Thrifty & Chic: Wire Baskets

23 Comments

I’ve been on the hunt for good accessories & organizational containers for my studio with great success. I’ve been able to square away the bulk of my crafting supplies in Ikea’s Expedit & wire basket units, but I want some pretty storage for the little things like string & receipts & small papers. While thrifting a week or two ago, I found this wire circular basket & thought it was pretty darn rad.

As I wandered further down the aisle, I found this square one.

As I wandered even further still, I found the flower one.

Sweet! A collection of pretty wire baskets, all for 75¢ each. I’m pretty sure they’re silver since a few of them are tarnished & have that silver look. I’ve considered cleaning them, but I’m much too lazy to go out & buy silver polish. Does anyone have any home remedies for polishing silver?

I’m really excited about my little collection of wire baskets. I’ve put the circular one downstairs in our kitchen to catch the incoming mail & I’m keeping the other two in my studio for storing whatever I see fit. Have you found any good deals lately? Leave your links in the comments.

view or add a comment
  • Categories
    1. Stephanie says:

      what a great find!

      toothpaste is an easy substitute for silver polish – we use it every year to shine up our Christmas tree star!

    2. Nicia says:

      Those are super cute!

    3. Anita says:

      Line a large (enough to hold your dish and water to cover) non-reactive dish with aluminum foil, add a quarter cup of baking soda, Put your silver dishes in and then pour in enough boiling water to cover.
      This actually reverses the oxidization rather than rubbing it off (when you do that you’re actually removing a layer of silver.)

    4. Ana says:

      I was going to tell you exactly the same thing as Anita, it works like magic!

    5. Kristy says:

      Oh my gosh! I found the same flower styled basket at a thift store! I had no idea that it came with two matching pieces! I’ve heard the baking soda and aluminum foil trick too, but have tried it yet. Maybe I’ll give that a try ;)

      I’ll let ya know how it works :)

    6. Those are so cute. I can’t believe they were only 75 cents each!

    7. tiffany says:

      hi-larious! i have the round and flower one from my thrift store all the way here in ga! i don’t have the square one though. that would have been cool to have the set. what are you putting in it?

    8. I can’t believe you found an entire matching set at the thrift store! I love the shapes, especially the square and round.

    9. Sarah Jane says:

      Love these Melissa. They are bomb.

    10. Kim says:

      I use Nevr-Dull on our silver and it works great. I recommend using gloves with them. The smell is hard to get off skin and probably not good for it either.
      http://www.nevrdull.com/

    11. Amy Lou says:

      Those are gorgeous! Such great finds. My recent find was a box full of vintage cameras. Here’s the post about it… http://inspirecreatebake.blogspot.com/2010/10/instamatic-fun.html

    12. Jenn says:

      Easiest way to clean silver: put a layer of aluminum foil in the bottom of a bowl– well the sink in your case — add some baking soda and hot water. Let the silver soak for a while then wipe them dry. Takes the tarnish right off!

    13. Becky says:

      Ketchup works really well on silver! It’s acidic, but not too harsh.

    14. Kim says:

      Toothpaste (not the gel type) also work really well!

    15. Meredith says:

      I was going to say toothpaste, but I might be a boiling water (etc) convert now! Sounds much more scientific :)

      Loving your finds! The shapes of those baskets are unique enough that you might consider hanging them on the wall in a series one day.

    16. kim says:

      I’ve used salt and foil this way: http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/things/jewelry/how-to-clean-silver-jewelry/ and it has worked for me every time! It’s so easy!!!

    17. Michelle says:

      Great finds! love when you end up finding things that go together :)

      here are my recent goodies.
      http://livinprettysimple.blogspot.com/2010/11/good-finds.html

    18. […] to practice his guitar on, but no luck. I did however find a heart shaped wire basket to add to my collection & a pair of sweet white leather saddle-style shoes for Penelope for […]

    19. No joke. I have one of these it was $1.98

    20. Oh my goodness! I have two of the scalloped wire baskets, I got them for a wedding gift… 11 years ago! They have literally been sitting in my pantry for the last seven years! Thanks for this post, now they will be put to good use! :)

    mobile site