The third weekend of every month in these parts is the Lakewood 400 Antiques Market. I’ve only been to Lakewood once in the nearly eight years of living in Atlanta, and that was at its previous location near the Lakewood Amphitheater. The market is cool; it’s just kind of a haul from my house. Today, I didn’t care. Honey and I hopped in ye olde momme mobile with Miss L in tow and headed out for some treasure hunting.

Yes, that’s really what I call it. It seems to keep L a great deal happier than telling her we’re going shopping. And, honestly, it’s not that far removed from the truth. My trusty 30D captured some of the cool finds we found. Our first stop was this outdoor yard filled with metal bits and pieces. Archways and plant stands and gossip benches. And a goodly amount of yard art. Who wouldn’t want a flying pig for the garden? (See the ginormous turtle behind it?) I thought the roosters were pretty cool, too, but my favorite was this dress form. I think Honey would have let me bring it home, but I didn’t ask.

I wish I could have captured the grandeur that was this post office counter and boxes. Instead, you’re stuck with just this little bit of it. “Magnificent” really is an understatement. It was like three wooden walls, with one of them all these old mail boxes. The others were the clerk counters, with windows and bars. The whole kit and caboodle. I really was trying to figure out how to justify buying such an eccentric piece. L had a blast on the opposite side, where she played postmaster for a good while.

Honey tells me there were names labeled to each of the boxes on the clerk side. He wasn’t sure if they were original to the piece but suspects they were. No idea how much the thing cost but I’m sure it was more than I could pay — not that I have any place to install a post office.

I had a wonderful chat with Patricia DiBona of Dibona Designs Studio. Her booth just drew me in with all of it’s beautiful collage pieces and ephemera and supplies for sale. I was so busy running my mouth that I never asked if I could take pictures, so you’ll just have to visit her site to see her offerings. If you don’t, you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say they were absolutely lovely, very inspiring and just totally rocking the collage thing I’m into right now. I’m actually thinking that I need to drive up and attend one of her workshops. They just look like so much fun! And I could do with a dose of in-person artsy every now and then. (Couldn’t we all?)

One of my favorite finds at the Market today was a big bowl of old photos. On the front was a sign: “Instant Ancestors $1.50.” That just tickled me to no end.

Actually, I came home with very little today. Restraint can be a challenge for me but I’ve finally learned how to curb the impulse to buy every shiny object that catches my eye, instead buying just the ones that fit with whatever I’m working on right now. That’s why I brought home one of those cute paper dress forms with ribbon and buttons. Love! Mine is not in the photo but it’s just as darling. It was hard not to buy more ribbon there (“there” being Grosgrain Annie’s). Just a wonderland of ribbon. And old thread spools. And fabric. And more. I chatted with Jo Ann Rogers a bit; she’s the one to thank for the pictures because she saw my camera and told me I could take some. (Thank you, Jo Ann!) Really, it’s a shame I couldn’t stay in there long because I’d spot something new to check out every time I turned around.