So in an effort to talk about lighter things (topic wise at least), guess what time it is?!
Halloween decor time, baby.
All the dark goodness is starting to slither their way onto store shelves and because it is the only thing (besides my animals) that truly brings me joy, I’ve been hardcore window shopping. I’ll also be doing a “My rules for halloween decor shopping” video on my youtube channel because when you love Halloween, it’s hard on your bank account and I can only fit so much in my house.
Originally, I was gonna talk about what I liked and didn’t like altogether in certain stores but I think now I’m going to break down each store in it’s own post because man, there is a lot of stuff.
Based on previous excursions, I know what stores to hit. And while Hobby Lobby technically was the first store to have stuff, ethically I avoid them as much as I can. You do you. BUT! So far the stores that have a decent amount up locally are Michaels, HomeGoods, At Home, Tuesday Morning, and Joann’s.
Target won’t be releasing until mid-late August (dollar spots should be getting some soon), Walgreens/CVS (surprise, they actually have good stuff) and World Market don’t have theirs up yet, TJ Maxx/Ross only have a trickle.
Technically, Pottery Barn and Pier 1 also have stuff up but 1) we do not have a Pottery Barn and 2) that shit’s expensive and I don’t have enough money to even step foot in those stores…..but they have super cute stuff and I want a lot of it. So I may just cover what’s up in their online shops.
So look out for future blogs on:
Michaels
At Home
Home Goods/Marshals/TJ Maxx/Ross
Tuesday Morning
Joann’s
Target
Walgreen’s/CVS
World Market
Pottery Barn/Pier 1/Crackle Barrel
But for now, let’s talk about a thing that is bugging me. Like really bugging me.
Bad Halloween design.
Yes, I want to talk to you about design. The perk/downside to having had dated a graphic designer is you learn about things like FONTS and KERNING and LAYOUT and DESIGN CHOICES. Which now makes me a snob.
The amount of times I look at something and think “that’s an ugly font choice” is way too often. But besides that, there’s just bad choices in general happening. Bedazzling, glitter, rhinestones, pom poms, so so much.
WHAT IS THIS???
Guys, we get it. You like puns, you like mismatched fonts and bad patterns. These have been staples of Halloween decor for years and years and it sales so why not?
Halloween is not like Christmas where you have color themes and everything can match and it’s well organized. Color wise, it’s a bit restrictive. But you can be so much more creative than this??
WHY THE DENIM SKULL? WHO IS DECORATING THEIR HOUSE IN DENIM?
WHO IS STILL BEDAZZLING THIS? We had the PIMP bedazzled cups when I was 15!! I’M 28! STOP IT!
There are in fact tasteful ways to do this kind of stuff. I bought a pillow with a bit of bedazzling. But nah. Just throw as much of that shit on a pillow as possible.
Design wise, a lot of these do not make sense. They’re hard to read, it’s not attractive, sometimes the placement is super weird. When you have 5 different fonts, your eyes start to bleed trying to read them all. And all those giant jewels? Super scratchy!
But also, WHY DENIM?
And I don’t know why but At Home decided to be brave and go outside the box by doing a Medieval themed Halloween collection. Which on paper sounds okay. And kudos for trying something new and yes I will be buying stuff for D&D, but once you take this outside the Halloween section and put it among your normal stuff it does not look Halloween-y at all. If you put these items up for sale outside of Halloween, I don’t think anyone would really blink.
Just because you have skeletons, does not make it Halloween. People die all year round and goth people exist. Ask Hot Topic.
Mostly I am so baffled by this pillow.
If it was orange, it would make sense. But because it’s a collection piece, it’s sticking with the collection colors and now it’s just weird.
So far of the stores, At Home is the worst offender with Home Goods being seconds. Like I said, I get it. They fill up at least 4 isles full of Halloween stuff and it’s mostly low-price and definitely aimed at people who completely redecorate their house per season. They tried. Though there’s more misses than hits this year.
Another unfortunate trend I’m noticing is the “Make Every Animal into a Skeleton even if it’s Anatomically Incorrect.”
Please stop. Not EVERY animal needs a skeleton.
Like I’m cool with the Cthulu vibes but I definitely don’t think that’s correct. And cool it with the Yoga skeletons. It was funny the first year but after like 5 years and multiple iterations, I’m mostly just annoyed.
Obviously, I’m a snob. But when you’re flooded with Halloween stuff every year and surround yourself with it all year long, you get to be picky. Not everything needs black glitter tulle and 12 different fonts and some strange orange plaid pattern. Pattern on top of pattern on top of ugly font makes your eyes hurt.
There are more fonts than the Bleeding Cowboy of Halloween. Try something new. Also the American Horror Story font was only cool on American Horror Story, please stop using that as an alternative.
I’ve seen some ugly decorations. Like UGLY decorations. Try to imagine them in your home away from the aisle. Does it match anything else? Is it cute? Is it alcohol pun related? If the last one applies, please stop. You can have fun without alcohol.
Stores, I get I’m not the demographic. There is a reason why we call this Southern Middle-Age White Mom style because that is very much who it’s aimed for. I don’t know why, they love this stuff and anything alcohol (especially wine) related. But do like 2 things for them and try some new stuff for everyone else.
Come up with a theme, a cool new theme and keep it mostly Halloween related. Pick one or two fonts at most and think up something interesting and fresh. Target does it every year so it is possible. Get GOOD graphic designers and creative directors. You can have a scary aesthetic or a cute one or a mystical one, etc. Play with color pairings. You do not have to do all of them in one product.
Please stop making ugly Halloween pillows and decor.
That’s my rant.
Next blog I’ll give my “review” of either Michael’s or Joann’s or Tuesday Morning. If there’s a store you really want to see covered first out of those three, let me know! Eventually I’ll do like a “How I incorporated everything into my tiny house” post.
On the Youtubes eventually (because my To-Do list is a mile long), I’ll have my go-to list on how I decide what to buy as well as a haul video on Unique Vintage’s Halloween collection.
It’s a crazy, busy time folks.
(PS. I’m currently in Hot Topic’s Spooky Good Halloween Design contest! Voting ends on the 14th at 11:59 PM so click this link for details and links to vote!)
-Sam <3