Deck the Halls with Hallmark Movies

Every year, millions of holiday-aholics love getting into the Christmas spirit by cuddling up with the cozy, sugar-cookie sweetness of a Hallmark Christmas movie. Welcome to the perfectly-snowy, perfectly-decorated wonderful world of “Boy Meets Girl and Lives Happily Ever After” in 90 minutes. This tried-and-true storyline is guaranteed to give warm fuzzies to even the biggest "bah-humbug" in your life. Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas keeps folks feeling jolly 24/7 all season long.

The 12th annual Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas kicked off Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 and will continue to air Hallmark Christmas movies all day, every day, through Jan. 2, 2022. The cinema lineup includes some of the 150 holiday movies (including a few Hanukkah) Hallmark has produced through the years. 

Christine Gamble-Pallatto lives in a house full of boys, (husband Mike Pallatto and sons, Ayden and James) so it is a rare and a magical treat to have both the house and the remote control all to yourself. Earlier this year, Christine was giddy to find herself in such a situation. She put on her “Merry and Bright” jammies, poured herself a Grinchy mug of wine and curled up on the couch to enjoy some Hallmark Channel Christmas movie viewing and officially get into the Christmas spirit. It was Nov. 6. Who needs to put away Halloween decorations when you can be watching 24/7 Christmas movies?!

Christine shared why she enjoys watching the Hallmark movies: “The channel is full of sappy love stories that inspire hope. It’s a great way to get into the mood for the holidays and get ready to start the new year.”

Christine laughed, “Anytime I turn it on, it seems like the same movie is on - Switched for Christmas - about twin sisters switching places. I like that one because the actress, Candace Cameron Bure, played D. J. on the sitcom Full House. She still looks good, so it helps me not feel old.”

Candace Cameron Bure (right) hanging out with “Happy the Dog” and her co-star and real-life daughter, Natasha Bure on the set of Switched at Christmas. (Photo courtesy of Crown Media Family Networks)

The Switched for Christmas (2017) storyline: When identical twin sisters are stuck planning their respective Christmas parties, they're convinced the grass is greener on the other side. Deciding to swap lives for the holiday, the lessons they learn along the way may turn out to make this the best Christmas ever. (Candace Cameron Bure plays both twins).

The first week of December, Christine invited over friends Vaughn Kendall-Enriquez and Ashley Marie for a Christmas PJ Party. Watching Hallmark movies was especially fun that night since it included sipping on homemade chocolate candy cane martinis. (They followed a similar recipe to this one.)

In addition to standing six feet and five inches tall, being a loving husband, a doting father of three teenage daughters, and a man that has sunk lots of baskets and birdies, Shaun Wildt is also the proud owner of a bright red warm and fuzzy “This is my Hallmark Christmas Movie watching” blanket. 

Shaun’s wife, Amy, shared, “I got Shaun the blanket as a Christmas present last year because the girls (Madeleine, Sofia, and Clara) and I all thought it was so cute that he liked to watch Christmas Hallmark movies. We especially liked to tease him about being emotional when we think we see him shed a tear.”

Cuddled up in his “Hallmark Movie Watching Blanket” superfan Shaun Wildt is all smiles getting his latest Hallmark Christmas Movies fix.

Shaun proudly proclaims his love of the Hallmark Christmas movies and, although he may be the lone Hallmark superfan in his house, that is okay because he has a movie-watching partner in crime…his 80-year-old dad, Richard Wildt.

“Sometimes I call my dad in West Virginia and we watch them together and compare notes. Dad knows the storyline formulas so well he can tell you how many minutes are left in the show based on what is happening on the screen.”

Shaun has found an added bonus of watching the movies . . . helping to cure his insomnia. “I often wake up in the middle of the night and cannot get back to sleep. One night I started watching the Hallmark Christmas movies and those happy and non-stressful storylines helped me relax and fall asleep.”

What does Shaun plan to do when the 24/7 Hallmark Christmas movies end? “I will just go back to watching my usual shows like college football and the crime drama Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU)".

No wonder he needs to watch relaxing movies the rest of the year!

New Hallmark Movies:

Wonder Years co-stars Danica McKellar and Jason Hervey have an onscreen reunion in You, Me, and the Christmas Trees. The storyline features an evergreen expert who assists a Christmas tree farmer whose trees have an illness that could ruin his holiday season business. (Photo courtesy of Crown Media Family Networks)

Even the biggest Scrooge will smile reading the following titles and storylines for some of this year’s 30 new Hallmark Christmas movies, including: 

• Christmas at Castle Hart: A woman goes to her ancestral Irish town and meets an earl, who hires her to plan a Christmas party.
• The Nine Kittens of Christmas: A firefighter and a vet stumble upon a litter of nine kittens and set off to find them homes.
• Next Stop, Christmas: A woman wonders what life would've been like if she’d married her ex. A time-travel train takes her 10 years into the past.
• A Christmas Treasure: An aspiring writer wonders whether she should move to New York after finding a time capsule.

Hallmark Christmas Movie Drinking Game
Even people that think they are not fans of Hallmark movies will have fun watching them if they are playing this game. Viewers take a drink when items on their list appear on the screen, like mistletoe or an ugly Christmas sweater.

More Hallmark Movies

Are you a fellow Hallmark-aholic that is worried about having withdrawals when the Christmas all-nighters end next month? Not to worry, here is some good news. On June 25, exactly halfway to Christmas, Hallmark Channel will launch “Christmas in July” airing two weeks of Christmas movies. What better way to beat the summer heat than watching people fall in love in the snow?!