To Market To Market....

.... to buy a fat pig! Home again, home again -jiggety jig.  I'm not sure why random nursery rhymes come to mind. I remember my Mom saying them all the time when I was a kid. - I many times wondered their meaning. This time the "fat pig"- in my case- was a large wall needing some type of art decor that I've searched and searched for but not been able to find. I was thinking of some type of panels - maybe 2 or 3 side by side.  So what better place to look than the Atlanta Market. So spur of the moment I asked my friend Lisa could she pack and be ready to go the next day to do a non stop - shop until we drop experience - 3 days.  That's exactly what we did. If you ever consider it - be sure to wisely pick your friend because mine was an excellent one- reminding me when I really wanted to sit and rest my legs - we can't! we still have 20 more floors to go- now that's a good market buddy - not letting you rest, pushing you forward!

We began early, making our plans along our 6 hour drive.  Looking through our AmericasMart  guide book. We went through each building and floor. Marked the must sees and the wanta see's.  Thankful there were at least a few floors we could pass by. Once we were there, we started in the "tempories" - the sure way to find the new and upcoming vendors.  You love it when you go by a booth that has "the buzz".  You can tell by the large amount of people crowded into small spaces to get a look at some new re-furbished tin item and even better this year - new ways to use burlap! Yes, burlap was the true up and coming design for this year. If you were not burlap or some up-cycled item (meaning you were an item once but now you are a new and improved more useful non wasteful item) -... then you were a want-a-be at market. In every temporary or established booth or shop if the buzz was there than surely there was plenty of up-cycled material. But, burlap - just wait until you see all the amazing ways burlap is being used. Especially come Christmas time. Last season, I saw some very pretty burlap ribbon - some with bright red and green holly or some with jingle bells -but oh wait until 2012 season - burlap peonsettias, burlap ornaments, burlap birds and burlap santa's - it's amazing - who would have thought burlap! Here's some of the poinsettias we saw and a picture with burlap stocking -but there are many various ribbons, birds, Santa, reindeer,ornaments and more made of burlap.

But, I forgot -the "pig" -so on through the temporary booths - other than the above named items, there was pretty much same ole same ole. There were several up-cycle vendors I'm sure will do well.We tried to stay on a course - they were marked by aisles but sometimes some aisles were long and then you'd have to back track to see some shorter ones. Yes I was confused a time or two, but again a trusty friend is what you need to make sure you don't miss a thing. Lisa and I would chat along the way - especially noting those booths without the "buzz".  Feeling quite sorry for them. However, becoming puzzled by not just 1, nor 2, nor 3 -but at least 5 "Polish pottery" booths - sadly all without the "buzz".  It is pretty pottery - a deep blue and white with a pretty small floral designs - but even booth after booth could not make it be the crowd pleaser. Not sure if the company who manufactured it felt more booths would help???

--But, onward. The next area in the temporaries that most defiantly had the "buzz", was the cash and carry. If you were a jewelry store or sold jewelry -wow. You may have had to nudge your way in- but $5.00 to $10 necklaces and bracelets galore. There were a few other booths with scarves or clothing items but most defiantly the attractions were the jewelry booths. It was kind of crazy -there were so many people in such small spaces -it felt freeing to be out of this area at last!

The owl craze was evident -we saw them everywhere - on pillows, rings, ear rings, dresses , aprons and more-my daughter likes the little critters - so I got her this little charm necklace - don't tell her - haven't given it to her yet!

From there we just checked off our list, going floor to floor. Seeing some new places and some of the old steady eddy places.One new place I like was called Kalalou, My old favorites remain Park Hill and Vagabond Vintage. So many great places though. Karma Happy Living was a fun booth with vibrant fun colors for home and accessories. Other great floral and Christmas shops were Sullivans, Arty, A&B and of course Raz.

There were many ways stores got you to come in and look around - food and drinks mainly, but some got creative. There were a few that did drawings for money toward an order. (Note to self -next time bring more business cards! Everyone wanted them -so when I ran out I had to hand write it out).--- I loved the red carpet treatment we got at Roadrunners. Truly red carpet lead you in were you then received a ticket to go dig for diamonds. They had a cute little sand pit with a scoop. You choose your spot, scooped up the sand, put it in a sand sifter and hope for diamonds! Well, Lisa non I got diamonds, but look at the sweet jewels I got.  They had a jeweler on hand that would make something for you if you wanted. I took mine home - who knows what I'll do with them - but they are pretty- aren't they? What fun we had!

Well, when all was said and done - we did not find my "pig" - the big wall panels - I found some that were ok but not the wow I wanted - we might have to do something custom. But, what a great time we had at Market - our feet were tiried - as were my shoulders for picking up loads of catalogs but all in all it was a great time at market ... so home again home again jiggety jig!
Well - that's how I remembered it but childhood memories are not always right - here is how it really goes:
To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, dancing a jig;
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog;
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done. ------ Well I had some of it right!