Crate and Barrel Posts Their 2011 Halloween Merch...

Continuing my rundown of the big box stores' 2011 Halloween wares, we have arrived at Crate and Barrel!

Typically Crate and Barrel has a small selection of high quality items in a simple graphic-pattern and this year is no different. 


Last year we got spiders.  Or, really, one very Muppety-looking spider.
This year's theme?  Cats.
Black cats... with his cousin Green Cat and second-sister-twice-removed: Purple Cat.

Check out their annual hot cocoa tin (see pic). Painted bright orange and adorned with cat and bat silhouettes, it incorporates the 2nd tier Halloween colors: purple and green in addition to the usual black. 

Let's compare it to last year's cocoa tin because I just so happen to have a screen grab from 2010's C and B webpage. 
(Who's a Halloween Addict?  That's right.  I am.)

I gotta say I like the 2011 tin better.  The incorporation of the bats and cats and colors really make it more "Halloweeny" even though they've dropped the word "Halloween" from the cocoa title (see pic left of 2010).

As you can see HERE on the CnB website the cats are the main focus of this year's line.  They're on mugs, plates, dishtowels and even drinking straws.  If you like the print, you're going to be happy because they're on a number of the products. 

If the cats aren't your thing, you might still enjoy these couple of items (as I did):

Ghost Tea Lights.  Take the normal tiny tea light candle and make 'em little tiny spooks and spirits. 
Brilliant, adorable and a fun way to put a little extra twist on your jack o' lantern carve. 
Just imagine that little Casper peeking out of a toothy pumpkin smile.  The details people.  The details are what separate the wheat from the chaff.  Or the Reese's from the wrappers.  Insert your favorite expression here.

Lastly there are these metal spider cupcake holders (see left). Something different that I've never seen before, they could really make a batch of tarantula cupcakes stand out (especially if you put some webbing across the table and spaced the cupcakes off the plate as if they were escaping). 

What CnB does in the photo is cute but I would have preferred a more menacing cupcake to really show how the metal holders can add to your cupcake design. 
Something like THESE "Woolly Spider Cupcakes."  You have to have that chocolate hairy-looking-body to make the legs work. 
(I don't think I've ever typed a sentence like that in my life.)

Overall, a strong but simple showing from the small, classy line Crate and Barrel puts out.  Click the pic to the left and you'll see an overall view of 2010's line and I think you might agree with me that the 2011 'cat print' beats last year's 'could-be-Halloween-could-be-'70s-retro-themed' color scheme. 

And there's that Muppety-looking spider I was talking about earlier too.  "Never trust a spider in a hat."-- Nietzsche (I think... maybe...)

As always, buy 'em HERE on the Crate and Barrel website.