Halloween at Target and lots of it!

Get ready to see lots of photos! After going to two different Target stores over the past few days, I have a lot to share. Target has some different "collections" of decorations this year. They have a classy black and metallic purple collection, a traditional orange and black collection, and a pretty impressive Day of the Dead collection! And there were lots of fun toy-like items that moved and lit up.

Starting with some nostalgia... I love this mask because it reminds me of my childhood. Do you guys remember those super bright Halloween decorations printed on kind of a cardstock material? These would be from the '80s. I remember a bright green full body skeleton decoration like that and some faces. Well, those are immediately what I thought of when I saw this:

Ah ha! I found a picture of one of those 80s skulls:

Skull pic on Halloween Wizard's blog

There are a lot of skulls on that page, but I'm talking about the first one.

I didn't try to light up these masks, but I'd like to see one in action. It appears they are sensitive to sound. I think this butterfly mask looks like something made to go with a blacklight. Now we're getting into 90s nostalgia!

This a cute new prop: the haunted fishbowl. If you press a button, all these different lights come on and the little skeleton fish move around.

Masquerade birds

These pumpkin pillows were so soft! Like a nice, fluffy blanket. How do you like that Simpsons looking bat?

I LOVE this skull and crossbones. This is the first time I've seen fake skulls go in that piratey direction.

In other new skull news, check out this dragon skull! It said on the tag that it lights up and I think I can see a lightbulb in there.

That red wire or cord looks almost like thin neon rope lighting.

The Wheel of Fate! I like where the hand is pointing now (Treats will be yours), but they're not all good spins.

This thing was massive! We can see that it lights up in purple but I'm not sure if it lights up in other colors.

I liked all the metallic purple accents I was seeing. They had a lot of metallic purple on black stuff.

Check out this Day of the Dead section! I like that they're going in a direction where some of this could actually be used on an altar. The candles and candleholders, for instance.

This wreath was one of my favorite items there. I'm feeling inspired to make something like this.

Some of those little birds Target carries:

Sugar skull dachshunds!

This reminds me of the classic blow molds, only super tiny.

This poison bottle is kind of an old-school liquor jug/bowling pin.

Obviously this spider's legs can be bent down. They look pretty funny like this.

I think these spiders have pretty adorable faces. Their hairdos are adding to the cuteness.

Check out these wicked old school devices! Those specimens in what looks like a mad scientist's lab equipment actually startled me, because they made so much noise. I think the others are pretty fun designs. The boombox brings me back. You can't see in this pic, but if you peel apart that purple center in the phone, there's a big eye.

Here we go:

If you get a chance, give this phone a listen. I think you'll agree with me that it sounds like a close relative to Cookie Monster. The alarm clock opens and rings really loudly. That one was a little much for me. It'll make you jump.

Here's a close-up of that nostalgic boombox. This one wasn't like that crazy alarm clock. It was surprisingly low key in the noise department.

And the specimens! This reminds me of something. A kid's show? I don't know. Somebody help me out here. Do these eyes and teeth remind you of something?

Some big, juicy eyes! I assume these are for sticking on a pumpkin?

More eyes! These were in the party favors section:

One more eye! I can't remember if this does anything aside from glancing around. It reminds me a little of that eye on the spellbook in Hocus Pocus.

I think there's something creepy about a bunch of mascot heads on shelves. I'm reminded of a local costume shop that I don't think exists anymore. It was creepier than this because it wasn't well lit in there. There were rows after rows Easter Bunny suits in there.

I think the cow is kind of cute.

I'm pretty sure I saw this chicken head worn with a full fluffy chicken suit years back, something close to it anyway. A person was doing something like "The Funky Chicken" in this at a street festival. 😁

Funky, tribal pumpkins:

Pretty cute

This one might be on the After Halloween Haul list:

Tiny punk planters! At least I see those plants as hair. I'm now noticing those creeping hand candleholders behind them. They had some of those hands in black too.

A close-up of another punk item: the spiky pumpkin

I'm ending with this Ouija Board tray because it fittingly says "GOOD BYE".  I  can see this tray as holding a number of candles. I think the metallic gold on this tray would look really cool by candlelight.

Do your Target stores have this same general selection? The two I visited varied a bit. One seemed to have more of the traditional orange and black decorations.

I should also mention that now is a good time to visit Target for some discount school supplies/organizers. I ended up with some pretty large plastic magazine or binder holders for only 58¢ each!

At Home Halloween

Do you guys have an At Home store? We got one recently and I think it's great! If you're not familiar with At Home, they carry mostly housewares. No matter what your decorating style is, I bet they carry it. They have stuff for people who are into rustic, country, modern, glitter, and glamour. They also have their Halloween stuff out! And strangely enough, Christmas. But we're not ready for Christmas yet, are we?

Nope.

Here are some photos of my favorite Halloween items from At Home...

The headless trick-or-treater? That's kind of weird when you think about it - "Just put the candy in my head". But this pumpkin pail reminds me of the one I used to trick-or-treat with.

Meow! This is my first time seeing a black skeleton critter. And how about that eye! I was considering maybe spray painting some of the (plastic) skeleton animals I've picked up lately. I don't think I'd go with black, though. They could even look cool in bright colors.

A close up of a cool spiderweb design on a lantern:

Creeping out of the ground!

A little floral design inspiration:

They had a lot of decorations with eyes. I thought that was pretty cool and mystical.

This eye has an Ancient Egyptian look to me. Like something on the wall of an Egyptian tomb. That's how I'm imagining it. And how cool is that spider hourglass next to it?

These eyes are on springs and stake into the ground. They'd be fun sticking out of the bushes or a large plant.

Cutesy pumpkins with eyes:

In further pastel pumpkins, donut pumpkins!

How about this creeper? Sometimes the simplest things are the most scary.

That's another creature's hand, by the way.

On a nearby shelf was this... ghost? doll? Whatever it was, it was walking the disturbing line for me. The more you stare at this, the more it stares back.

Here's something cute to clean that last one out of your brain:

More cuteness, in the form of vintage cat inspired trays:

I just noticed the heart-shaped eyes on this cat.

There was a sort of graveyard/party type display up. That's where I found these next three creatures. How cool are the hands on this pumpkin creature?

My favorite skulls, starting with an energized looking skull bust:

It might be hard to see what's going on here, but this is a skeleton spider with a pumpkin body, holding a monocle. How often do you see that?

A side view:

Not your average garden gnomes:

I love this pillow design!

They had several amazing pillows, like this one that looks inspired by a vintage postcard. I'm noticing now that it was postmarked as departing Transylvania on October 31.

And these pillows look like tickets to a haunted house, again on October 31. 😃

I'm going to end with the big inflatables. For the most part these were new to me. I had seen this Jaws last year, actually in someone's yard. You guys might remember the photos. This shark actually thrashes back and forth and his eyes glow red!

If you guys would like to see the At Home Halloween selection for yourselves, here's a link: If you've got it, haunt it

I have plenty of photos from Michaels to share next time!