Our little NOTpuppy, Bucky, has been jumping like crazy learning to catch things in mid air. In that photoshoot, there’s an awesome little fox toy that has a squeaky ball for a body a knot to start its tail with a squeaker in it! And being a labrador retriever (they are quite the obsessive chewers!) with his adult teeth now, he’s obliterating stuffed toys in minutes already (even the so called “tough/chew guards” don’t stand a chance with their weak points), yet somehow this cheap (3$), adorably distressed looking little fox from Target’s fun Boots & Barkley dog product line keeps surviving the last few weeks! Impressed, i had to go find more! There’s the fox, beaver, and platypus in a few different colors… and they all have amusing distressed eyes that are too cute while being whipped about by Bucky. Take a peek at all the details on the next page!

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Tags: dog - gifts - shopping - target - toys

Adorable HUGE “Make Summer Funner” campaign installations by Target are popping up ~ just spotted these time lapse videos of the making of the giant iconic Little Tikes Turtle Sandbox in Chicago and the Sprinkler in Houston over at AdWeek… such a fun idea, would love to see them in person, check out the vids on the next page!

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Tags: advertising - target - toys

You've seen the other Target Gift Cards ~ but the incredible detail of the artwork and illustrations on the Winter Fishing Hole Game Gift Card deserved a post of its own! Full scan of the game board as well as the pieces/packaging are on the next page in addition to some fun closeups. From the signature on the game's board, figured out that the design is by brothers, Don and Ryan Clark, of Invisible Creature ~ who posted about the project earlier this month. They do some amazing gig posters, illustration work, and more ~ in particular i'm loving their monsters and creatures tonight! Take a peek at one of the coolest gift cards i've seen in a while on the next page ~ and if you think about it, it's a pretty cheap piece of art that is practically free... you can load it up with $5 to buy the gift card, then use that to buy something else and have the fun game to play or pin up somewhere! Details on the next page aren't to be missed!

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Tags: art - gifts - illustration - shopping - target

Would you believe that pile up there contains 4 different Target Gift Cards? After seeing a magazine ad for some of the new gift cards this season, Linhchi and i took a little field trip to 2 targets tonight to see what there was... i'm absolutely in love with the beautifully illustrated Winter Fishing Hole Board Game of a gift card as well as the adorable wind up dog that pulls a woody sleigh gift card ~ both of which are new for this year! Unfortunately between those two targets we weren't able to find the remote controlled mouse in a shopping cart, but you can still see pics of that on the next page. We're also now very familiar with exactly where around the whole layout of their stores you can find gift cards (different ones in different sections, often at the ends of aisles)... also found were a really fun coloring birthday card with a box of crayons as a gift card ~ and a relaxing car with a bathtub on a box filled with bath salts! I'm impressed with what playful and thoughtful ways target has come up with to enhance the often boring gift card giving experience. While this isn't a new phenomenon (remember the light up Target Wii gift card we dissected?) ~ this year's did seem particularly noteworthy for fun design! See closeups and others on the next page...

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Tags: art - gifts - shopping - target

Latest in designer collabs for Target is Dror. While most of the new collection is more pillows, bedding, little stationery accessories ~ the one piece that really caught my eye are the Nesting/Stacking Bookcase/Shelves! I wonder if they could also be little stools as well? While i'm not sure that i love how they look stacked, i do love that they stack and nest! So multipurpose, and easy to move? Take a peek at some of the larger pics on the next page, and browse the full collection here.

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Tags: books - furniture - gifts - home - shopping - target

I first met the adorable brothers Salm (Isaac, the numbers guy and Jaime, the design guy) of MIO on my press trip to Philadelphia a few years back ~ and their passion for sustainability, the history of philly as a manufacturing resource, and their love of design (as well as the way the PR girls swooned over them) were hard to miss. It's thrilling to see that they are one of the latest to be tapped by Target. It's a playful eco-friendly collection to help make "going green" even easier, claim the press release...

In the collection are: A set of gardening tools, solar garden lights, portable hammock, watering can, herbs, and a composter. Of them all, i'm most intrigued in the composter! After much hunting, there doesn't seem to be much in the realm of attractive composting hardware out there ~ this bright green piece is so playful and refreshing! Check out the full collection larger and the full press release on the next page! The collection will be available starting April 12th.

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Tags: gifts - green - shopping - target

NEW!!! Did you see it yet? I'm so giddy to share this new feature we've been crunching on ~ in fact, dan's still working on getting things ready for NotCouture ~ but i can't contain myself, so you can take a peek at NOTCOT.org while that gets going...

Did you find them yet? The dolls? We've tucked them in around the site ~ you never know exactly where they will pop up next~ and we're so lucky that Target *gets* our playful side to sponsor the first instance of this new NOTCOT.org/NotCouture gallery! And where do they take you? Well you'll have to click to find out...

Ok, well more to come on all of this in the morning perhaps ~ will let you play with it first!

p.s.
How awesome is the Target McQueen Collection? And the Blythe Dolls? SO fun to work on the last few days!

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Tags: gallery - target

NOTCOT Note: I've been so curious about the Target Bodega's popping up in NYC, thankfully, Anna was able to stop by and take a few pics to share with us!

I stopped by Target's Bullseye Bodega in Union Square this weekend - one of their four pop-up stores in Manhattan (open for only four days, today being the last). The store design plays on the classic New York bodega and is filled with exclusive Target home, fashion and beauty products from the likes of DwellStudio, Converse One Star, and Michael Graves to name a few. Besides products already in Target stores, the bodegas offered a preview sale of four new lines that aren't yet in stores - Sigerson Morrison, Anya Hindmarch, John Derian, and Jonathan Saunders.

I preferred the design and concept behind the stores to the products themselves, and have a bunch of pictures on the next page showcasing the fun graphics and bodega-like installations in the stores.

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Tags: home - new york - popup - sub-studio - target

So my mother sends me an email linking Target's Club Wedd Catalog. Yes, a catalog for those prepping for their vows. No, i'm not at all anywhere near that stage of my life... and i don't *think* she's hinting at anything (she'd be skipping a major step, seeing as i'm single). Anyhow, turns out what she claims to have wanted to point out is that she really liked page 74 which has a nice "what you need in your kitchen drawer" type diagram... i love that they have things like Silicone Gadgets, Angled Measuring Cups, Potato Ricer, Zester, etc... really the whole guide could be an easy way to catch your bachelor friends up on what they need in their houses...

ALSO noteworthy... when two giants converge, as soon as i started flipping through this digital catalog, i kept feeling like i was at Daily Candy, but i knew i was at Target, naturally i thought i was losing it... Turns out i'm not completely crazy, and they enlisted Daily Candy's signature illustrator, Sujean Rim to paint the adorable images of newly weds in various stages... see more images below of my favorites!

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Tags: gift guide - shopping - target