A new use for silver

I don't know about you but I rarely use those baroque-looking Oneida silver-plated trays I received as wedding gifts. Nor do I have much call for sterling silver toothpick holders these days.
However, I've found the perfect use for these items in my master bathroom -- as perfume trays and makeup brush holders.
Sometimes you just have to look at an object in a new light and view it with a new purpose. My eyeliner pencils and makeup brushes were always getting lost in my makeup drawer. The sterling toothpick holders were the perfect means to store my pencils and brushes so they wouldn't get lost. And the decorative holders with the lion's heads on them are so pretty, you don't mind leaving them out on the counter for display. I keep my cotton balls in an antique glass and silver powder jar and my cutips in a larger glass and sterling jar that may once have held cold cream for some Victorian lady. My barrettes and pins go into an antique Art Nouveau covered jewel box. And they all sit beautifully on a tooled silver tray I was going to throw out because it was taking up too much room in my china cabinet.
Yes, the pieces do occasionally require some polishing. Fortunately, I'm one of those people who don't mind polishing silver. The look is well worth it.