A Bin Store Halloween Haul

I have a different sort of After Halloween Haul for you guys this year. I have discovered the magic of bin stores! If you don't know what a bin store is, it's a place that sells items that are either overstock or returns. In the case of the store I'm shopping, it's mostly Target overstock and Amazon returns. Although lately, there's been this table of beauty and health items that I'm not sure the source of. But, oh how I love that table!

I'm not sure if all bin stores work this way, but ours marks items down as the week progresses. There are tables and tables heaped high with stuff and it all starts at $13 on Fridays. Then it keeps being marked down by various amounts until Wednesday, the day I go. The day where everything on those tables is $1. Yeah, less than the actual Dollar Store now. I could go on and on about all the deals I've found. If I had a blog about face creams and hair products, well I'd have a lot to share. But, I'll be sticking with the Halloween stuff I've found. Keep in mind, each of these items cost one dollar. 

This 13x13" pillow is made of a fluffy fleece material. There are little lights in the eyes and mouth. A battery goes in a pocket on the back of this. 

How awesome is this bow? It's made of a velvety material. As you can see, it is a pretty nice size next to that large pumpkin (9 x 12"). There's a loop and a clip on the back of this, so it can be used in a few ways. It could make a nice addition to a wreath.

Four pumpkins for a buck! You can't beat that. They're not super tiny, either. Each is 5" tall, not counting the stem.

And you know novelty string lights are expensive! I'm not sure how many are on here, but no less than 50. I didn't count them, but I'm thinking it's more like 75. I like that they're on a black cord. Such a beautiful purple too. They're brighter than they appear here, but photographing bright lights is tricky sometimes. Anyway, the purple lights I've seen in the past have been kind of dark and dull. So I was thrilled to plug these in and get some actual light!

This is a pretty nice size plate at 10.5". It's made of melamine, like a lot of Target plates. That's part of why I like it. The ghosts are of course adorable, but that scalloped edge is a nice detail. 

Speaking of adorable ghosts, check out these three! Yes, $1 for three ghosts made of wood. 

Each ghost stands about 4.5" tall.

Once in a while, some floral pieces end up in this store. Again, if you know the prices of floral decorations, you'll be amazed that these were only $1. I was sad to lose JoAnn's, but finding a place with quality floral and craft items for $1 is helping me feel better! So yeah, this entire branch of leaves = one dollar. Yeah.

I just wish I could have found a second branch, because then there could be one around each pumpkin. I think the color of the leaves looks so beautiful next to the color of the pumpkin.

I found branches of darker leaves too. They worked well in with Thanksgiving decorations. Three branches of the dark ones for $1. I couldn't believe how much was sandwiched into the plastic wrapping!

There are some nice little flowers at the ends of the stems. 

I got two bouquets of these orange flowers for $1. So less than half the price of Dollar Tree floral with a lot more flowers. Each pumpkin got a bouquet. 

I like the vintage look of those plastic stems/leaves. 

A fluffy feather boa or garland that looks like it's about to slither away:

I saved the best for last. This haunted house is made of wood and stands 13" high. 

It has some neat gingerbread details, like you guys know I like on real houses.

I'll have a few pieces to cover up/add to, but I enjoy crafting and fixing things up. Like the bottom of this window, I think I'll glue some kind of wood window box over that.

And there's the missing fence on one side of the bottom. I'm thinking there's going to be a little gothic garden over that. Or I could easily enough glue a mini patch of pumpkins there. Yeah, I'm thinking that's the way to go.

Even though it needs a few minor fixes, it's a pretty large haunted house, and what's more... it lights up!

I'm pretty happy with this year's After Halloween Haul. I may end up adding more to this blog post if I find more items. I found what's here during November up until yesterday. So if you guys have a bin store near you, you will no doubt find some Halloween stuff. It seems like it goes straight from Halloween clearance at Target to places like this. And here I've been wondering the past few years why after holiday clearances at Target aren't what they used to be. I need to forget about shopping at actual Target stores after holidays and just go to this place!  

If you guys google "bin stores" near you, you might just luck out and find one. I'm lucky enough to have one of these under five minutes from where I live. Now I can't wait to see what shows up there after Christmas!

*Update* I visited the store today (Dec 9) and found this garland of lighted leaves. I always wanted some leaves with attached lights! I'm sure these will work into all kinds of fall displays. 

I haven't added batteries to try these myself yet, but here's a photo from the back of the box to give you an idea of how these could look. 

Beautiful Blooms at The Milwaukee Art Museum

Regular readers of this blog know that every year I share photos from The Milwaukee Art Museum's "Art in Bloom" show. The show is a chance for floral designers to interpret the museum's art collection through plants. I enjoy sharing what I thought were the most beautiful and creative arrangements. I usually try to find something somewhat spooky to share from the show. None of the flower arrangements could be interpreted in that way this year, but there is a somewhat Gothy object at the end of this post.

Be sure to click on the images to view them larger.  It really makes a difference!

I love orange roses! For some reason, they're always hard to find around Halloween.

This was an interpretation of the icon on the wall.

I just noticed someone peeking over the display when I enlarged this photo. He's in the upper right hand corner. This arrangement had some warm, exotic orchids. To me, this has an autumn theme.

Here is the full display. The designer did a great job matching the colors to the painting and representing many of the animals with a different shape or color.

This arrangement was my second favorite. It's kind of hard to see, but there are arching tree limbs in the painting. Those are mimicked by the arch at the top of the display. This arrangement reminded me of a basket.

Isn't this rose pretty? It's called an O'Hara Rose.

I have no idea which painting this one represented. I was calling it "The Marge Simpson" because that looked like blue hair springing out of the top.

I took this photo mostly for the sculpture. You can see part of the wall behind the floral arrangement. Which painting do think the flowers went with? Maybe the painting of the trees blowing in the wind. The blue flowers look sort of like fluffy trees.

I really liked the bark wrapped vases in this arrangement. There were some interesting twisted twig arches in front of it too.

Looking closely, there were lots of pretty purple flowers in this one. What a beautiful Iris.

This is one of my favorite photos from the show. This arrangement almost became a part of the painting. It looked very exotic with the Bird of Paradise on top.

See the bridge shape in the flowers?

This looks like some kind of sea sponge.

Another mysterious element in this display was the fungus under the roses. I think that's a cotton bonnet on the left. It would help if I could remember which painting this went with. The museum was crowded so I was moving through some of these rooms pretty fast. It's amazing that I managed to take this many photos without people in the frame!

This high display was mimicking the woman's high hairdo. I'm guessing the white flowers at the bottom are her book.

Does anyone know what these delicate little flowers are?

This display was one of the most direct representations of the art. The black parts aren't plants, but big feathers.

Colorful Parrot Tulips.

This was my favorite display at the show. The containers are sprayed gold like the award/trophy the man is holding in the painting. There was so much color in this display and so many different shaped flowers. I found myself taking photo after photo of it!

I really liked the pink loops circling over and through the flowers.

This is another really direct interpretation of the art. Pretty clever! There's even some red-coated wire to represent the red line on the painting.

Such pretty orchids!

Can you spot the peacock feather?

Ranunculuses are my favorite flower. I bought two different kinds of Ranunculus bulbs recently, so this summer I will be growing them for the first time!

These Tie Dye Dendrobium Orchids start off as purple orchids and are dyed blue so you get this kind of gorgeous color combination.

Some wild, striped little roses.

Another cool orchid.

This is an interpretation of the Marc Chagall painting behind it. It's hard to see, but the man in the painting is wearing a bowler hat and there is always a violin somewhere in Chagall's paintings.

Does anyone know what these yellow flowers are? I see these included in the arrangements every year and wonder what they are.

The exotic, light pink flower is called a King Protea.

Isn't this a clever way to interpret an Andy Warhol soup can print? It's like the soup got opened and fell into a bowl on the table - complete with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side.

It looks almost good enough to eat!

So, here's the Gothic object I promised at the beginning of this post. I think this is an antique hanging oil lamp. It was really pretty when the light caught the red glass. As I remember, this lamp was made during the late 1800s. It was hanging in the antique furniture and decorative arts section of the museum.

After a long and freezing winter like the one we experienced this year, it was nice to see some actual flowers. If you'd like to revisit some of the past Art in Bloom shows, here are some links to my previous blog posts:

Flowerbot and the Friendly Greeter - 2013

Spooky Blooms at The Milwaukee Art Museum - 2012