China, the dishes, and stickers

On the way back home from our recent vacation, we did stop by my hometown to pick up my grandparent's dining set from my dad. We had rented a smallish moving truck for this, and ended up running out of room, so had to leave some furniture my mom was holding on to for us. Just another excuse to visit!

This is a full dining room set that my grandparents had purchased in the 1960s, as far as anyone can remember. So, it is a bit dated, but all the pieces are in good condition (thanks to my dad having them refinished after a water issue in his basement - they were in good condition before that, though), solidly built, and will last a good while. 

It is quite exciting because, I've got to tell you, that dining set has turned an empty space into a real dining room (as it would), and has made a huge difference, turning the house more into our home. Combine that with the face that I spent much of Sunday unboxing our wedding china (and peeling off labels and washing it all) to place in the china cabinet, it really is quite homey!

About our wedding china - since we were moving shortly after our wedding, and then in student housing, and, well, transient, for the first several years of our marriage, we didn't completely unpack the china. We opened it, and such, of course, but decided that it was already packed well, and we didn't want to have re-pack it for the many moves that would ensue. (Good call - not one piece was broken!) This is also the first time we've really had the space to store the china in something other than the original box. It has been stored in attics, storage units, and closets, suffering hot and cold temperatures, varying degrees of humidity - all things that are supposed to be bad for china... And all things that made the bar-code stickers harder to get off than dried gum on carpet. Ok, maybe not that bad, but close!

After scrapping a few off with my finger nails, my husband took the windex with vinegar I had used to clean the glass in the hutch and sprayed a label. He waited a bit, and the label came right off. I don't know if it was the windex, the vinegar, or just the wetness that helped, but it sure made the rest of the job a lot easier! So, there's a helpful household hint, should you have stubborn labels