I’m hooked! Tarnished Silver….

My good friend Denise of Vintage Gardens has the most amazing collection of old tarnished silver. The more she shares her photos, the more I had to get a few pieces for myself!

Now mind you, I never in a million years would have thought I’d bring silver into my house. As a kid, anytime my brother and I had a huge fight, mom would drag out the silver and make us sit there and polish it. (Amazingly this happened every time the club girls were coming for cards…Just saying mom…LOL!) And boy, did I hate to polish silver!! I was never going to have any in my house when I grew up!

And pretty much over the years I stuck to that. I did pick up a few odd bread plates which I quickly sold at my garage sale so I didn’t have to polish it. But now, thanks to Denise I know I don’t have to have sparking shiny silver! It’s just as beautiful with tarnish as it is freshly polished!

So why you ask, am I showing you a picture of sparkling sliver? Okay, old habits die hard. I just couldn’t put it out that way! And I have an easier way of cleaning it then just regular silver polish.

What I do is line my sink with a large piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on it. Then I lay the silver pieces on top of it.


Add boiling water to cover. But watch out. It produces a lot of steam and a stinky rotten egg smell! Ventilate you kitchen well if you try this!


Roll the pieces with a plastic utensil if the water doesn’t cover it all. Leave them soak for about 15 minutes or until you don’t see them getting any cleaner. (Add cold water to cool so you can pick them up.) You can repeat this until they come out almost clean, but getting the majority of the tarnish off with the first step makes polishing extremely easy.


I finish off with a very quick polish using SemiChrome. It does a great job and its easy since the hot baking soda bath did most of the work. Here’s the finished product! My mom’s silver that I hated to polish 30 years ago is now mine! Thank you mom, I now love it!



And I’ve added a few more pieces from the local thrift store.


I just love the detail on this piece!


So there’s my new little collection. I don’t think I’ll let it get any bigger. But I will let it tarnish now. Hey, it’s easy enough to clean if I don’t like it, right? LOL! And as soon as I place them around my house, I’ll take more pictures to share.

It's Friday Flea Market time again!

As promised I’m offering a few items at 50% savings, but today only!!

First is this wonderful cottage pink enamelware covered pot! Such a great shade of pink!

To purchase, click picture
Was $37.00, Now only $18.50!

Also included in Friday Flea Market’s January savings is this stunning Madeira organdy cocktail napkin and wine glass slipper coaster set. It’s really is beautiful!

To purchase, click picture
Was $40.00, Now only $20.00!!

And the deal of the day, this gorgeous tropical mint with tag vintage Vicray tablecloth! It’s a beauty!


To purchase, click picture
Was $50.00, Now only $25.00!!



And don’t forget to visit all the wonderful blog sellers at Friday Flea Market!

January Fun at Friday Flea Market!!

January is such a cold, dark month where I live. So to add some fun to this dreary winter The Cozy Cottage will be offering at least two items at 50% off at each Friday Flea Market in January! Make sure you stop in at the The Cozy Cottage every Friday because you’ll never know what bargain awaits you!

And I want to spice it up even more. In addition to Friday Flea Market specials, I’ll select random days in January to offer additional items at 50% off. But only for the day! You won’t want to miss out, so please visit our blog and The Cozy Cottage often!

I want to thank Becky Up The Hill for her beautiful pink rose photograph. Becky not only is a wonderful gardener, she is a talented photographer! I always love when she shares her pictures! Thanks Becky!

It’s a HAPPY NEW YEAR sale at The Cozy Cottage!

Happy New Year my friends! Thank you for making my first year blogging and selling at The Cozy Cottage so much fun! To start the year off with a bang, I’m offering 30% off your entire purchase! Just type in coupon code: HAPPYNEWYEAR at the check out. The offer is good until January 2, 2009, so hurry for the best selection.

I’m planning lots of exciting things for 2009. A big surprise concerning the Friday Flea Market category will be announced soon! So please stop back, I know you won’t want to miss this!

I wish you all a blessed and healthy 2009! May it be filled with love, family, friends, and a cozy cottage home.

~Holly

Collectible Christmas Compacts & Solid Perfumes

I love compacts in themes and Christmas is no exception. But I haven’t seen very many. I know Coty made a jingle bell compact. It’s wonderful and I don’t have it in my collection – yet! Many companies advertised compacts for Christmas gift giving, but I don’t know of very many specifically made in a Christmas theme.

Here is a pretty colorful poinsettia vintage compact from my collection. It’s an Elgin American with 14kt gold plate. The poinsettia are etched and colored in pink, blue, and gold. Has a gorgeous swirl with an area for a monogram.





While I’m not 100% sure this compact was made as a Christmas compact, I include it as so in my collection. It reminds me of a Shiny Brite ornament. Gorgeous burgundy color, round ball, by Henrietta. It’s a favorite of mine regardless of its actual theme!





And here is a contemporary powder compact from Estee Lauder that I just think is so sweet! My kids gave it to me for Christmas last year. It’s a letter to Santa Claus with Estee Lauder in the post mark.



I also have a few Christmas themed Estee Lauder solid perfumes.

Here is the rocking horse and the gingerbread house.



These are so very cute and were also Christmas and birthday presents from my kids last year. A snowman snow globe and a darling jingle bell that really rings!



Here are a few winter themed solid perfumes. I love their sparkling rhinestones! There is a darling polar bear and a mommy penguin with her baby.



And my very favorite, a rhinestone snowman! LOVE THIS GUY!



Hope you enjoyed seeing my Christmas vanity collection! Merry Christmas!

Wanna see what a happy Coonhound looks like????

Ahhhh....life is good…..

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Today started out with fluffy white flakes that quickly turned to pouring ice rain. What a mess! I decided not to venture out, but instead built a cozy fire. My ol’ coonhound baby slept most of the day away on the snowman hearth rug, all snuggy warm. I baked cookies and pumpkin bread while sipping tea. Oh, a cozy day it was!

We’re having a quiet Christmas this year. So I didn’t put up as many trees as I usually do. With all my kids in basketball we’re hardly home and unable to entertain this year. But I did put up the main traditional tree with all the kids ornaments and a few sweet little vignettes for me! Here’s a peek at a few:

This is from my family room.



My feather tree with a few vintage ornaments and garland, snowmen from Victorian Trading Co. and Martha Stewart pink glitter candy canes.



And my good friend Becky from Up The Hill gave me the scoop on where to find this cutie!



This was my indulgence this year! I wish I could have taken better pictures as it’s so beautiful! When the candles warm up, the silver and multi-colored glitter float in the candlesticks. It’s so eye catching!





From my living room are a few of my Teena Flanner figurines. I’m so charmed by these, I think I may need to add more to my collection!