“If you come to Waynesville and you don't buy anything, there's definitely a problem,” says Valerie Monroe of Monroe, Ohio, resting her arches among the pumpkins, hay bales and cornstalks outside Primitives & More.

IF YOU GO

| ZOOM |     What: Waynesville, “Antiques Capital of the Midwest,” with more than 60 antiques and crafts shops.     Where: Ohio 42 and 73. Take I-71 to the Ohio 73 Waynesville/ Caesar Creek exit.     When: Shops open 11 a.m-5 p.m. with some closed Monday and Tuesday.     Miscellaneous:     • Food: Nine restaurants — from Der Dutchman with Amish cooking to the Cobblestone Cafe and the Dairy Corner.     • Festival: The Sauerkraut Festival will be 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, with arts and crafts displays along Old Main Street. A few stores will be closed during the festival.     • Best-kept secret: The Fabric Shack has the best and biggest selection of quilt and craft cottons in the Tristate.

        “Me? I've never had that problem.”

        She and her shopping buddy, Brenda Frye, spent a recent day in the warmth of the fall sun roving the shops in the town along the Little Miami River — a skip and a jump from Interstate 71 — known for antiques, crafts shops and this weekend's Sauerkraut Festival.

        “We love the way (Waynesville) is kept up and decorated, and I like the primitives and antiques,” Ms. Frye says.

        Indeed, the abundance of stores with crafts, antiques and collectibles may overwhelm the cream-puff shopper.

        The best approach is the dedication of a whole day for poking into nooks and crannies of homes, churches and barns converted into stores, offering everything from cuckoo clocks to quilts. It's therapy to natural-born shoppers..

        When the world's in a whirl, as it has been since Sept. 11, Waynesville can be a good place to jump off, slow the pace and sidle up to a scarecrow. There are benches aplenty for resting weary feet and restaurants with steaming soups and homemade pies — comfort food.

        “It frees my soul to come here ... so relaxing,” Ms. Monroe says.

        Trying to cozy up to the idea of fall and a fanciful Halloween, we spent the day rummaging and found buys that tickle the funny bone with their imagination and whimsy — things you won't find in big-city stores. Here are 10:

        1. This 6-foot pumpkin creature ($249) looks like it escaped from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, but instead of scares, it elicits only smiles. From folk artist David Paolo for Fried Green Tomatoes, we found it surrounded by burlap pumpkins, furniture, antiques, candles and soft sculpture witches and scarecrows at Primitives & More. Be sure to look for the patriotic display of red-white-blue antiques and collectibles at the top of the stairs. Guaranteed to make your heart sing.

        2. Even tree-trunk slices are converted into Halloween decorations with a coat of bright orange paint, a dab of black and a shock of shredded raffia. $12 at Country Collectibles.

        3. Turn something as routine as the kitchen sink into a Halloween decoration with this black-cat drain strainer from Billy Joe. $9. Also available with a pumpkin handle. Don't leave this cozy restaurant/gift shop, with its wraparound porch and David T. Smith-made chairs, without looking over the quilts and Baker and Co. teddy bear collection. And don't miss the fanciful wood sculpture/music boxes by Peaceable Kingdom Folk Art. The wooden pig with flapping wings that played “Old MacDonald” stole my heart.

        4. This pumpkin-face boxlight is for those who don't want to hassle with gooey seeds and strings that go along with carving. The painted box comes with a cord and candle light to hang or set on the porch. $21.95 at Noah's Ark. Be sure to duck inside to see the ark of collectibles and the wardrobe of handmade concrete goose clothing.

        5. The Cranberry Bog would be worth a stop, even if the shop stood empty, because of the picture-perfect landscaping around the 1810 structure. Martha Stewart would be green. It's the garden everyone wants in the fall, awash in purples, fading greens and autumn golds. Inside, we found this grinning witch metal lantern ($16) with a hat that tips off to make room for a votive candle, and a harvest moon rocking sculpture ($70).

        6. A spooky cat ($31.50) bobs on a spring atop a bright orange pumpkin metal sculpture in the mum-scattered yard outside the Rose Cottage. Thread your way through the rooms of this Victorian house/shop and be sure to stop at the fall wreaths of hydrangeas and squash, quilts and rag rugs upstairs and the yard full of grapevine cone trees sold for about $12 a foot.

        Next door you'll find a giant Uncle Sam and the five buildings of Spencer's Antique's and Imports with fountains, urns, trunks and the best selection of weather vanes I've seen.

        7. A ghost popping out of a pumpkin is made of distressed canvas, stuffed and painted for a country hang-up ($19.95) at the Hearth and Home Country store, which also carries eye-catching antiques including a rowing machine with pulley and weight system ($195), reproduction beds, side tables and accessories.

        8. Pile up a trio of pottery jack-o-lanterns from the Gathering Room and light them with votive candles. The stack ($16.95-$34), surrounded by burlap pumpkins, tin witch and scarecrow cut-outs and dried flowers and a cart of pumpkins and squash, lures shoppers into the converted Old First Church of Christ, built in 1877. It's one of the don't-miss stops in Waynesville, with quilt and patchwork clothes, scented candles that smell good enough to bite into, jewelry, primitive signs and crafts and dried herbs and flowers.

        9. The finishing touch for ladylike witches are these black cat and pumpkin mini-purses ($12) fashioned from felt, found along with over-stitched felt applique pillows ($25) at Primitives & More.

        10. Scarecrows, pumpkins and ghosts, with a few bats and witches thrown in, are everywhere along Waynesville's streets. These metal yard guards are at Hearth and Home Collection, which specializes in collectibles, slate and folk art. $9.99-$14.99.

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