Shiny and Durable

When it comes to materials household items are made from, everyone has their individual preferences.

For example, regarding pots and pans, I like the “look” of copper, but thoroughly dislike cleaning it to make it shine. Consequently, no copper pans will be found around our house.

Stainless steel appliances may be the rage in new homes but I absolutely do not like them. Give me the brightest white sinks and counter tops available, thank you, and we have both in our newly remodeled kitchen.

One material that appeals to me, which others may wrinkle their foreheads over, is brass. Brass candlesticks, door handles, door knocker, fireplace accessories, shower curtain rods and faucets in kitchen and bathrooms and so on are all part of our home. Polished, shiny brass is classy and rich looking to me.

Now comes an admission. After Christmas, I decided, once again, to limit impulse shopping for awhile since I have two weddings to attend this year, both out-of-state. These will entail a lot of expense.



However, while there are good intentions, there is also temptation. I love (emphasis on the word love, pul-eese) thrift store shopping. It’s almost therapeutic to me. When feeling bummed and my car steers into a thrift store parking lot, I immediately feel better, even before going in. Yeah, obsession rules.

Such was the case this week. The day had a busy, and frustrating at times, and there were 20 minutes to kill. So my car headed right for the Salvation Army Family Thrift Store. Since there was so little time, not much harm could be done, could it?

Skipping the color coordinated clothes section, I made a bee line to the household goods. Had to make very good use of the short amount of browsing time.

There it was! Among the mismatched china, chipped cups, photo frames, and vases sat a shiny etched brass tray on a bottom shelf. I picked it up and it was really lovely.

Okay, I thought. Wonder how much this is. It would look perfect in a holder and placed on the table in the front hall. Gently turning it over, the stick-on price tag read: 99 cents. I squinted to make sure I was reading it correctly. Yup. 99 copper Lincoln head pennies. Score!


So there it sits in the hallway. It was hard to photograph because my camera and I kept showing up in the reflection. However, you get the idea in the photos included in this post.

What do you prefer---brass, copper, pewter, or other?