After my last blog trip to Lowe's, we're continuing on with the Halloween hardware store theme. This time we're headed to Menards. I was pretty impressed with their selection, especially after combing through my photos. Sometimes I don't realize how many cool things I've seen until revisiting pics of them.
There were a number of decorative candle containers at Menards.
I'd expect to see something like this tin more at Michael's, although Menards did have some retro/rustic decorations this year.
Isn't this fun and goofy? I'm just now noticing the octopus (?) in the cat's palm.
This "Coffin Sound Box" was totally new to me. It's sort of a little remote that plays different classic Halloween sound effects. The red circle is the speaker.
Looking closer here you can see that each tiny pic corresponds to a sound effect.
Wouldn't this gold skull be a perfect fit with a pirate-themed haunt?
And speaking of shiny skulls, here are some mercury glass skull lights. I always wonder what mercury glass (or mercury plastic) lights look like lit up. Maybe not so great. They might look like dark splotches in front of light. But I'm a big fan of unlit mercury glass anyway.
Try not to hear this in Mike Myers' voice.
Now, this werewolf may not look too scary here, but he gave me a start. He was very tall and motion activated. I bet that big funky thing under his foot picked up the motion.
When the "Lanky Werewolf" senses your movement, his eyes glow, he roars, and he lurches about while reaching his paw at you.
He had kind of a rubbery head. I have to laugh looking at this pic as I remember how his eye was almost bent in on his skull.
Menards had a number of cute Halloween village pieces and I think a lot of these were actually new. I had fun getting up close and photographing the details and I am super happy with how the lights showed up in these photos.
Seriously, I don't know what Menards magic was going on with how these were set up, because I normally am not this happy with store-lit photos.
How adorable is this? I'm reminded of the life-size cars I've seen at car shows with prop skeletons inside.
And this one had kind of a snow globe thing going on with the glitter.
A greenhouse:
I love these guys. I'm sure they're telling ghost stories around the campfire.
She's another favorite. I guess we're to think Death Metal is dead, or that she's somehow channeling it? Anyway, I like this little figure. There's a lot of movement and character going on for such a tiny part of a Halloween village.
"Candied Numbskulls" :) Looks like there's a nice list of flavors there.
See the owl?
These pet dragons are cute. They remind me of the ones you see on people's shoulders as magical costume accessories.
And onto another dragon... If you look near this one's neck, you'll see some bright lights that move around inside the inflatable. I'm reminded of the Maleficent dragon.
A closer look...
How about this little cutie?
I share this every year, but that's OK. :) I'm not sure if he had a little trick-or-treat bucket last year, though.
May The Force Be With Boo!
I'll leave you guys with this hideous creature.
Do you ever take a picture of something without realizing what it really looks like? Then you look at the picture you took and get a surprise. Well, this is one of those times. Yikes. I looked at the screen on my camera after zooming in on this and was kind of like "Eww".
Haha. I have no idea what this does, but it probably flaps its wings and shrieks.
I may have one more set of hardware store pics to share, depending on how many I took at Home Depot. I hadn't thought I'd taken all that many at Menards and yet here we are! I'd be interested to know if this is pretty much the Menards selection you guys have been seeing.
That black cat with the sunglasses and octopus is so kitschy but I love it!
ReplyDeleteDex ~ Haha! It's the glasses that add the kitsch factor, isn't it? ;) I was showing that pic to my mom and she saw the octopus as a spider. I'm thinking she might be right because that makes more sense than a miniature octopus with fangs!
DeleteHa, true! The purple instantly made me think of one of those Wacky Wall Walker toys that you throw at the wall and they 'climb' down.
DeleteAlthough, Pugsley did have a pet octopus in the Addams Family cartoon :)
Dex ~ I remember those wall climbers! Those were a lot of fun. I was half-lucky with those, because they'd usually "climb" halfway down the wall and just fall to the floor. And you're right about Pugsley! So, you never know...
DeleteNice selection of props and decorations. The "pop-up" Halloween stores appear to be doing less and less each year regarding props/decorations and are focusing mostly on costumes (aka dullsville). At least the big box home improvement type stores are picking up the slack now.
ReplyDeleteHaunted Eve ~ Yeah! I am really impressed with the hardware stores this year. If I was looking for some large outdoor Halloween props, I'd start at that kind of store. I haven't even been to a pop-up Halloween store yet, although I'm aware that one has taken up roots in an empty department store space in our local mall. It will be interesting to see what they do with all that space. Haha "dullsville". Sounds like it. The best part of those stores is walking past the moving props and getting scared. :) It's a needed part of the experience!
DeleteI am digging that coffee tin - that's a keeper for all year long!
ReplyDeleteLady M ~ Me too! And I totally agree that it would make a great year-round decoration. It would work especially well in a kind of retro themed kitchen.
DeleteI love that coffee tin too! Hitting some smaller retail shops this year and still haven’t made it to Home Depot.
ReplyDeleteOld Fashion Halloween ~ Yeah, that tin is great and not something I'd even expect to find at a hardware store. It seems more likely to find it at Michaels or TJ Maxx. You just never know! Home Depot had a smaller selection, but I took some photos there too. We'll see if I took enough to build a blog post. Have you found any good Halloween goodies yet?
DeleteSorry, I don’t get replies and have to remember to check back. I have a lot of photos from all over that still need to go up. My little antique mall has provided me with some cute Halloween goodies. Hopefully a new entry will be up tomorrow.
DeleteOld Fashion Halloween ~ Oh, don't worry about that! I took three days to check my email and even see your last comment. Cool! I'll keep an eye out for pics of those Halloween antiques. We'll see if I make it out to that Farmgirl Antiques shop this year. They always put up great Halloween displays.
Delete