Updating an Old Serving Platter
I recently stopped by a local yard sale and found the proverbial diamond in the rough! Buried at the bottom of a box under balls of newspaper and some sad looking wicker baskets was an old silver serving platter that had been left sitting somewhere to tarnish. Today was this poor beauties day of new birth! I had plans for him...
Cleaning it up
This poor tarnished platter desperately needs some love! We had some silver polish at home that would do the trick! The directions says to use two soft clean towels. One to clean and the other to shine..
Just apply a generous amount to one towel and rub the polish into the metal surface in a circular pattern. It did not have any markings on it to confirm that it was silver, so, I started on the back side of the platter just to be safe.
I was really surprised at how easily the tarnish came up!
It looks so much better!
The front side shined up pretty well, too!
Use the clean towel to remove the residue from the polish.
But there was still plenty of evidence of neglect left around the edges that wouldn't budge.
This was just the prep stage anyway, now on to the next step!
Priming
I used Rust-Oleum clean metal primer to cover the whole thing. It needs plenty of time to dry before you flip it over to do the other side. But you can cut out a lot of time if you have a way to safely hang it up and paint it.
Painting
I didn't have a way to hang mine, and I was impatient, so after some unfortunate smudging, here it is! Every girl needs a little hot pink in her life right?!
I used Valspar's Paint + Primer Premium Finish spray paint.
Allow this to dry, and air out that spray paint smell, overnight
Aging
Now to give it the finishing touch with some antiquing gel from the Valspar line!It says to use a cotton cloth for this but I thought that some cotton balls might do just as well.
Valspar products can be found at your local Lowe's store!
After shaking the bottle well I just dabbed a cotton ball in the cap and smeared it all over top of the engraved areas to get it in all the crevices! |
| (Extra cool points if you know what H.E.B. is!) |
When I was satisfied I used a clean cotton ball and applied some rubbing alcohol to it. Squeeze it out so it isn't sopping wet.
Then I lightly rubbed the surface to get all the excess off of the raised areas. (I only wanted the engraving to have the color in it) This took some time to perfect. I had to go back over a few places with more antiquing gel. But, I finally got the look I was going for!
Here is a close up!
This little beauty is going to be used as a prop for my daughter's birthday party.
It will hold the tea pot, creamer, and sugar cubes!
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After the party it could be used for:
Catch-all on a vanity
or
Display some trinkets and picture frames on a bookshelf
or
As part of a centerpiece for your coffee table
NOTE:
*It would NOT be safe to eat directly off of this platter!*
Stay tuned for pictures of this platter in action at the party!
Until Next Time,
What would you use this piece for?
Let me know in the comments!
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