Hello! I seem to be having so much trouble finding decorations this year!
Where do you buy bottles, foam pumpkins and fake rats, bats, spiders, etc???
I've gone to walmart, michaels, hobby lobby, halloween usa, halloween express.....
bottles don't have lids or corks. the bottles i do have are just things that have been collected over the years.
i have no idea where to find faux pumpkins. they didnt have them at the halloween stores or craft stores.
walmart did have some rats, spiders and bats but they were all flat plastic. or There were beanie spiders.
I've never had so much trouble finding things before this year! lol
Where do you find your decorations??
Bottles-- this year I bought a number of them from Michaels. Our stores had bottles with corks in them. I suspect if yours didn't someone took them out or never put them in when stocking on the shelves. If you have another store in your area check them out.
Pier One also has bottles.
If you find bottles you like that don't have corks, you should be able to pick up corks at hardware stores like ACE, Home Depot, Lowes. You might have to ask to find what department. You can also make your own bottle or jar covers, using brown paper and jute twine, cording, or raffia. I'm sure that not all of your bottles will have liquid in them so this method would work for those capless containers.
Foam Pumpkins -- gee our Michaels has lots of these. On sale recently too. Plus Michaels also has coupons in the ad flyers that you can use towards them.
Joanne Fabrics carries Funkin Pumpkins. They put these on sale often too.
Target has precut ones in the store.
Fake Rats, bats, spiders, etc. -- BIG LOTS is great. I bought realistic brown mice there for $3 each. Love these guys -- to real almost. BL also had giant rats -- I call them sewer rats. Bought a couple of them this year also. BL also has latex hanging cord bats. Have those too and love them. This stuff has been out at BL for a month or so, so not sure what their inventory is any more.
DOLLAR TREE has lots of stuff like this if not in the halloween section then look in the toy section. I saw a post by someone of a snake that you put in water that expands and hold its shape for a day or two. Looked great.
I found some great, maybe 1-2 inch, soft, wiggly, jelly-like spiders at PARTY CITY last year. I thought they would look great with a clear nylon thread run through them (maybe with something like a bead on the bottom to anchor it from pulling through the spider) and then attached to some overhead support. A little wind or movement near them makes them look like they move and are real. Party City has a decent Halloween section.
I've bought some great animal props at BUY COSTUMES.com. Great snakes and toads. Bats. Just bought a cool flapping wings bat that I absolutely love. BC occasionally runs specials with low cost or free shipping. If you sign up at their site you can get emails about their pricing breaks.
All of the above places I've purchased from and have been happy with my mdse and buying experience.
My goodwill is very poorly stocked. It's even difficult to find prop clothes there sometimes!
