I have a little 2 foot tree that I set up on my sideboard, and among some tiny silver and gold ball ornaments, I use many old pieces of rhinestone jewelry for ornaments. It really sparkles!

I see differences too, cuz I zoomed way in, and that also made me wonder if they are not hand carved. Look at the neck of the gown on the left, it looks like a 'v' neck. The one on the right appears more rounded (can't see the bottom of the 'v' anyway). Look at the waves in the end of the hair, behind the ear at the nape of the neck. On the right it appears to be 3 thinner symmetrical waves, on the left it appears to be two fuller waves. Facial features; the one on the right appears to have a more pointed chin, more defined lips, rounded nose. The one on the left has a softer chin, softer lips, straighter 'romanesque' nose (that's not a word, lol). If they were not hand carved, wouldn't the only other option then be machine made? And if machine made, wouldn't they be much closer to almost virtually identical? (Don't know about cameos much.) Imagine the skilled labor that would have to go into something hand-carved in such minute detail! Here is an example I found (bottom center of page), they are cuff links, but still a matching pair, they have subtle differences as well and are priced at $500. I just did a little googling, and found this from How to Identify Antique Vintage Sterling and Silver Jewelry Content: Look for marks, usually on the inside or clasp. If the jewelry is marked 800, it is considered COIN SILVER, and is 80 percent silver with 20 percent alloy. Jewelry must be .925 to be sterling silver in the USA. Most of the newer jewelry is marked .925 if it is sterling silver. .950 is a little better quality of sterling silver, and is found in older jewelry. .835 is common for older European silver. This offers some dating for the .835 silver in Europe. (I'm not big on yahoo's Q&A but that answer came from a librarian it says. ;) They are very pretty sweeby!

Igloochic, I love your dining room! Is that venetian plaster on the walls? Have you considered having a custom built piece that would run the entire wall and go all the way to the ceiling. You could do some open shelves that were glass and lighted and then closed storage underneath? I know you probably don't want to part with your lovely china cabinet which looks like a 1st cousin to my DR set, which was my Grandparent's set, but you could always put it in a bedroom or LR and use it more as a curio cabinet. I do love that my set belonged to my grandparents but I also wish it had way more storage! My mom had a triple china hutch and it held so much more stuff! BTW I LOVE that recessed wall cabinet, it's very cool! I built a *dish* pantry in my new kitchen for that very reason! Here is a picture from my old house of some built-in cabinets we did to give us some added storage for our LR/DR. We had them on each side of the doorway leading into the DR. You could always put glass doors on the upper part, we used them purely for displaying things and the lower part for dish storage. I can really relate to having way more stuff than storage space! Both my parents loved crystal and china. When my Mother passed away unexpectedly my sisters and I all inherited her vast collection of china and plates. My daughter once joked that Nana had enough dishes to feed an entire army from. The worst part of it all is I still find myself looking at dishes and glassware online...I don't need another dish or glass EVER! lol The DF "dresser" you referred to in the other post is actually a matching tea cart and it has two small drawers and then two shelves where I keep my silver chest, so not much actual storage. Here is our pantry cupboard to hold *some* of my many plates. It holds a ton of stuff because it's floor to ceiling! The top holds my stemware and the bottom is for platters and dishware. The middle hides my MW. Kat :)

I've only just stumbled on this thread, so I hope you don't mind me contributing! I'm very much into Craft Fayres and all things hand crafted and have built up a collection of about 7-8 earring "mushrooms" which stand about 3-4" high and have a series of holes in the cap of the mushroom for either dangly earrings or even studs. Sort of like this http://www.cole-woodturners.co.uk/images/earring_stand_-_takes_12_pairs_271108-1.jpg I've seen some that are flatter and have a second tier above. For bracelets I have another wooden stand with 3 legs/spokes on top of a central pillar and the bracelets just dangle. Necklace stands are about 10-11" high and similarly have either mini hooks for hanging chains/necklaces or the other one has little slots which is better suited to beaded/leather necklaces. Until I began writing this post, I was going to say my biggest problem was storing the "cuff" type bracelets, which just twizzle and fall off the bracelet tree, but a search on Google Images has given me a WHOOOLLLLEEEE load of other avenues and ideas to follow up! I was hoping I'd be able to attach a picture of my dressing table with my variety of trees, but I cant work out how...!