This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gift Card Weekend for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don’t know about you but we usually purchase a handful of gift cards each holiday season. From the hard to shop for to the people who prefer being able to pick out their own gifts. I am totally happy to oblige.

Have you ever heard of Gift Card Weekend? I hadn’t until just recently myself. Let me tell you how it works. Purchase a gift card at participating retailers, then redeem them the weekend of January 6 – January 8, 2012 and get special deals. In essence, you are increasing the value of the gift card you purchased. This is great news in my opinion. I love stretching my dollars or helping someone else do the same thing.

Here are a list of all the participating retailers:

-JCPenny
-Regal Cinema
-Subway
-Sephora
-Applebee’s
-Bass Pro Shops
-Adidas
-Buca di Beppo
-Lowe’s
-Spa Finder
-Marriot
-Giant Eagle

You can check out the GiftCardWeekend.com for a list of the perks being offered by each retailer.

I have some even better news, in order to get everyone excited about Gift Card Weekend, Gilbert the Gift Card Machine is giving away gift cards everyday on Facebook. All month long, there will be giveaways to some of the participating retailers I listed above. For example, 12/10 – 12/18 the giveaway is for a $25 Applebee’s gift card!

Entering is very simple. All you need to do is ‘like‘ Gift Card Weekend on Facebook. Share with your Facebook friends and you can receive an extra chance to win for every ‘like‘ you influence. Then you just need to keep an eye on the Gift Card Weekend Facebook page to see all the different giveaways for the month.

Good luck to everyone! I hope you win some gift cards!!