Justine over at Justine's Halloween found the cutest retro cat face stake from the Dollar Tree this year. Despite going to 6 stores, it seems to be sold out across the city. I did manage to score a couple of cute spider web table runners for the backs of my couches, some flocked bats and some nice little signs but have been foiled on the cat face. Oh well was not meant to be.
Our Target still had lots of great items left in stock and many I liked. But my budget is kind of blown for this year and I don't need anymore Halloween stuff. Still it was a better collection than they have had in while. These were my favorites.
Spooky terrarium
Great dog skeleton - this was as you can see already in someones basket
These items were not with the regular Halloween but were in homewares. Love the raven foot candle holders. They also had lovely wreaths. I hope this is a trend for Target to have gothic homeware.
Every year , I head to the American Classics Marketplace in a hunt for unique Halloween Items. In the past, I have gotten some really fab finds there. Perhaps I am a bit early, but Halloween was in short Supply. Still, I managed to find some creepy stuff.
This mask is well, very weird plus the mannequins nose is showing through the mouth adding to that sense of creepy.
A few small glitter pumpkings for sale
This bizarre skull bowl
This booth had some very beautiful taxidermy for people who decorate for Halloween all year long.
Cool witchy stuff for spells. I believe she was here last year.
Crystle Ball for your fortune telling needs
Fun little Gargoyle statue
Yeh - don't ask me to explain this......
Some fun branding
Like I said, I go every year and usually find some amazing vendors. Unfortunately, I think most of my favorites have moved on, never to return. I did pick up a couple of things. This cute Pumpking candle holder for instance.
And this lovely urn which I painted and filled with flowers for Baby M's nuptials.
His Lordship and I did a brief fall color loop midweek. We found a little color, frigid temperatures and fun animal capers.
First stop was the haunted Hotel Boulderado. His Lordship surprised me with the choice of accommodation knowing that I love a historic hotel. We dined at the elegant, all plant based "Leaf".
Hotel Boulderado's room 302 and 304 are supposedly haunted. A suicide that took place in 1924 is the most likely culprit. Guest report disembodied voices, electrical disturbances and ghostly apparitions.
We stayed in the old wing in room 310. The only disembodied voices we heard, however, were some hotel guest who engaged in a very loud conversation till midnight. I forgot my earplugs.
The hotel has an incredible stain glass ceiling, a huge wooden staircase, a weird old elevator you can only ride with staff, a fun speakeasy bar in the basement, and a lot of period furnishings.
After Boulder, we camped at Horse Tooth Reservoir and were serenaded all night by a lonely great horned owl. He called for hours. Then a front moved in, the temperatures plunged into the 30's and it snowed on our tent.
The following morning, we drove through the lovely Cache Le Poudre Canyon. The north end is still reeling Cameron Cone Fire last summer. Our destination was Walden which did not disappoint. There was a lovely fall color display at the State Forest State Park.
The Arapaho wildlife refuge is amazing. We saw a badger and a coyote harassing a pronghorn herd - yes this partnership is a real thing. The ponds were chock full of ducks, waders and shorebirds. I tried out my picture taking device to convince e-bird that these white blobs really were red necked phalaropes but with less than spectacular results.
We wimped out and got a cabin. Good thing too as temp when we woke up was 19 degrees. Ouch.
Dropping south through amazing fall color, it all stopped when we hit the burn scar of the East Troublesome Fire. It is really sad to think that someday Colorado will probably be just a series of burn scars due to man made climate change. It was a huge fire that left a lot of devastation in its wake.
At I-70 we hung out a little at the Idaho Springs cemetery. I was looking for birds but in their absence, many gravestone caught my eye.
Our last night camping was at the Burning Bear Campsite along the Guanella Pass. I think we got lucky as it was supposed to have closed but the camp host chose to stay a few extra weeks. We had another cold night complete with owl serenade - this time a barn owl screeched well into the wee hours. It sounded like someone was being slaughtered in the trees. If you have never heard one it sounds like this:
The next morning, we headed home thus ending our little jaunt. It was nice to get away, even for a few nights.
I like to check the thrift stores for Halloween decor as it makes good sense to reuse things and it is nice to support a charity. Sometimes you can find some real treasures. My preferred thrift store is the ARC. They seem to embraced Halloween here more that Goodwill or Salvation Army. They had some cute Halloween things just hitting the shelves when I arrived.
Cute Little Sign
Pirate skeleton band. Love the jug of Hooch.
I was tempted by this and even put in my cart for a spell. However, there was only one and in the end I decided I would rather not drink out of plastic.
I liked this but I do have a lot of it already.
This owl serving set was quite tempting but then I remembered that Baby M gave me skeleton servers a couple years back and I guess I do not need more.
These Beistle cut out were some retro fun but at $5 a pack I felt they were a little steep.
Sweet metal sign
Wacky Walmart pumpkins
As I passed on all of the above, what did I get. Well 2 pairs of Blue jeans. I get a lot of Levis for 4 bucks at the ARC. Plus the following cute items for the haunt:
a sign for my outdoor cemetery
Cocktail napkins new in the package that match some I already have
A cute candlelabra - just gotta redo the finish. Glitter is not my favorite.
