Spring Cleaning Has Started

The last couple of weeks, the weather has been beautiful here. It's made me feel better and energized me to start Spring Cleaning. But it is only February. I have the dreaded yellow pollen season coming up that usually lasts a month. There is no use doing a complete cleaning when yellow, dusty pollen will coat everything.


So I hold off on washing walls, windows, etc. During that pollen season, I won't even open my windows to try and keep as much of that dust out. But there are things that I can do in my Spring Cleaning efforts. Inside closets, cabinets and drawers I can clean. So I got started last week.

I have extensive china and crystal that I've collected over the years. I've purchased some and I've inherited some. I have a set for each season of the year. I have a Winter set, Fall set, Christmas set, Spring set and Summer Set. I also have punch bowl, cups and plates, crystal and silver. I have 4 china cabinets, 2 are built in oak cabinets, in our dining room.




It took me 3 days to take everything out of the china cabinets and wash them. I ran the dishwasher the whole time and I hand washed the stuff that was too delicate or old for the dishwasher.



I polished my silver. As long as it stays in the cabinet, it doesn't tarnish badly. I used to have it on open shelves and I would have to polish the silver every quarter, but since I've put it in a closed cabinet I polish once a year.

Before



After


My Spring Cleaning Lists.

Decorating With Ribbons and Trophies

Horse Show Ribbons

Everyone has received a show ribbon or show trophy at one time or another. Ribbons for horse shows, dog shows, cat shows, fair ribbons, the First Place ribbon from your art project in the 6th grade, baseball tropies, 4H ribbons, a trophy for memorizing scripture or a certificate for no absences in Sunday School in 1992. There are the big trophies like the huge silver trophies for winning a tractor pull or the big crystal bowl for winning the golf tournament. All these mean something to you and your family but what do you do with them!

If you are a professional golfer or football player, you may have a whole room just for your trophies and that's cool. Maybe you have enough for a dedicated show cabinet.

But for the rest of us... how do we display our trophies? If they are flat like ribbons or certificates you can scrapbook them or frame them. If you have a lot, you can get someone to take a photo of you with your trophies and scrapbook them or frame the photo. Children win all kinds of little trophies these days. Some are for nothing more than showing up. This may be good for their self esteem, but do we keep every ribbon, trophy, certificate they ever got? Maybe photos are the way to go in this case. Keep the trophies and display them on the fridge or in their room for a certain length of time, but then take photos and get rid of the little nothing prizes. It becomes too much clutter.



But, there are ways to display the more important things. A once-in-a-lifetime horse show ribbon? How about framing it?


I remember when my sisters were in horse shows and they got so many ribbons. They usually displayed them in their tack room by hanging them around the room like these people did.



I did a Google search on ribbons and trophies and found some unique ways people have saved their trophies and ribbons. And it seems vintage and antique show ribbons and trophies are in demand. Keep in mind these are quality ribbons and trophies, NOT the junk stuff passed out at the neighborhood softball banquet. Real satin and silk show ribbons, sterling or silver plate trophy cups, real crystal cups or bowls... these are great for home decorating. Hey, I never got a sterling silver tennis trophy but I love the art deco look of the trophy cups and they can be used whether they have my name on them or not.

Here are the show ribbon quilts and pillows I found. How cool are they!?!
































I found a few photos that show trophy cups in home decor.



















I noticed that some keep their silver trophies polished and some like the tarnished look. I may suggest a tip with silver... if you like your silver polished, then polish it when it starts turning yellow. It's a lot less difficult to polish it back to a shine. If you wait until it's black with tarnish it's more difficult to shine back up. And polishing is actually removing a layer of silver which eventually takes you back to the original metal of silverplate and will eventually, over a long period of time, make your sterling thin. For more on this check out my post on silver at
http://sharonscrapbook.blogspot.com/search/label/silver

I had some ideas of my own but didn't find a photograph for it. How about a glass box or glass box table filled with those show ribbons?

* Using the show ribbons as tie backs for curtains?

* Using a display side table or display coffee table filled with show ribbons and small trophies?

* Use trophy cups for candles.

* Fill trophy cups with natural items like pine cones, shells, sand, twigs, apples, etc. Group 3 and vary heights to make a trophy vignette.

* Trophy plates and trophy trays displayed on the walls

* Trophy plates and trophy trays used as clocks

* Use trophy cups to hold miniature Christmas trees

* Use small trophies and ribbons on Christmas trees

I hope I've given you some ideas!