Sunday, September 09, 2007

halloween is online first

while we're still waiting on the halloween merchandise to fully make it into real-life stores, the halloween store is up & running on the website . it's a little disconcerting to not see anything like the fun graphics or flash intros to this section like we saw last year, but maybe even target can't make that kind of investment every year.

a few notes on the items:
* 6ft tall dr. shivers looks fishily like the guy from "back to the future".
* 6ft tall groom holding bride's head is just creepy...even for those of us with a high tolerance for creep.
* of the 6ft tall characters, the butler is our favorite...but what is that he's holding? real chicken wings?
* the tall coffin shows a lot of promise as a holder for chips & dips and is very reasonably priced. just noted it's only available online & won't be in stores.
* there are a couple varieties of gargoyles that seem pretty exciting. (this one reminds us of a flying monkey from "the wizard of oz".) also not available in stores.
* this fearnology treat jar seems very inspired, but the price makes it an investment. would have to think on that one...or see if it makes it to clearance. since it's online only, and ceramic, shipping might be hefty...
* this urn is pretty good-looking. you'd need a pair. thing is, they don't tell you what it's made of...by the weight of it (6 lbs), we're guessing it's coated foam.
* there's a skeleton wearing jeans who's very day-of-the-dead and fun.
* as far as costumes go, it's about time they made this type of shark costume. we've been thinking about making one of these for several years, but it seemed like a lot of work to make the pattern and the costume. now we can get one for $50.

halloweeeeeeeeeeeen

the halloween stuff has begun to trickle in to our nearby target stores. our first favorite find (from these early arrivals) is mummy finger suckers! not sure why they're called "mummy fingers", when they seem to "fresh" to be mummified, but we dig em anyway. and they're only $1.99 per pack of 4! (that's just shy of $.50 each)


we also liked other early-arrivers "eyeball ice trays"...and were all excited that they were also only $1.99...but it turned out they were above the WRONG PRICE TAG, and using the handy dandy upc scanner, we found out they're actually $4.99 EACH! not sure it's worth it when we could buy candy eyeballs and make them on our own, will see if any of them make it to clearance.

very intriguing are the scientific test tube decanter drink mixes that come in green (sour apple martini) and orange (mango margarita). am pretty into these and will probably get some soon, altho since they're glass, they seem frighteningly fragile for your holiday bash.

$2.48 FINDS

as part of recent need to completely clear the house for FALL, we were able to get some GREAT deals at the local target.


For just $2.48 each, we got:
* a dark grey cotton polo shirt
* a set of 12 bamboo utensils
* TWO 4-packs of rectangular bamboo plates
* a special cloth for cleaning stainless steel

there are still some clearance goodies like this out there! check the outer endcaps of your target store today!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

it's in the bag


we're baaaaaaaaaaack!

it's been a long long time, and much great stuff has come and gone from our favorite #2 retailer in the country in the meantime. one tried-and-true favorite that we hope never goes away is, of course, method clean!

last time i had to buy a refill of method shower cleaner in a giant plastic bottle i thought "hmmmm, isn't there some other way to package this...maybe a bag?" and lo-and-behold...the next time i needed to buy refill liquid hand soap...TA-DA! the method liquid hand soap BAG REFILL!

hooray again for our friends at method!

also look for the new method UFO and OMOP at a target store near you (http://www.methodhome.com/)

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

post-holidaze no man's land

just exploring the target web site, and found a bunch of holiday decor items. most of them are not on sale, and are definitely not on clearance, so not sure what's going on here...are these items for NEXT holiday season?
some particularly odd ones are:
indoor/outdoor evergreen cross
freestand floor votive holder (this one is on clearance)
3 votive holder with beads
tree door mat

in the food & bev category: found these light up ice cubes featured in the red hot shop. we've had a set of these for awhile, so nice to see they're getting some attention...altho we still don't really know why you'd need em. these udon bowls are awesome (they sell the same at sur la table for more money), but seem like a storage difficulty, since they certainly don't seem stackable. this kid's dish set is pretty fun, and we'd be buying these diner plates if they weren't a little pricey.

in the home decor category: this mod wallpaper seems exciting, it's really unclear how you hang it...what does "can be hung dry mean? fake mosaic wallpaper is awesome too, but same deal (what is the deal?) on the hanging it.

in stores, some of our fun finds for this week are:
women's leather gloves for $4 a pair
women's turtleneck shirts for a mere $2.24 each
women's heavyweight leggings (for very cold days) for $1.48

Monday, January 08, 2007

emergen-c on SALE!!!

it's true. our favorite cold & flu fighter is currently on sale for just $4.98 for the 32 pack box! this is maybe because they really stocked up on it for the holiday season. hurry and get yours while it's so cheep.

TARGET in top 10 for top brands in 2007!

according to a recent brand study, it's going to be a banner year for our favorite store...like we didn't already know that.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

if you like the holiday decor, just ask!

if you've found yourself coveting the paperlace holiday cutouts hanging at the front door all season, our advice is to simply ask the customer service desk representative if you may have them. occasionally they're committed to a school, church, or other non-profit that got there before you...but more often than not they aren't! but heed our advice...from experience..be sure to get to the store to pickup your take AS they're being removed, or be absolutely SURE they're going to be saved for you somehow. a couple of years ago we "reserved" a set of giant plastic halloween masks, left our name and everything, only to arrive at the store just as they met THE CRUSHER. don't let this happen to you. claim your holiday decor on Jan 2.

Monday, January 01, 2007

it's CLEARANCE time!!!

1st of all, as of new year's day 2007, all holiday items are 50% off. we have a feeling they'll be down to 75% off tomorrow.

there are still some fun things to be had. today we got:
- a super-long tablecloth, red with dark red swirls for $6
- photoclip mobile for $3 (massive amount of them can be found hidden on the back-side of a knit hat display in the men's dept at the waterfront Target in Homestead, PA)
- "sputnik photoclip" (pic to come soon) for $3 (can be found in equally large quantity right above the above mobiles)
- retro garland with snowflakes & tiny tinsel for $5
- buddha desktop organizer (pic to come soon) for $4
- xmas & season's greetings cards for next year -- still a big selection, most boxes are $4.50

as many of you know, we're practically obsessed with method cleaning products. good news is that the special "holiday" scents are 1/2 off! you'll find spiced pear, vanilla mint, and cranberry something-or-other scents that are just as good as their year-round counterparts for room spray, aroma pills, candles, countertop cleaner, and dish soap (good luck finding the hand soap on clearance, it seems to have sold out at regular price). here's an idea we put into practice: get the aroma pill w/ plug-in dock for 1/2 off (about $4), then refill the pill with year-round scent refills! you just beat the system, my friend.

don't forget to check other areas of the store...there's clearance EVERYWHERE!
especially check out the candle section and the "seasonal" home items (in most cases you can't even tell how it's "seasonal")

Sunday, December 31, 2006

$2.50 Stuff in the $1 Spot?

We've heard a bit of static (won't go as far as to say complaints, more like displeased notices) about the new-ish 2/$5 items in the "$1 Spot"! Now, by virtue of the name of this section, you'd THINK that everything would cost $1. But a few months ago Target began adding things for $2.50. It seems to be a trend among dollar stores ... with even those with the word "dollar" in their name selling $2, $5, even $10 things. But we expect better expectation-setting from our friends at Target. The thing is...when you're walking toward the $1 spot you may get all excited to see a mini-globe bank or small sake set, only to be disappointed when you see the $2.50 tag. Not that these items aren't worth that cost, and not that $2.50 isn't still an unbelievably good price for these things--it's still a tiny letdown that you could do without. It seems Target's trying to help us out by grouping the $2.50 items onto one "wall" of the section. Hopefully they can stick to that to help keep our $1 expectations in line.