Menards Halloween ~ Worth checking out this year!

Hey everyone! I'm glad to be back on here. I've been wanting to blog, but had to finish backing up all the photos on my computer first. That process took several months, pretty much nonstop. My computer has been slowing down, and it seemed like possibly now or never if I wanted to get those photos backed up. I backed up my photos in a number of places, and Shutterfly was one of them. They'll give you unlimited photo storage, but you have to make a purchase every 18 months. So I created a set of coasters from some Halloween photos I took in Cedarburg years ago. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! I'll share some photos of those at the end of this post. 

So, Menards has some pretty great Halloween stuff out this year. When you walk into the store, you're met with some new inflatables. Of course you can't see this in a still photo, but this skeleton has inflated eyes that spin in circles.

Maybe you guys have seen inflatables with these cool, led light details. The green lights in the ghost's mouth and the cat's eyes are these little dots that have a 3-D effect like they're moving inward.

I love these half skeletons! I've seen variations on these in a few stores this year. It looks like this one might have eyes that do something. 

I think Menards has really stepped it up with their large-scale Halloween figures. That inflatable witch that you're seeing the back of is 20' tall! Next to her is the Wendigo. Can you see his hooves? I think they were calling the crow skeleton figure a Plague Doctor. 

I liked that Wendigo so much that you're going to see a few photos of him.

If you lived near a wooded area, or had a number of trees in the backyard, how perfect would this be behind one? I'm getting spooked just thinking of that. 

The Wendigo's eyes light up and he makes a kind of grunting/groaning/grrrring sound.

I really don't remember what the Plague Doctor had to say. He moved his clawed hands back and forth and lit up.

Here's a close-up of the giant witch inflatable. Her crystal ball has some light movement in it.

This was a new one to me too. I'm sort of remembering someone around here having a headless horseman inflatable, but I think it doesn't have a horse.

How about the "Inflatable Skeleton Highland Cow with Fur"? I got a kick out of this. Have you ever heard of this critter as a Halloween character? Unless I'm missing a reference here... 

These inflated tentacles look amazing, if you have the house for them. You'd need enough windows of a certain size in row.

Onto the gift/decoration section. They had a few new metal signs, and this one was my favorite.

This was fun. You can rotate the planchette so it goes over a certain zodiac sign and number. Of course I had to put it on my sign and birthdate. :)

X-Ray candle holders:

This is a close-up of a wreath. I'd like to try making one of these ornament wreaths sometime. 

This guy is another talker. I think he's supposed to blend in with a tree trunk. If he was a good match for the tree, I would think he'd be pretty effective.

Sssss...

Vintage-style cans:

I'm most happy with the next photos. These are going to be from the miniature Halloween village section. The miniatures were lit up really nicely this year, so they photographed well.

The Texas Hold 'Em riverboat. I'm just now noticing the hand rising from the waves.

So here we have the skeleton witch lady with... her daisy dog? Or maybe it has a cone around its head because it's injured? Can anyone help me out here?

The "Heads Will Roll" bowling alley:

The Witchy Candy Shop:

"Scaredy-Cat" Pet Grooming:

This is either a lighthouse or a water tower. 

There was a Mickey Mouse themed pumpkin house with some cute Mickey details. See the Mickey Bat weather vane? And there's a Mickey pumpkin next to the house.

There was a Looney Tunes house too. I have a vague memory of this Franken-Tweety creeping up on Sylvester. Was there an old episode where Tweety is turned into this creature by a Mad Scientist, or am I making things up?

I saved my favorite photo for last. This is something to do with toxic waste. I'm not even sure. But I really like the way the lights turned out!

So, there's Menards for you! I think they have a better Halloween selection than usual this year. And here are those Shutterfly coasters:

They have cork backs and are super sturdy.

I recommend their photo coasters! This was my first time ordering anything from Shutterfly, so I'm off to a good start. Do any of you use Shutterfly? If so, do you have any products to recommend? 

A Bright, Neon, 90s Inspired Halloween at Target

Target's Halloween theme is so fun this year for anyone (like me) who is into that 90s neon nostalgia. Just look at this light-up sign! 

The entrance to the main Halloween section in back welcomes you in like this:

I love this guy! Check out the bat on his guitar. His hands moved somewhat and he sang something. I can't actually remember what he sang, but his voice reminded me of Alice Cooper's. 

The star around his eye is a nice touch too.

Little plush skulls. I love neon pink and green! That's my childhood right there. The glasses and mohawk theme is something you're going to see a few times here.

Like on this bird...

An aerobics instructor pumpkin character! She gave all kinds of instructions like she was leading a class back in the day. See her shirt? "Pumpkin Iron" 🎃

I'm not sure what this is. Maybe it's some kind of lava lamp? I can tell you one thing, though. Those phones were driving me nuts! I tried to lift the receivers to make them stop and then they had even more to say. It was one of those situations where you just have to run away.

Here's another cool entrance! What a great way to display some witch costumes.

Speaking of costumes, can you tell what this pet costume is?

A Target cart! I thought it was hilarious. 

And a person could dress up as "Bullseye" The Target dog to match their pet. 

More fun vintageness! We're going a few decades back from the 90s here. I think these could be cool as part of a decoration. I've seen pictures of wreaths people make with a mask like this in the middle. 

These are like those mini neon plastic skeletons that are given out as treats or party favors. I use the little ones as bookmarks. You can snap an arm off the ribcage and it can hold your page.

This guy was pretty tall. Something about the "Hi, my name is Lewis" sign cracks me up.

This was my favorite large-scale prop. He kind of sang/rapped in some retro way. I think he said his name was Bruce. 

His eyes and ribcage lit up slowly. 

Inflatables that are part of the neon collection:

So cute. I'm just noticing his mohawk now. 

Target had a nice selection of cups and dishes. They use a lot of melamine. I noticed it was bamboo melamine this time.

These pirate plates were heavy ceramic. I'm imagining a pirate-themed table now.

Dish towels:

Neon collection plastic cups with straws:

And a few fun plates:

Actually, this one was more of a shallow bowl.

Fluffy kitchen/bathroom towels:

I'm going to end with the Day of the Dead section that was back by the Halloween.

All these bright colors go well with the neon Halloween collection.

Every year at Target is different. I think most of us remember our favorite themes over the years. This year's theme is one of my favorites!