Why I Oughta...

We were at Wannamakers in Downers Grove for their Christmas open house over the weekend and while the rest of the crew was waiting in line to see the Big Guy, I took the Bird and the King of the Ball Tossers into the store to wander around the Christmas lights department.  And that's where I came across these National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation LED light sets. If you look at the box, you'll see that they bill them as being 'twice as bright' and have bigger/brighter/more bulbs than normal strands of lights. Kind of interesting licensing at play here and I suppose it is a cute concept, but I wonder if anyone is actually buying these things?  They're more money than comparable sets and it seems like there's very little bragging rights in these once they're out of the box, right? As for the brightness, I think there's some upside there.  We've put big C9 LEDs on our annual Elmhurst Front Yard Christmas tree every year and I always notice

Another day, another Lemax Christmas village building.  This time it is the Corner Barber Shop, which just like the piano bar from yesterday is new this year . Mantleburg could totally use a barber shop.  Alas, it isn't in the cards. Both the barber shop and the piano bar are part of the Caddington Village collection that also features quite a few 'new in 2016' structures .

Our Menards in Melrose Park is in full Christmas mode these days.  They've set up the entire Enchanted Forest and now have their Lemax Christmas Village set up.   It *is* the most wonderful time of the year , isn't it? There's a bunch of new structures up this year and we'll start with this one above: CJ's Piano Bar.   From the product listing on the Lemax site , this is a new building for 2016.  It has a nice 'inside scene' and would be a nice addition to anyone's mainstreet.  But, what about Mantleburg, you're probably asking yourself?  Welp, the Mayor has decided to keep the moratorium on new buildings and annexations until the entire town of Mantleburg gets settled into their new home, which is currently slated for Christmas of 2017.   The last addition was made official in January of 2016, but I'm pretty sure that the saw mill was sitting in my trunk for an entire year , so it was likely annexed in the fall of 2014 - two years ago. I&#

The third building from Lemax's Spooky Town this year on the blog is Wanda's Cupcake Shop.  You can see the official listing here on the Lemax site . Earlier, we showed the Black Cauldron Bootique and the Scariest Halloween House on the blog as part of the setup at Menard's in Melrose Park. This one isn't animated and Wanda appears to have just some interior lights to show off her wares, but would be a cute addition to the town part of your own Spooky Town.  Unfortunately, Mantleburg isn't in the Halloween spirit.  And at $39.99, I don't blame the Mayor for not decorating for the fall.

Second in the series of Lemax Spookytown structures as featured at our Menards this Halloween season is this Black Cauldron Bootique.  I posted some photos of another building last week that was called the 'Scariest Halloween House' here on the blog .   This one retails for $10 more but it seems that you get a bit more including a taller structure, more lights and a few different witches in various spots around the place. Still not able to convince myself that Mantleburg needs a fall season.  Might have something to do with our housing situation.  Next year, I might be in a different mood come late summer for Spookytown.

If you looked closely at the photo I posted last week of the girls at Menards in front of the Halloween section , you may have noticed the Lemax Halloween house display.  Oh, that's right.  You're normal, so you wouldn't notice such things.  But me?  The keeper of Mantleburg?  And lover of Christmas Villages ?  I see these things.  And that's why, on our subsequent trips to Menards, I looked closely at all the various Lemax Spooky Town buildings. This first one, up top in the box, and down below unboxed, is the "Scariest Halloween House".  You can find the official description and details here on the Lemax site . Alas, we're not in the business of having a 'spooky town' for Mantleburg.  It has been a few years since Mantleburg even made it out of it's boxes and I know the Mayor isn't happy about that. Maybe when we have the new house - and the library (hint, hint, Nat???), there might be a way to bring out Mantleburg and who knows?