It’s important to keep an eye out for upcoming pop culture and lifestyle trends, especially if you are creating content in the beauty and fashion, cooking and food, kids and family, holiday, home decor, travel, and pop culture content niches.

Comforting Hues Take Centerstage for 2026 Home Decor (Gifts & Decorative Accessories)

Confectionery flavours to watch in 2026 (Confectionery News)

Design Experts Reveal The Top Interiors Trends For 2026 (Country & Town House)

The 11 Key Interior Design Trends Set to Define 2026 (Vogue)

5 Home and Garden Trends You’ll See Everywhere In 2026, According to HGTV Experts (HGTV)

The four creative trends that will define marketing in 2026 (Adobe)

The 4 Throwback Living Room Trends You’re About to See Everywhere in 2026, Designers Say (The Spruce)

From ‘glacier aesthetic’ to ‘poetcore’: Pinterest predicts the visual trends of 2026 based on its search data (The Guardian)

Good Thinking’s 2026 Predictions (Good Thinking)

Here’s What Vogue Editors Hope Will Trend in 2026 (Vogue)

Is Campus Culture Becoming a Key Force in Experiential Marketing? (BizBash)

The New Consumer 2026 And Five Mega-Trends Reshaping American Commerce (Forbes)

The Notable Properties Entering the Public Domain This Decade (License Global)

Pinterest Predicts: Nonconformity, self-preservation, and escapism drive 21 trends for 2026 (Pinterest)

Redecorating Your Living Room in 2026? These Are the Trends Designers Want to See You Use in the New Year (Homes & Gardens)

7 Paint Colors That Will Be Everywhere in 2026, Pros Say (The Spruce)

Top Plush Toy Trends for 2026: Licensed Characters and Pet-Inspired Designs Lead the Way (Gifts & Decorative Accessories)

The 12 brand, marketing and experience trends set to define 2026 (Lippincott)

The Weird and Wonderful Consumer Trends Steering Brands Into 2026 (Wall Street Journal)

What Do Customers Want in 2026? GDA Editors Explore Top Trends Across 9 Product Categories (Gifts & Decorative Accessories)

Year-End Reflection from Upcoming Intellectual Properties (License Global)

If you benefitted from trending content topics news in this post, sign up for our Creator Inspiration private group on Facebook and subscribe to our Creator Inspiration newsletter.

Happy content planning,

Creator Inspiration

The post Trendspotting and Coolhunting: Trends Research for 2026 appeared first on Creator Inspiration.

Here are the current seasonal, holiday trends, coolhunting and trend spotting articles I think you may benefit from this festive, busy month! I had fun curating these for you.

Care Bears Digital Pets might be peak nostalgia, but I’m here for it (Creative Bloq)

Coca-Cola Launches the ‘Coca-Cola Holiday Creamy Vanilla’ (Trend Hunter)

Disney Celebrates the Toy Story 30th Anniversary with New Collectibles (Trend Hunter)

Experts reveal the biggest Christmas tablescaping trends of 2025 – to elevate festive feasting in style (Woman & Home)

‘Festive Nostalgia’ is Christmas 2025’s Biggest Decor Trend – We’re Taking Notes From Elizabeth Taylor’s ’50s Tree (

5 Holiday Decor Trends That We’ll Be Seeing EVERYWHERE This December (House Beautiful)

5 Nostalgic ’90s Fall Trends We’re Still Recreating in 2025 (Better Homes & Gardens)

For Gen Z, quiet luxury is dead—they’re packing lunch at home while shelling out on conspicuous consumption (Fortune)

Gymboree, New York City Ballet Partner on a Nutcracker-Inspired Holiday Capsule Collection (License Global)

Hostess adds Wicked-inspired cupcakes (Food Business News)

How Millennials’ Y2K Nostalgia Is Fueling This New Round of TV Revivals — Including ‘Scrubs,’ ‘Buffy’ and ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ (Variety)

A Look Back: 100 Years of Christmas Tree Trends (Better Homes & Gardens)

Mattel Launches ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Fashion Doll Collection (License Global)

Mini Crafts Are Everywhere Right Now—Here’s How to Try the Tiny Trend (Better Homes & Gardens)

Playmobil Announces Global Licensing Partnership with WWE (License Global)

Pop Culture Meets Regency Glam: NYX x Bridgerton Is the Holiday Makeup Collab Everyone’s Talking About (Fashion and Fandom)

7 Trending Hobbies for 2025 That Will Elevate Your Home and Calm Your Mind (Better Homes & Gardens)

The Simple Joys of Cafecore: How Today’s Homes are Drinking Up Coffeehouse Culture (Better Homes & Gardens)

TikTok Can’t Get Enough of Ralph Lauren Christmas—Here’s How to Embrace the Look (Veranda)

Top 5 Christmas confectionery trends 2025 (Confectionery News)

The Vintage Holiday Decor Trend Bringing Back Old-School Christmas Charm (Country Living)

What Are Shoppers Dreaming of? A Ralph Lauren Christmas. (NY Times)

Why Cluttercore Is This Year’s Must-Try Design Trend: 7 Tips for Nailing the Look (Better Homes & Gardens)

Why, Nearly 60 Years In, ‘Ralph Lauren Christmas’ Is the Nostalgic Holiday Trend Defining 2025’s Festive Season (Homes and Gardens)

If you benefitted from trending content topics news in this post, sign up for our Creator Inspiration private group on Facebook and subscribe to our Creator Inspiration newsletter.

Happy content planning,

Creator Inspiration

The post Trendspotting and Coolhunting: News and Trends Links for November 2025 appeared first on Creator Inspiration.

Here are the current seasonal and holiday trends, coolhunting and trend spotting articles we think you may benefit from this festive, busy month!

The Best Winter 2024 Fashion Trends (Harpers Bazaar)

Double Drenching Is the Creative Interior Color Trend to Try ASAP (Better Homes & Gardens)

8 Furniture Trends That Will Be Huge in 2025 (Better Homes & Gardens)

8 Gorgeous Nail Trends Everyone Will Be Asking For In 2025 (Southern Living)

Expect to See These 5 Home Design Trends in 2025, According to Zillow (Better Homes & Gardens)

5 Holiday Jewelry Trends That Will Make You the Star of the Party (InStyle)

IKEA’s Bold 2025 Color of the Year Is Here to Electrify Your Space (Better Homes & Gardens)

I’m a Dress Devotee, But These 6 Fresh Trouser Trends Are Set to Dominate 2025 (Who What Wear)

The License Global Toy Forecast 2025 (License Global)

A new holiday ritual? Advent book bundles fly off library shelves (Trendwatching)

New products from Blue Diamond, SNAX-Sational and Skinny Dipped (Food Business News)

Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year Is a Toasty, Decadent Shade of Mocha (Better Homes & Gardens)

Pinterest Predicts: See Next Year’s Trends, Now: 2025 (Pinterest)

The Retro Holiday Decor Trend to Try Based on Your Favorite Christmas Cookie (Better Homes & Gardens)

The Rufflecore Aesthetic Proves Romantic, Vintage-Inspired Rooms Are Still Trending (Better Homes & Gardens)

7 Food Trends That Will Be Everywhere in 2025—According to Instacart (Martha Stewart)

7 Top Christmas Decorating Trends of 2024 (Better Homes & Gardens)

These 8 Interior Design Trends Are Poised to Be Everywhere in 2025 (Elle Decor)

30 Festive Christmas Tree Themes to Try Out This Holiday Season (House Beautiful)

This season’s most merry gift idea: burr baskets. (Target Finds)

The Vogue Business Beauty Trend Tracker (Vogue)

‘Tis the Season to Wear Fun Socks (In Style)

A Touch of Velvet Is the Easiest Way to Dress Up for the Holidays (The Pioneer Woman)

We’ve Done the Research—These Are the Handbag Trends Everyone Will Be Carrying in 2025 (Who What Wear)

What’s New in the World of Board Games? (Global Toy News)

WHITE CHRISTMAS Heads Back To Theaters For 70th Anniversary Screenings (Fashion and Fandom)

The White House Christmas decorations are guided ‘by the peace and light of the holiday season’ – and the tree follows this 2024 trend (Homes and Gardens)

4 Winter Cocktail Trends Set To Dominate 2024/2025, According To Experts (Forbes)

If you benefitted from trending content topics news in this post, sign up for our Creator Inspiration private group on Facebook and subscribe to our Creator Inspiration newsletter.

Happy content planning,

Creator Inspiration

The post Trendspotting and Coolhunting: News and Trends Links for December 2024 appeared first on Creator Inspiration.

Here are the current trends, coolhunting and trend spotting articles we think you may benefit from this month!

Bog is Love: The Rise of Bogcore (Crime Reads)

Comprehensive List of ‘Mean Girls’ Anniversary Consumer Products (License Global)

DIFF Eyewear Adds Magical New Styles To Its Harry Potter Collection (Fashion and Fandom)

Every Womenswear Trend to Be Aware of in the Fall/Winter of 2024 (Prestige)

Everyone’s Decorating for Halloween Like It’s 1970 (Domino)

From TikTok to table: The latest food trends taking over kitchens this fall (Seattle Times)

How to Have a ‘Strega Nona Fall’—TikTok’s Biggest Trend of the Season (Martha Stewart)

IKEA’s “Dreamy” VINTERFINT Holiday Collection Is Here, and It’s Filled With Cozy Must Haves (Apartment Therapy)

Introducing Dark Academia’s Cooler Sister Trend For Fall: Whimsigoth (Glam.com)

Krispy Kreme is calling in the Ghostbusters to celebrate the spooky season (Guilty Eats)

Microtrends are killing personal style and making shopping a nightmare (NBC News)

Paramount Celebrates Mean Girls Day (Licensing.Biz)

The Pinterest 2024 Halloween Trend Report (Pinterest.com)

PUMA, Mattel Sign Global Licensing Deal for Hot Wheels-Themed Collections (License Global)

Reebok, Universal Monsters Unveil “Boktober” Collection (License Global)

Sleigh the Holidays with Disney’s Holiday Shop (Pop Insider)

This retro fabric is making a big comeback with fashionistas this fall (NY Post)

This Will Be the Biggest Décor Trend of Halloween, According to Pinterest (Martha Stewart)

Welcome to “The Spooky Season” (Global Toy News)

What is Winter Arc, the viral TikTok self-improvement trend? (Women’s Health)

If you benefitted from trending content topics news in this post, sign up for our Creator Inspiration private group on Facebook and subscribe to our Creator Inspiration newsletter.

Happy content planning,

Creator Inspiration

The post Trendspotting and Coolhunting: News and Trends Links for October 2024 appeared first on Creator Inspiration.

It’s never too early to begin planning (and creating) your Halloween content. We start our Halloween research in early July now that major stores come out with their yearly new products so soon. Then we start filming, videoing, writing, blogging and creating our Halloween content in late July and early August.

Here are links to the Halloween shops at major retailers to help you spot trends and plan your product purchases, content calendars and spooky season content. We’ll include some of our notes and thoughts on each merchant’s Halloween offerings, too.

This article is a work in progress – come back daily to see updates throughout the spooky season.

Crate and Barrel

https://www.crateandbarrel.com/holiday/halloween/

Crate and Barrel specializes in modern Halloween decorations and entertaining/tabletop items. There are Halloween dishes, old fashioned glasses, and decorative pumpkins.

Themes include pumpkins and ghosts. Colors mainly include white, cream, black and orange.

Summary:

Crate and Barrel has limited new items available as of this writing in late July 2024.

Michaels Crafts

https://www.michaels.com/shop/holidays-occasions/halloween/lemax-spooky-town-collection

Right now Michaels is featuring Lemax Spooky Town (lit Halloween village houses) and Hippie Hallow (pink and orange pastel items). Items are in stores, but not necessarily showcased on the website right now.

Coming soon to the web – Midnight Moon, Haunted Forest and Hocus Pocus.

Summary:

Go in person to get trends and product research at Michaels Crafts brick and mortar stores. The really good stuff will sell out by the first week of August, to be honest.

Pottery Barn

https://www.potterybarn.com/shop/holiday-decor/holiday-decor-halloween/

Themes: 

“Bone Appetit” – Scarier tabletop items, including a massive skull wine chiller, and pewter skeleton serving pieces and drinkware.

“Creature Comforts” – Darling textural throw pillows shaped like jack o’lanterns and ghosts. One of the pillows takes batteries and lights up. The “Peek-a-Boo Cat Pillow” is unique and unusual.

“Eat, Drink and Be Scary” – Autumn themed and cutesey Halloween tabletop items. Lots of gourd-shaped bowls and mugs, plus ghost mugs. There’s an impressive oversized “Haunted House party bucket” similar to their ceramic haunted house cookie jar last year. They’ve woven some of their pre-existing galvanized steel tiered serving trays into their tablescapes. A few white stoneware cheery smiling ghost serving pieces are part of the offerings.

“Enter if you Dare” features spooky or botanical pieces for your front door, including giant light up spiders, faux pumpkins, LED candles, and a harvest wreath. There are also some new metal haunted house lanterns that look pretty similar to every one else’s pieces.

“That’s the Spirit” – Cheerful, tall, flowy ghosts that light up.

Pottery Barn’s color schemes this year are, unsurprisingly, black and orange, with white and ivory mixed in.

Standout new pieces include the life-sized “Lit Mr. Bones” which can come in pink, ivory or black; Halloween themed Fair Isle style throw blankets for the living room; ceramic black haunted houses for decor; the black Scary Squad glow in the dark haunted house pillow; a haunted house Halloween countdown calendar; and the aluminum ghost candy bowl.

You can re-use Pottery Barn’s nicely sized faux pumpkins and gourds in Thanksgiving and autumn photo shoots and product content as well.

This year’s figural pumpkin candles are glitzy and elegant. There are rattan style woven pumpkins and pomegranate wreaths you could work into cottagecore or Harvest content.

There are only a couple of new Harry Potter themed Halloween decorations, such as this Lit Dementor.

Summary:

Pottery Barn has gone all in this year on jack ‘o lanterns and pumpkins, skeletons, ghosts, and spiders. They offer a choice between elegant spooky or cutesy ghosts. One could use Pottery Barn’s Halloween decor for elegant soirees or kid-friendly gatherings. There are a couple of bats, but no vampires or witches in sight. While they offer a sheet set, the majority of items are either for dining room, living room or front patio.

Sur la Table

https://www.surlatable.com/halloween/

Themes: 

Pumpkins, skeletons, and ghosts.

Sur la Table doesn’t come out with as many new custom Halloween items as the other stores, and they carry items by other companies. They’re carrying repeat items from last year, such as the Lodge cast iron sugar skull pan and pumpkin cocottes.

As this is primarily a kitchen store, you can expect pumpkin Dutch ovens, skeleton aprons, and skull tabletop items. There are ghost mini waffle makers, skull ice cube molds, and other useful items. The oversized jack o’ lantern cookie cutter is my personal favorite.

A few plaid potholders and kitchen towels round out their Harvest and Halloween offerings for people looking for homey kitchen items.

Summary:

I’m actually disappointed by Sur la Table’s lackluster offerings this year, and hope that their company isn’t struggling.

Target

https://www.target.com/c/halloween/-/N-5xt2o

Target has a huge collection of Halloween decor products custom made for them. They also carry an enormous amount of Halloween products by other manufacturers. They sell Halloween costumes, Halloween makeup, Halloween indoor decor, tons of Halloween inflatables for outdoors, Halloween party supplies, and of course Halloween candy. I love that they also have a section for Halloween clothes that aren’t costumes.

Target’s “Hyde & Eek! Boutique” showcases their custom Halloween items. This year there’s a line of “Featherly friends” in neon glow colors; felt bats and birds; pumpkins and jack o’ lanterns; skeletons and dead animal bones props; light up crystal balls and jack o’ lanterns; and this year’s animated spooky telephone. One of the more unusual items is the vampire pumpkin, which lights up. Many of Target’s items light up and make noise or move or all three. Target continues their tradition of offering cutesey wooden mantel decor houses and figures. There’s a shearling jack o’ lantern pillow similar to one at Pottery Barn, but Target’s doesn’t light up.

Themes include witches, pumpkins, jack o’lanterns, bats, skeletons, a few haunted houses, and the occasional black cat. There are a few blow mold items, such as this lit blow mold pumpkin in neon green.

Color schemes include bone white, black and orange (of course), neon orange and neon pink. There are a few green and white plaid items and a green velvet witch’s hat decor piece. A standout item is the neon orange and hot pink felt Halloween wreath with smiling skulls.

Target’s outdoor decor rivals Home Depot’s. There are lots of creepy skeletons, inflatables over six feet tall, and scary rather than cutesey decor. A standout item is the eleven foot LED skull archway in green. Their Halloween lighting offers the broadest selection in the US that I know of (Home Depot doesn’t even come close). String lights, flickering lights, garlands and light up signs are among their offerings.

The costume department at Target has basically the same costumes as everywhere else, perhaps with more light-up costumes and glow in the dark items.

Summary:

Target is a leader in Halloween trends. With the ability to obtain Target.com affiliate links from many networks, it would be good to focus your holiday content creation efforts on products from this site.

TJ Maxx and Marshalls

https://tjmaxx.tjx.com/store/shop/home-shop-by-category-halloween/_/N-4017726405

https://www.marshalls.com/us/store/shop/home-home-halloween/_/N-4107619346

TJ Maxx currently has 109 Halloween items showcased on their website. There are spooky beaded placemats, Halloween throws, Hello Kitty and Peanuts Halloween items, glitzy skulls, Halloween dishes, Halloween candy bowls, wine goblets and mugs, and plush pumpkin pillows.

Marshalls has similar decor, perhaps with a few more Day of the Dead items than TJ Maxx. Some of the brands featured here are Martha Stewart, Cupcakes & Cashmere, Nightmare Before Christmas and Christian Lacroix.

West Elm

https://www.westelm.com/shop/holidays/halloween/

West Elm’s theme is “Spirited Style.” They feature modern, chic and unusual statement pieces, Halloween decor and tabletop items.

The main colors from West Elm for this Halloween season are black, taupe, and ivory, punctuated by terracotta orange. Many of their colors are muted, but some of the pumpkin and jack o’ lantern items are shiny.

Themes include witches, snakes, skulls, and magical imagery such as the moon, palmistry hand, and a staring eye.

A standout item is the Terracotta Flower Skeleton object. I also haven’t seen anything elsewhere that’s similar to their Decorative Spooky Paper Pumpkins.

Summary:

West Elm has specialized in Halloween barware and serving ware, plus large statement pieces for decorating in front of mantels or front doors.

Williams Sonoma

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/holidays/halloween/

Themes: 

Haunted Happy Hour with Juliana Mcintosh – She shares some spooky cocktail recipes that tie into Williams Sonoma’s drinks glasses, cocktail items and barware.

Spooky Soiree – Crows, snakes and witches. For example, these witch salad plates.

Trick or Treat Yourself – Williams Sonoma is always known for their custom created specialty seasonal candies, desserts and cookies.

Williams Sonoma also carries tons of specialty Halloween bakeware, barware, garden and home decor items, tabletop and food items.

In the garden decor area, a standout item is their topiary witch. The rest is pre-lit faux Halloween trees, and wreaths.

Standout food items include their Halloween countdown calendar, pre-baked and decorated Halloween cookies, and the very on-trend Halloween chocolate board. There’s a cute, but not unique, DIY Halloween haunted house cookie kit. I’d like to hear more information on the Halloween slice and bake cookies – do they arrive frozen, as I assume?

Williams Sonoma is at the forefront of this year’s breakable Halloween chocolates trend. Their breakable chocolate bat and pumpkin spill out candies when whacked with the small mallet that’s provided with the purchase.They also carry a set of three breakable chocolate skulls.

Williams Sonoma offers a few showstopper Halloween cakes, including a pumpkin cake you could use for Harvest themes, a bat cake, and a ghostly red velvet cake. I’ll probably bake my own, but you might find a buyer, given good product videos and content marketing.

Interesting and unique tabletop items include this figural witch mug, a white marble ghost cheese board, and also a black marble bat cheese board. This year’s cauldron coffee mugs are chunky and seem more like soup bowls, except they also have “Cauldron stoneware soup bowls” which don’t really look like cauldrons to me.

Over in the bar section, there are elegant black and copper wine glasses, stunning packaging on the Vampire Punch Cocktail Mix bottle, pewter Witch’s Broom stirring sticks, and a pumpkin punch bowl you could re-use for Harvest, Autumn and Thanksgiving motifs.

Instead of Harry Potter like every company for the past couple of years, Williams Sonoma has partnered with Snoopy and Peanuts, the comic franchise.

In the decor arena, there’s a pre-lit lifesize skeleton called Madame Bonesworth, but I prefer the pre-lit skeletons at Pottery Barn for their look and amount of lights.

Summary:

Williams Sonoma has a LOT of unique custom products. They feature lots of ghosts and skeletons, and also witches and vampires. Their focus is on gourmet Halloween foods, and on elegant barware and tableware.

World Market

https://www.worldmarket.com/c/holidays/halloween/

World Market does not have their new 2024 Halloween items on their website yet, shockingly. For trendspotting research, see their Fall Shop instead in the meantime.

If you benefit from keyword and product research like this, sign up for our Creator Inspiration private group on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter.

Happy researching,

Creator Inspiration

@creatorinspiration

The post Halloween Trends Research appeared first on Creator Inspiration.

Here are some ideas for affiliate bloggers, content creators and live shopping influencers for Autumn 2023 and the Christmas holiday season this year.

(Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you)

Take a look at this fabulous Amazon shop, “Your Heart’s Content” for inspiration on velvet mushrooms (mushrooms by themselves are a gigantic trend this year), velvet Christmas trees, velvet pumpkins, and even velvet wreaths.

The velvet carrots in this store also might work in your autumn farmhouse decor niche.

Velvet pumpkins have been quite common in the last fifteen years, but try these mini velvet pumpkins for BookTok or Bookstagram book blogger photo shoots, especially for flat lays.

It’s a bit late in the year now with autumn already here, but you might be able to quickly work these stacked velvet pumpkins into your next farmhouse fall photo shoot.

Velvet is trending in jewel tones such as garnet, emerald, and sapphire. Velvet throw pillows are trending – I think people are relieving some of their stress by cozying up their homes to retreat to for comfort.

For autumn, combine the velvet trend with woodland/forest themed decor such as these maple leaf throw pillows.

THrow pillows are pretty standard and possibly boring, so try incorporating more unusual shapes, such as this Mud Pie round velvet pillow with tassels.

The cottagecore aesthetic marries two trends: velvet and mushrooms, in velvet woodland throw pillows like this one. Learn more about cottagecore at the Cottagecore Dream blog.

Over at Anthropologie, this Velvet Hagen dining chair is promoted front and center, and they’re pushing velvet pillows too.

This House of Hackney velvet chair, also at Anthropologie, combines the boho floral trend with velvet and woodland colors.

In the realm of Christmas, velvet Christmas tree decorations are trending. They’re set on mantels, on buffet tables, on top of bookcases and side tables, or arranged in guest bathrooms.

For a more sophisticated look, here are Mud Pie’s ribbon Christmas trees.

Layer home decor textures and provide warmth by adding velvet photo frames to living room scenes and photo shoots.

This Mud Pie velvet ribbon tree lumbar pillow offers a more unusual shape option.

These round throw pillows are trending, but I’ve seen a lot of them at Home Goods – which might mean they are not selling well enough elsewhere?

In the baby and kids niche, red, black or green velvet Christmas dresses never go out of style. Pair them with black leggings or stockings and patent leather shoes.

And every year, hundreds of grandparents buy velvet Santa dresses for little girls and baby Santa outfits for infants.

Don’t forget about jeweled velvet flats and footwear for women.

Besides velvet Christmas wreaths, your home decor Christmas inspiration content could include velvet Christmas stockings, velvet Christmas tree skirts, velvet Christmas ornaments and velvet gift wrap boxes and bags.

Farmhouse decor fans will flock to these white velvet heart-shaped Christmas ornaments.

Over at West Elm, plain classic velvet stockings are suggested for this year’s holiday fireplace mantel.

Hope this helped you with your content planning for autumn and the 2023 holiday season!

-Creator Inspiration

The post Content Inspiration: Velvet is Trending! appeared first on Creator Inspiration.