I’ve been toying with decorating ideas and am really getting into rooms with silver accents. I was at the thrift store last week and I found these wonderful silver plates. 
I’ve seen a lot of neat ideas on Pinterest using these plates. Here are a few of my favorites:
Anyway, I picked up these four plates from the thrift store for about $10 — what a steal! The only downside was that the plates were filthy. You can’t quite see it in the first photo, but every single plate was tarnished. I had silver jewelry wipes, so I wiped down the frames a bit. That helped, but it didn’t quite do the trick. So, I bought silver polish at Target and scrubbed away. 
This stuff is very easy to use. Squirt it directly onto a silver surface or into a paper towel, then rub until the tarnish comes off. Take a clean paper towel and remove excess polish. 
Check out the difference: 
After I buffed the polish off, I washed the trays with dish soap and hot water. Wipe the water off, and the tray is as good as new. Here’s the tray all cleaned up:
Depending on how I decide to use this plate, I might try and buff out the scratches using my new dremel.
Look at how nicely this one cleaned up:
It sure does make for a pretty display tray. I wonder how I’ll use it?
A Smith of All Trades 