Week 12 ~ Diamonds In The Rough!

Diamonds In The Rough! is my weekly feature, where I show you the treasures that I find from garage sales, thrift stores and antique stores.

Here goes...

I know what you are thinking..."What is she gonna do with that?". I just thought it was cool. It's very large and made of some kind of plastic foam. It will be mounted on the house...I think. It was only $4 so what the heck!

This $1 handled frame will become a beautiful French tray next week!

Helpful Hint ~ Removing Veneer

I just discovered an easy way to remove old veneer from furniture when it cannot be saved. My friend, Gail told me about this when I was showing her some furniture that I was working on. Remember this piece that I just purchased at a garage sale and showed you in my Diamonds In The Rough! week 4 feature? (You can check that out HERE)

The top looked like this...

I could not repair this due to the extreme damage. Gail said, "Just use your heat gun!"

So, with my trusty heat gun and a putty knife, I was able to remove the veneer in about 20 minutes, even the parts that were really stuck on well! Removing veneer had never been so easy before.

I just thought that those of you, who love to fix up old tired pieces of furniture like I do, would appreciate knowing this handy hint. Thanks Gail.


Now I bet you can't wait to see the finished project...just give me a week and I should have it done to show you the reveal!

NOTE: You should be able to click on most of the pictures to enlarge to see further details.
These parties I love to link up to or check out my Blog Parties tab
Party Time @ It's So Very Cheri
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch
Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple
Creative Blogger's Party @ Homemaker On A Dime
Making The World Cuter @ Making The World Cuter
Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle 
Twice Owned Tuesday @ House Of Grace
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Time to Shine Tuesday @ A Diamond in the Stuff 
Tuesday Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia 
Trash 2 Treasure @ Sassy Sites
Power Of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Swing Into Spring Wednesday @ DIY by Design
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Piece of Work Wednesday @  Primitive & Proper
Good Life Wednesday @ A Beach Cottage
Open House Thursday @ No Minimalist Here
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
100 Ideas Under $100 @ Beyond The Picket Fence
Show And Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
Remodelaholic Friday @ Remodelaholic
Frugal Friday @ Shabby Nest
Look What I Found Friday @ Vintage Revivals
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground
Weekend WrapUp Party @ Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Strut Your Stuff @ The Saturday Morning Blog
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal 
Sunday Showcase Party @ By Stephanie Lynn 
Sundae Scoop Weekend Wrap Up Party @ I love Nap Time 
Before and After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick

Silver Tray ~ Garage Sale Find!

First, I must say that people always are surprised when visiting my home and find out that the majority of my decor is from garage sales and thrift stores. Goes to show you that you don't have to be rich to have really nice things and beautiful decor. 

Remember this silver tray from my first Diamonds In The Rough post? See it down there in the lower part of this picture?

You can't tell it by this picture, but it was tarnished. No, not badly but it was tarnished all the same. Recently, I saw a blog site that had a post on how to easily clean silver. Cindy over at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home talked about putting aluminum foil in the bottom of the sink. Pour in hot water and 4 tablespoons of this product...

for every gallon of hot water. Then set your sterling silver in the water on the foil and a chemical reaction happens. Within about 5 minutes or so, you have a clean silver product without the hard work. Just rinse and wipe dry with a rag or paper towel. You don't want to use a good towel because some black tarnish will come off with drying the item and you don't want to ruin your good hand towels.  Anyway, I tried this solution on the tray and it worked really well. I will be cleaning all my silver this way from now on. I found the Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda in the laundry detergent aisle of our local WalMart.

After cleaning the tray and believe it or not for a joke, I served my hubby breakfast on the tray saying, "Don't ever say I haven't served you on a silver platter!" LOL

I decided to use the tray AND the white tureen (in the garage sale items picture too) as decor on my kitchen bar...what do you think? Pretty good for only $3 from a garage sale. (The tureen was $5) Ah, another Diamond In The Rough!

If you want to learn about the decoupage eggs, click HERE to see that post.

NOTE: You should be able to click on most of the pictures to enlarge to see further details.
These parties I love to link up to or check out my Blog Parties tab
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps On The Porch
Make It For Monday @ Cottage Instincts
Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Making The World Cuter @ Making The World Cuter
Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle 
Twice Owned Tuesday @ House Of Grace
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Time to Shine Tuesday @ A Diamond in the Stuff 
Tuesday Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia 
Trash 2 Treasure @ Sassy Sites
Power Of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Swing Into Spring Wednesday @ DIY by Design
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Piece of Work Wednesday @  Primitive & Proper
Good Life Wednesday @ A Beach Cottage
Open House Thursday @ No Minimalist Here
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
100 Ideas Under $100 @ Beyond The Picket Fence
Show And Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed
Remodelaholic Friday @ Remodelaholic
Frugal Friday @ Shabby Nest
Look What I Found Friday @ Vintage Revivals
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground
Weekend WrapUp Party @ Tatertots and Jello
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Strut Your Stuff @ The Saturday Morning Blog
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different, Act Normal 
Sunday Showcase Party @ By Stephanie Lynn 
Sundae Scoop Weekend Wrap Up Party @ I love Nap Time 
Before and After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick