July 26th

 

The Hallmark Christmas in July movies are coming to an end this week. But I thought I'd share some games I found on Pinterest that can be played when the Hallmark Countdown to Christmas schedule starts in October.

Now I know that the title "drinking game" may put some of you off. Others of you may be thrilled! haha I'm diabetic and don't drink alcohol at all, but I do drink water or iced tea. I think any drink can be used to play this game.

Hallmark Countdown to Christmas

Coming

10/21/2022

July 11th

 

Today I'm sharing the Hallmark KOC ornaments I purchased for myself. 

As I start to plan Christmas decor for this year, I'm at a distinct disadvantage. Although I'm familiar with my trees, lights, ornaments and decor, I have no idea what my house with look like. So it's almost impossible for me to picture my home decorated. 

We signed a contract to build a new home on 3/28/21. The house is still under construction. The floor plan we purchased was not modeled anywhere. There is one other house in the community that is our floor plan, but it's still under construction too. All of my planning and dreaming is done by looking at a printed copy of the layout. 

That's not stopping me completely though, I still imagine what tree will go where, what the themes of the trees will be, and what my front porch will look like.

The new house ornament is obviously because we'll have a new house.

Whether we'll be in it by Christmas is another matter...

The Snoopy ornament is one of the ornaments that our Hallmark store can't

seem to get. I ordered two and am fortunate that I got one!

Eeyore is Dan's favorite, Piglet is mine. This is for the Grammy tree.

The train ornaments are for Dan's Train tree which will be in his office.

The miniatures are for the Grammy tree.

July 9th

Today is the day I've been waiting for since March - Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere Weekend! Yes, it's time to go pick up the Hallmark KOC ornaments I pre-ordered this Spring.

Just as in the last two years, I was able to pick up my ornaments yesterday. Hallmark instituted an early pick-up event to cut down on the crowds of people that show up on Saturday. I received my invite for early pick-up two weeks ago in the mail. I'm so happy to be able to take part in this. Although, I must admit I do miss the excitement of standing in line for an hour, chatting with others about the ornaments we've ordered and about Christmas in general. But I don't miss standing there in 100 degree temps. 

The only disappointment this year was that some of my ornaments did not arrive. They may become available, but maybe not. The sales associate told me that 17 of the ornaments released in July are not available due to, you guessed it, supply chain issues. Bummer. One of the ones I didn't receive is a series I've been collecting since 2006. I hope it comes in.

Today I'm showing a broad view of the ornaments I purchased. I will share individual ornaments in a post in the near future. I'm so excited! 

Again this year the ornaments came packaged in a cute reusable bag. I use these bags for sorting stocking stuffers. Each family is assigned a bag. I place the stockings in them. When I'm ready to "hang" the stockings all I have to do is remove them from the bags and I'm done!

This year's free ornament... it's actually cute! 

In years past, I have not liked the freebies (just not my style) 

and have passed them on to others. I'm keeping this one.

This year's ornaments, so far. 

I will return in October to pick up the rest of them.

When I turned in my pre-order form I received a 20% off coupon. 

It could be used on anything EXCEPT ornaments.

As we were standing in line to pay my husband spotted this cutie.

It's not an ornament so I used my 20% off and bought it for him.

(Donald Duck and Goofy are his favorites)

 

July 1st

It's here! Christmas in July. 2022 is half over. It's time to get serious about the upcoming holiday season. And what better way to get inspired than watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.

This year Christmas movies are available all month on the Hallmark Channel. Below is the schedule for the primetime hours but movies are on 24/7. I got off to an early start last week watching the Christmas movies on the Hallmark Mysteries & Movies channel while stitching on a Christmas stocking.

My goal is to post each day this month. I hope I can meet that goal. I'm also eager to see what everyone else is posting for CIJ. Let the fun begin!

Christmas in July 7.14.2021

 

This past weekend was the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere. Most of the 2021 Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments were released. Additional ornaments will be released in October and November. Each year I pre-order the ornaments I want to purchase. During the Premiere Weekend I normally go to my local store to pick them up. There are usually lots of people there and it's fun to stand and talk to strangers who love Christmas as much as I do.

Last year, of course, was different. I was given a time to show up and there was no chitchatting in a line. I was really looking forward to this year being back to normal. Then I scheduled a birthday trip to Surfside Beach TX and realized I would be missing Ornament Weekend. I was really bummed.

I ended up pre-paying for my ornaments and picked them up today. The process went better than I anticipated. However, I'm already looking forward to next year when I get to be part of the crowd.

Here's a look at the ornaments I purchased:

Another free tote bag this year. I love these. I used them to store stocking stuffers. One bag for each family. Makes it really easy for me when it comes time to actually stuff the stockings!

I bought these for my collection: Christmas Window 2021, Soft Serve Surpise, Austria Santa

These are gifts, except for the train car which is for Dan's Train Tree

More gifts

Gifts, except for the train car

Train car, jukebox, A World Within are for us

gifts

The gift ornaments are already wrapped, tagged and stored for Family Christmas. I'm getting excited!!

 

Christmas in July 7.8.2021

 

I decided to pre-pay for my Hallmark ornaments. The manager of my local store is a very nice woman named Danielle. She will always go the extra mile in helping her customers. I walked in with all of the coupons and special deals I've received in the mail the past few weeks and she sorted it all out and will apply it to my order. I will also receive the in-store specials and Hallmark perks from my ornament purchase.

I can't wait to pick up my order!

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at some of my buys:

Purchased for a grand

My son collects this series

My DIL has collected this series from the start

I collect these, it's kind of hit or miss as they don't issue a new one every year

Dan has a "train" tree now to go with his N scale train set-up

Christmas in July 7.5.2021

 

This coming weekend is the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere Weekend. As usual, I pre-ordered my ornaments. Not usual, I'll be out of town for the weekend. 

I have a couple of options for dealing with this situation. I can go into the store early and pay for my ornaments which allows me to use the discount coupons that have been piling up. The downside to this is that Hallmark does not accept any returns on ornaments. Most years I go through the ornaments before paying for them and occasionally put a couple back that I decided I don't want. I'm buying 24 ornaments this go-around, so I'm hoping they will be lenient on this (if needed).

The other option is to just wait and pick them up and pay for them when I get back to town. No discounts.

What would you do?

Christmas in July 7.2.2021

 

Have you noticed? Hallmark Mysteries and Movie Channel is showing Christmas in July movies. I really enjoy this mid-year offering of Christmas movies. They are so easy to watch (or listen to) while I'm stitching or involved in other projects. They are all light-hearted and so very Christmas-y. 

The movies are showing on this channel until July 8th. You can find the schedule here. The Hallmark Channel Christmas in July movies begin on July 9th. 

Christmas Time's a'Comin' - Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments

 I got an email telling me my Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Dream Box would be arriving between 4/9-4/14. I was hoping it would be sooner rather than later. I was disappointed when it didn't come on Friday or Saturday, so when the UPS truck pulled up on Sunday (I didn't even realize they deliver on Sundays) I was not expecting anything for me. But... Yay! it was my Dream Box! 

Here's what was inside:

As I've said in past posts, I am not a fan of the Dream Box. I don't like that they choose the ornaments instead of me getting to choose the ones that fit my style of Christmas decor. This year I gave the Snowman Ornament away to my daughter Katie, but I'm keeping the one above. The item I enjoy the most is the Dream Book. I've been through it several times and three of the Grands have gone through it to choose the ornaments they like. I let them choose several and then I surprise them by purchasing one of their choices. I will let the adult kids go through and choose theirs soon. Their were several in the book this year that I am purchasing for myself.

Only 250 days to go...

Christmas is Here! December Sixth

 You may remember I shared a newly purchased "Birch Tree" earlier this week. It was the 4-ft tall tree. I also bought a 3-ft tall tree. It is in the office on my craft desk. It has a Peanuts theme. I plan to leave it up year around. Several years ago Hallmark ran a Peanuts series that featured a new ornament each month. I bought that, but have never had a good place to display it. It has roamed around the house, never quite at home. 

Now they have a home! I place them on the tree along with the few Peanuts ornaments I own and am pleased with the result.

Thank you for visiting! Hope your Christmas season is joyful.

Christmas is Here! December Fifth

 Another tree that I enjoy showcasing each year had serious issues. A few years ago when I unpacked my purple Grammy Tree, the feet of the stand had melted and become deformed while stored in the box in the garage over our hot summer. I really wanted the Grammy Tree to be purple, as it's my favorite color, and managed to get the tree to stand for a two more years. But, I knew it was time to let it go.

Walmart to the rescue. I purchased a silver 3-ft tree for $16. Yes, it's exactly like the silver tree I'm using for the Snow Tree this year.

It's not purple, but it is so sparkly with the lights on.

New Grammy Tree

Hallmark Thimble Nativity from decades ago.

New ornament this year: Hallmark Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Another new Hallmark ornament for 2020

The Grammy Tree is decorated with ornaments purchased the birth year of each of my seven Grands. I also have ornaments that reflect my hobbies and interests. Plus ornaments celebrating the fact that I am a Grammy!

This is one of my favorite trees and I enjoy displaying it each year.

Christmas is Here! December Second

As you enter my home, you're met by a new addition to this year's decor. 

Hobby Lobby had these "Birch" trees and I just fell in love with them. I bought this 4-ft. tall tree to put the Hallmark Window Ornaments on. I've been collecting them since 2006 and now have 14 of them. They used to go on our main tree, but I'm enjoying being able to see them all together.

This is the 2020 Ornament:

I placed a little "Welcome" vignette at the bottom of the stand.

Hmm, obviously I need to move the hanging extra cords down to the bottom. This tree is so bright and that's one of the things I like about it. I should have room for a few more years of Window ornaments if Hallmark continues to make them.

Christmas in July Day Twelve

As promised, here's a peek at the ornaments I picked up at the Hallmark Store on Friday:

I apologize for the dark photo, it's actually cloudy today!

This is a series I've been collecting for a couple of years

I've been collecting this series for 14 years.

I'm thinking of doing a small tree devoted to just them.

Cute!

I've been collecting this series for eight (or nine) years

This ornament is for my "Grammy" tree!

I'll be back at the Hallmark store on October 3rd to pick up the rest of my order. Until then I'll be enjoying the Hallmark Christmas movies and stitching Christmas stockings.