Plundering for silverplate

I can have the best time people watching at an antique mall or flea market. On Friday, I headed to Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta for the first time in a while, and I so enjoyed browsing for junk and pausing for a little people watching. There were the thin blonde "Real Housewives of Anywhere" wannabes with their maxi-dresses and designer purses. There were the Buckhead old-money socialites with the helmet-haired do's and leopard print blouses. There were also those women I assume are Atlanta decorators because they were feverishly pulling tailored pillows off the shelves while an armful of bangle bracelets clattered away. This visit, I was also struck by how many dealers completely ignored all their customers because they were studying their smartphones and tablet computers. But I didn't really care because I was also a woman on a mission: I wanted to find some old silverplate knives, cheap, to use in styling a cake photo for a freelance project.

If you're from the area you know this already, but if you're not, I should explain that Scott's is near I-75, held the second weekend each month (Thursday-Sunday), and it's in two buildings, North and South. I went to the South building first, and there I enjoyed looking at the costume jewelry, some ancient needlework samplers, and some pretty vintage linens. I saw hardly any teacups or teapots, which was surprising, but that was fine because I was on a mission to find old silverplate. I found a couple of sellers who had some, but there wasn't anything I just loved until I headed outdoors where the cheaper booths are located. This table caught my eye.

I asked the man what his prices were, and he said they started at a dollar. I knew this was my kind of place! I soon picked out the five pieces I wanted. He bagged up my thrifty five-dollar purchase and I was done.

Well, I was done except for this. I had seen this cute spoon necklace from Refunked Junk that reminded me of my friend Liz, whose birthday is today, so I went back inside and got it. I'll be seeing Liz tomorrow, and I cannot tell you how appropriate this is for her. (Tea's not really her thing and she doesn't read my blog, so I'm not worried about her seeing this, by the way.)

A quick trip to the North building turned up some pretty old furniture but nothing I needed, so I headed home.

What did I get? Three "new" knives, a fork and a spoon. I'm really going for an old, rustic/rusty texture, and I hope one of these three knives will do the trick.

I also liked the floral designs on this fork and spoon, so they may appear in a photo one day as well. The fork is, I believe, a pastry fork because of that extra wide tine.

Whether it is or not, I don't think I've ever seen a fork with such an elaborate design near the tines like this. Do you ever visit the big antique market in your town? If so, what's the name of it? I might need to go there one day!