Keeping the Tradition Going with Hallmark #ValentineCards

I was taught at a very young age the importance of a good greeting card. My dad had a certain knack for always picking the best cards that would bring a tear to your eye. I remember always being amazed at how his cards were perfectly suited for each person. Every holiday, birthday and special occasion I knew I could always expect a heartfelt greeting card, and sometimes he would even purchase one “just because”. Of course, those were always the best.

Through the years I’ve followed in my dads footsteps. I’m a total softie, so I favor those long, sentimental and heartfelt greeting cards over the lighthearted funny ones. In fact, I’m known to read every card until I find the one that moves me to tears. My kids always know that they can expect a great greeting card in their stocking for Christmas, as well as every other occasion. And of course, just like my dad, sometimes I’ll pick up a nice card just because. Everyone likes to feel special, right?

Big G is a great card picker too. In fact, he’s pretty particular about the cards he buys. All greeting cards have to have the Hallmark logo on the back, and I love that about him. When I was a teen and would buy greeting cards for my family, I’d always stop at the Hallmark store at the mall to pick up a card or two as well as some nice gifts. Thanks to #CollectiveBias, I discovered the Hallmark Rewards Program and I was beyond excited. Since we love greeting cards, this program is perfect for us. Once you buy five Hallmark cards, you earn a reward! It’s so easy to sign up too, and there’s a convenient app you can download onto your phone so you can scan the back of your card and add up your rewards easily. Perfect!

WalMart has the best selection of Hallmark cards, so I packed the kids up and we went on our search for the perfect cards for Daddy for this Valentine’s Day. We were determined to pick the perfect card, so there was no way we could wait until the last moment when the picking were slim.

There were so many cards to choose from, we had a fun time reading through all of them and finding the perfect one for Daddy. D-Man decided that he wanted to get him something funny, while RiRi and I decided we wanted something a bit more sentimental from each of us.

RiRi read a few to D-Man, while he decided which one was his favorite. He liked the Snoopy cards a lot, but decided he wanted to pick one on his own and try to make out the words. I love that he challenges himself!

The pop-up card caught him by surprise! He was able to make out a few words, but he was still on the hunt for the perfect card.

RiRi looked through some cards, to find the perfect one for Daddy from her…

…while D-Man took a break with a few of his new buddies. It’s never a dull moment with these two!

While those two browsed cards and stuffed animals, I was on the hunt for the tear-jerker card of my very own.

This one was nice, but it left me a bit dry eyed, so I knew it wasn’t the one.

We found our cards – notice they’re all Hallmark? Another thing I learned from my dad was to place your cards like this when you’re ready to check out. It makes it easier for the checker to scan your card without having to take each of them out from under the envelope flap. The bonus is that if there’s bows, ribbons or glitter on the card this leaves minimal damage to that during the checkout process.

Hallmark always has the best selection and the most beautiful and quality cards. There’s always something for everyone, we were very happy with our choices.

The Hallmark Rewards app is also very easy to use. You just open it up and scan the barcode of each card. If they are online orders, you can manually input it.

Select the store that you purchased your cards from.

That’s it! One more card and I get to claim a reward. This is so perfect for us, since we have such a large family. It’s always some kind of special day that we purchase cards for!

Time to sign the cards before Dad finds them! (Nobody show him this post, ok?)

All prepared, with time to spare. Now to find the gifts and candy!

Make sure you check out connectionsfromhallmark.com to sign up for Hallmark Rewards, and to see great content from other bloggers. Join in the #ValentineCards conversation on Twitter!