Happy Friday! I don’t know about you, but I am really excited about this weekend. We don’t even have any major plans but this first week back to school was pretty busy and I am just excited about reconnecting with the family unit. With our August Sweet Clover sale over already, the kids back in school, and Chris having a busy work week, I felt sort of like a deer in headlights this week. There were plenty of things I could do, but I was just frozen, unsure of what my next move should be. Have you ever been there? So I just remained pretty aimless, and worked in all sorts of directions- organizing cabinets, shuffling furniture, painting a dresser, restyling my kitchen shelves for Fall. That last one let me to today’s post because I have this cute little wooden box shaped like an apple with a brass lid. The lid was tarnished and speckled, so I decided to reach for Barkeeper’s Friend, a product I always have on hand to clean my stainless steel sink as well as my glass cooktop. It worked so well that I wanted to share with you how to make aged brass look new again, and with very little investment, time, or effort.This little apple box stores all of our chalk, and I love that it keeps it out of sight, stowed away in a cute accessory. And of course, with Fall around the corner, an apple is a great seasonal touch. It’s lid was a mess though, tarnished and mottled. Next to the lovely warm wood it looked terrible.
I pulled out Barkeeper’s Friend and tested a small area to see how it would work. I dampened a paper towel (any rag or cloth will work), and sprinkled some Barkeeper’s Friend, a powdery substance, into a little dish. (When I am cleaning my stovetop or sink I sprinkle it right onto the surface, but with the shape and size of this apple box lid, this method worked better.) I dipped the damp towel into the powder and then ran it in little circles on the brass lid. Here is a look at what happened after just about 5 seconds.Amazing, right? I finished the entire lid, repeating the dampen, dip, rub method. When I was finished, I took a clean cloth and wiped off any residue and film. I had never seen brass so shiny- or at least since the late 1980’s brass fixture movement. That leaf really catches the light now.
The apple looks right at home on my Fall shelves, which I will be sharing in a couple of weeks. For now here’s a little peek at that.
Of course, I couldn’t stop there. If you know me, you know that there are so many other brass pieces in my house that were just waiting to be revitalized. Recently I had contemplated selling my precious brass deer… They’ve been happily living on my hearth for quite some time now. To refresh your memory, here they are just a couple months ago.
I repeated the same method I used on the apple lid on these guys, and now I am so glad I hadn’t brought myself to sell them. They’re striking, thanks to Barkeeper’s Friend. Also, as you can see, I haven’t changed my mantle at all; at least I still have fresh flowers.Now that I see these two photos together, the difference is dramatic! I can’t tell who’s shinier- the deer or the disco ball?They’ve literally got a glint in their eyes now. And ears. And tails.There are still a couple of little spots I need to spend more time in, but overall this was a ridiculously easy way to make my vintage brass look new again. And little brass candlestick on my shelf, I am looking at you next. Nothing is safe from Barkeeper’s Friend. The moral here is that with a little bit of love and sometimes help from a friend, we can all find our sparkle again, right? I know I’ve been looking for my own, so maybe this easy little task was a great reminder to me.
Hope you shine brightly and have a fantastic weekend!
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