Get shakin'

When I hit that dreamy yardsale last weekend I picked up this set of salt and pepper shakers for $3. It's hard to get a good photo of them, but the white tops where the holes are is made of mother of pearl and is very pretty! I thought perhaps the rings might be silver and attempted to polish them with no success, so they're some other type of metal.

We don't use salt & pepper shakers here--I prefer to keep my S & P in Pyrex refrigerator dishes on my counter for easy access when I'm cooking. However, I couldn't leave these little cuties behind and when I got home I remembered an idea I'd torn from a magazine long ago and tucked away in my files.(Apologies for the bad photo--the scanner's not hooked up--but you get the idea.) I believe this was a Better Homes & Gardens Christmas publication from a couple of years ago.

The instructions don't specify what gauge of wire to use but assume something around 20 or 22? It needs to be stiff enough to stand up straight but pliable enough to be made into loops and swirls. A few turns of the round-nose pliers and -voila!- you have a darling little vintage-y photo holder. I think it would be even cuter if you put rice or even German glass glitter in the body of the shaker to hide the wires. I think these would make cute little gifties.

I checked eBay this morning to see if I could find any other shakers with the mother of pearl discs and found a few at reasonable prices. Uh-oh, do I feel another collection coming on? Danger....