Cuff bracelet is $63

Great price point, free shipping and complimentary gift wrapping.

Buy on my eBay site.

A few years ago I discovered a company in Los Angeles called Silver Spoon Jewelry that makes great quality jewelry fashioned after silverware from the late 1800's and early 1900's.  It fit in with Pearl's Cottage design and decor so I started carrying the line.  It sold quickly and women were very happy with the feminine look and the length and size proportions.

I have restocked my inventory to have it available for the 2013 holiday season.

Alicia Necklace is $56

Pricing
Necklaces are $56
Rings are $32
Bracelet with charms are $33
Bracelet cuffs are $63
Specialty bracelets are $84

Shipping is free and complimentary gift wrapping, for any occasion, is available.

Charlotte Necklace is $56

The hearts and crosses hanging from rolo or double link chains are perfect for dress up or dress down and they have enough weight to the design that they become a statement piece.

Abigail Cross Necklace is $56

Delilah Cross Necklace is $56

All necklaces come in adjustable 16-18" lengths, pendants are varying sizes and all are silver plate that may need a periodic rub with a silver cloth to keep them shiny.

Rings are super popular with women and girls beginning around age 16.  My daughter likes to wear one on her thumb and two more on other fingers.  The different designs look great mixed together and they are comfortable to wear.  Because the rings are adjustable, they can fit on any finger or thumb.  Be careful that the rings aren't pushed and pulled too much so that they keep their nice round look

Hazel Ring $32 - our best seller

Consider Silver Spoon Jewelry for your holiday gifts.  They are the perfect size for a stocking.  Consider giving a necklace to your son's girlfriend, your best friend, to the woman in your book club, your boss, your mother-in-law, etc.  The rings, bracelets and necklaces make the perfect gifts.

Their most impressive bracelet $84