A great weather day for Stein’s

Hey everyone! It's time for the yearly trip to Stein's! On the day we went, the sky kept changing. Within minutes, the sky would change from sunny and bright blue to looking like it would rain. Some of those dark clouds were very dramatic and I liked the way they looked behind the pumpkins. I also liked how the bright sunniness lit up the garden area. It was like at least two different weather days in one!

I'm not sure what these pumpkins are called, but they look like giant marshmallows to me.

This photo is the background on my phone right now. I love the look of weathered wood with pumpkins.

This is one of my favorite sky pics. It looks like I caught the sky mid-change and those ghosts look like they have a spotlight on them.

Stein's had some wonderful mums out this year. And how great do they look with the pumpkins?

This picture! I love the ombre. This one was the background on my phone until I decided to change to pumpkins. I was ready for something more Halloweeny, but it was still hard for me to change from this picture!

I don't think I've ever seen such vibrant purple mums. I've seen them in dark purply pink, but nothing like this. I didn't bump up the contrast on this picture. They were seriously this intense. 

I don't think I've seen these cute little flowers before. Do any of you know what these are?

I like when all those decorative cabbages come out in fall, usually along with some small peppers.

These containers were new this year. They look similar to those kind of straw pumpkin pots, but these were made of metal.

There was a small selection of mini pumpkins and an even smaller selection of mini gourds. I tried my best to make it look like there was a full container here, but I couldn't even attempt that with the gourds! Someone must have bought up a ton of mini gourds for a display.

Yup, this is all you're going to see of the mini gourds: a close-up of two of them.

Oh, the drama! We never were rained on, by the way.

Check out those little stripes on the corn kernels. I love cameras for the help they give in seeing details like this.

These next two were new this year. Looks like a ghost cat and a ghost balancing a pumpkin on its head.

Here's one of those straw-like containers you probably remember. 

I'm sharing two photos of this next decoration because I like both pics so much. I'm not sure if they've displayed these ceramics in with flowers before, but I like it. This gives an idea of what could be done with these pumpkin towers. They're cool, but I usually look at them and wonder where they could go.

So here's a bit of the front of the store, with those dramatic clouds reflected in the windows. 

A closer look at the window displays... 

Yes, this one is also a window display. It might look like something else in this photo. How cool is that backdrop? And I love that crow. I'd like to have one of those crows! It looks like it's probably made from cardboard.

This guy greets you by the front door. He's actually pretty menacing. I've seen a lot of large props by now, so it takes something special for me to say that. There's something about the way he looms over you and slowly moves around.

He has those led light-up eyes like some of the giant skeletons you may have seen. His eyes move around and blink as he growls. This prop would be so effective in the woods at night! I'm creeping myself out just thinking about it.

Stein's has a nice gift section and a pretty sizable floral section.

Little monsters with air plants for brains. Have any of you tried growing air plants? I guess you don't really "grow" them although they have to start from somewhere. They seem easy to care for.

This cat yard decoration is made of metal. She's so adorable!

I like that garland. It's kind of Christmasy and vintage looking. This picture reminds me that I want to decorate a Halloween tree, but I haven't seen one I like yet. I'd like to find one that is bright orange.

I think this vintage cuteness was on a dishtowel. 

I like this new material the ghosts are made of. I saw some cool reindeer made from this iridescent plastic at Menards. I'm sure those reindeer would look pretty shimmering in the snow.

Of course you can't tell from this still picture, but this tree waved its limbs around like it was alive.

So there we have this year's trip to Stein's! Looking these pictures over, I'm seeing some things to be on the lookout for after Halloween. My favorite is probably that witchy black cat yard decoration. 😸

A Great Variety of Gourds at Stein's!

I've been saving some photos from this year's trip to Stein's for Halloween week. You guys are probably pretty familiar with the store from previous blog posts. For those who aren't, Stein's is a garden store with some gift items. 

I have a lot of different pumpkin varieties to share from this trip. I love looking at all the different kinds of gourds, especially on a bright sunny day. A lucky trip to Stein's is one where the sky is bright blue, because that makes for a nice contrast with the pumpkins. 

Fall is Fantastic! 🦋

I have a soft spot in my heart for miniature pumpkins and I love photographing big groups of them.

Gourds come in so many different shapes and color patterns. There's a seemingly endless number of styles. 

A swan gourd!

These "Orange Sparkler" Pumpkins were some of my favorites. This photo became the wallpaper on my computer for the first part of October. 

Pie Pumpkins:

"Royalty" Pumpkins:

"Tiger Stripe" Pumpkins:

"Casper" Pumpkins:

"Snowbaby" Pumpkins:

"Blanco" Pumpkins, which I think were a little larger than the "Snowbabies"

The "Blue Doll" Pumpkin:

I always like to see the fall floral that's out with the pumpkins. Here are a few of my favorite flowers from that day.

These were labeled as "Spintop Yellow Touch Blanketflower".

I'm not sure why, but I only see these vibrant little decorative peppers in the fall. These peppers must be mature in the summer too. 

These decorative cabbages also only turn up with the fall floral. Again, I don't know why! The peppers and cabbages both look good with the mums, though. 

As expected, Stein's had some ceramic pumpkin and ghost decorations. These are pretty large scale. I've seen some similar ones in front of the grocery store lately. I imagine these would look pretty cool lit up.

The Stein's fence that is always in front of the parking lot looks perfect with these.

I always wondered what was going on with this figure. Are you supposed to burn something in the lower pumpkin?

I like seeing this friendly ghost each year. He reminds me of Casper.

Now to the gift items inside the store. There weren't a ton, but then I did take these pics in September. One could argue that I'd have to if I wanted to see any Halloween items! 

Kind of a funny tall hat on this one.

I got a kick out of this guy. He's ready for winter! Or actually right now. I've been wearing a winter hat this past week. I just noticed that photobombing little whatever above his head.

Boo! Note the Christmas stuff that was already out in September. There were Christmas trees out and everything!

Here's a sentiment I think we can all agree with:

Another cute towel:

A few signs:

How cool is this pillow? Pretty fancy with the sequins.

I hope you guys enjoyed the 2021 tour of Stein's! I thought they had a pretty nice array of gourds this year. Stein's is a Wisconsin store, but you can check out the Halloween part of their web site here: 

Steins home and outdoor Halloween decor.