Just a quick run through of some more of the halloween decorations hitting the shelves in the UK. As with the last few years now, most are party decorations for once only use (e.g. paper plates or bunting), or edible gifts... but amongst all this there are a few interesting reuseable goodies.
John Lewis can usually be relied upon to put some quality items out, although I noted on their website that the metal haunted house in which one puts tealights did not light up as well as those for sale in previous years. I must say that I am personally not much of a fan of any decoration that is covered in black glitter that seems only too readily to rub off and make a mess. So for me this year the interesting items were two of the simplest and cheapest - the two tin cans into which one could put tealights - one orange with a pumpkin silhoutte and the other black with a bat design - £2.50 each. (I didn't really get a good shot of these - they are in the third picture to the right of the Halloween sign.)
TK Maxx for years were a good bet for interesting and unusual decorations but in the past two years I haven't a clue what's been happening as some of their stores have gone from stacked high of the good stuff to practically nothing. This year they have scented candles but little else - apart from some confectionery - although the Dracula tin of jellied sweets is a nice design.
And then a shop that has been quite poor with its selection in recent years comes in trumps with some quality decorations rather than just the cheaper end of the fancy dress market. So hats off to Clintons! I like the Halloween tree of 3 glass pumpkins in which one can put tealights for £11.99. The black ceramic cat is also, if a tad expensive, quite classy. And the small tealight holders which are painted black but have etched pumpkin designs and are reflective on the inside are also not available every year. Interestingly I saw some similar orange glass pumpkin tealight holders similar to those hanging from the Clintons 'tree' in Waitrose and very reasonably priced at £2 each, however on close inspection the Waitrose ones didn't even come close in quality and the faces were very poorly painted and didn't keep to the design.
Happy hunting!
Monday 7th October 2013
Update * Saturday 12th October 2013*
Found this other photo of Clintons Cards' Folkestone store which shows off their range a bit better.
