Start a fun new family tradition having a Hallmark ornament collection. It’s a tradition everyone will love and that will help you fill your Christmas tree with memories.
I’ve been collecting Hallmark ornaments my whole life. I have large plastic totes full of them and fill three Christmas trees with them each year.
I love looking back at all of the ornaments because they bring back wonderful memories. It also means our Christmas trees are full of the things we love and those special memories.
My grandma fills her trees with these special ornaments and my mom does as well. My tree may not be that Pinterest perfect tree where everything matches but it’s a lot of fun. People love looking at all the ornaments when they come over. I have enough you could spend hours looking and still have more you missed.
One of my favorite things each is going to get my Hallmark Dream Book to look at the new ornaments and going to the ornament premiere and debut. This year I’m missing out on going to get the Dream Book since everything is shutdown but thankfully we can download the full book on their website!
I’m going to play a little Christmas music and look through it and fill out my ornament wish list. It seems like an even more special thing to do right now. I just really hope things are back to normal in July for the ornament premiere. It’s something I look forward to every year. A bit of Christmas magic in the summer.
If like me you want to do a bit of early Christmas dreaming it’s a great time to think about starting your own Hallmark ornament collection or maybe just adding to the one you already have.
As a long time collector, I wanted to share some tips on how to build a collection you will love for years to come.
Starting a Hallmark Ornament Collection
Decide on a Type of Ornament Collection You Want
Hallmark makes a lot of different series where you can collect each ornament in that series. That is a great way to get started and what a lot of collectors choose to do.
You can also buy an ornament each year that highlights something important to you that year. That’s a fun way to make sure your tree is full of special memories.
You can also do what I do and have a mixture of collections. I buy multiple ornaments every year and tend to buy them if they can represent a special memory, are part of a series I love, or just represent something I love.
A large number of ornaments on my main tree are Disney ornaments. I love Disney so I usually end up with one or two each year. Winnie the Pooh is my favorite so I could likely have a tree of just Winnie the Pooh ornaments.
My kitchen tree is full of food-related ornaments and my bedroom tree has one ornament with the year on it for every year my husband and I have been married. Most are the Hallmark together ornaments they do each year.
Just be sure to avoid trendy ornaments that aren’t things you will love for years to come. That’s not as likely with Hallmark ornaments as they tend to be pretty classic but just be aware when buying them.
Plan Your Wish List Ahead of Time
The great thing about the Hallmark Dream Book is it comes out in April and gives you a lot of time to figure out what ornaments you’d like to get.
They have a checklist you can use or you can use my free printable ornament wish list. I like to use mine because it has more room and I can include other information and even ornaments that aren’t from Hallmark.
If you are going to give any ornaments as gifts you can include them in your list as well and get a bit of shopping done early since the ornaments start to be released in July.
Save Your Money
I like to start saving up for the July and October ornament events ahead of time. Having my wish list gives me an idea of how much I will need which is really nice.
The ornaments aren’t the cheapest since they are very high quality but they last forever. Several of mine are 30+ years old or very close to it and they look just as beautiful today as the day they were purchased.
If you join Hallmark’s reward program you can also buildup points for reward dollars before the premieres. I love buying gifts and cards at Hallmark all year and then I have some reward dollars and coupons ready to go when the ornaments start to be released.
Start a Collection for Someone Else
My mom has bought me a Hallmark ornament for every year I’ve been alive. This is a tradition I adore and it also meant when I got married and moved to my own house we had a tree full of ornaments without having to buy any.
I’ve also purchased “first Christmas together” ornaments as wedding gifts and “baby’s first Christmas” ornaments for shower gifts. I love giving Hallmark ornaments for special occasions. It often sparks a collection for that person as well.
It can also be a fun tradition to start with your spouse. You can each pick out an ornament for each other each year. My husband has gone as far as to get on eBay and find me vintage Hallmark ornaments that he knows I will love.
It can make gift-giving special and easy because you always know what to get that person. And there is an ornament for everyone each year, they have such a wide and wonderful range.
A bit of warning though, once you start buying Hallmark ornaments you won’t be able to stop. It’s a really fun collection and a fun way to make Christmas even more special.
Now it’s time to download your Hallmark Dream Book and start dreaming about Christmas and your new ornaments. We could all use a bit of holiday magic right now.
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