to ask why ponce-tastic-ness is only "okay" at Christmas? And what else are you prepared to admit to the other 11 months of the year!!

I do this stuff all year round. I’ve always taking the “ponce-tastic” stuff as a bit tongue in cheek- I don’t think anyone actually feels superior because they’ve dried an orange in the airing cupboard or whatever. I suppose it’s an acknowledgment that having the time and mental space for this sort of thing is a privilege (although equally I find a lot of comfort in things like this when everything else has gone to shit, a sort of mindfulness and taking pleasure where you can find it).

Pretty sure no one is doing it to impress others. I hope not anyway as I suspect the number of impressed people would be zero.

I vary between poncy, tacky (my stunt pineapple is a Del Boy plastic ice bucket one.....but I love it so much) and TOO MUCH colour.

But it makes me very happy.

Currently waiting for a batch of home made mango and apricot granola too cool so I can store it in an ikea jar with a bright cardboard postage style label indicating the flavour.

Then I'll make a cafetiere coffee with the mini silver ladle i found in a charity shop which is exactly the correct size for scooping ground coffee.

Oh and im wafting about in a scent from my diffuser I made myself from a load of essential oils I keep in a special inlaid wooden box.

Why is it poncy ? I love making my own wreaths, preserves etc . I am very crafty , it gives me a lot of pleasure and have the time thats all ! I don’t just do this at Christmas either . I bake, craft, sew, do various home interiors etc all year round as they are my hobbies . I don’t do it to impress anyone - just to please myself. It also saves money to DIY so very affordable

Raining outside and I've really enjoyed reading these all over again

Place marking for poncey inspiration.

It's about using the stuff as well as having it I think. I love using my crystal glasses rather than having them sitting in a cupboard. What's the point in just having them. Yes some get broken but hey ho, at least they've brought pleasure.

I have a 1930s glass dressing table set which is a lovely place to put my make up bits.

I have bunting and fairy lights in my greenhouse (even though nobody sees this but me)

I do however think that it makes all the difference if items are passed down or older items from charity shops. Otherwise it runs the risk of looking cheap rather than poncetastic.

I love sweetpeas! They were my wedding bouquet.
I use inexpensive but antique glasses and have ammassed the full set of Lady Hamilton style - it has taken about 10 years!
I am living in the wrong century...

Sometimes Aldi or Lidl have wooden tree ornaments at Easter, as I wrote upthread mine are about 45 years old but I also buy the tiny solid chocolate eggs wrapped in foil and using a strong needle a manage to run thread through the foil and a bit of chocolate to hang them from the tree too.

I’d love dinner at your house!

Some people want the correct glasses, but am a correct cutlery person.

I have a lovely pickle fork that is sadly rarely used because I really don’t like pickles! I serve it once in a blue moon for other people just so I can get the pickle fork out.

I have a cutlery table , I snaffled it in a jumble sale . It came complete with cutlery . When we eat in the dining room for special occasions , we use the cutlery table .
I also , when at home , can only drink tea in an Emma bridgewater mug.
We have two different sets of water glasses for formal dining that live in a special glass cabinet with the champagne coupes.
Feeling the need for a pussy willow Easter tree now though !

When we have people over for dinner I get out my ridiculous extensive collection of silver. Cutlery, candlesticks, ladles, the lot. Sometimes I plan the menu around which particular cutlery I want to enjoy using. I particularly love silver soup spoons. None of this was expensive - I paid £100 for a huge overfilled canteen of 1930s cutlery and have added to the collection since. During lockdown our family of 2 adults and 2 young teenagers sat down every week to 4 courses with candles and crystal and silver and it helped keep us (me) going.

I sadly have a new house so cannot ponce properly until it’s in a decent state of repair but I can’t recommend enough growing sweet peas (get your seeds in trays this weekend) and having a small vase (ideally a weird glass bottle you found in the basement) in the bathroom full of sweet peas throughout the summer. Every day you go out to the garden and snip all the sweet peas that are ready, then go fuffle the existing vases for past their prime sweet peas and replace with new ones. Five months of joy is coming and I’m so excited about it.

I have seasonal cushion covers curtains and sofas

For me it is a break from either the humdrum or the chaos - a bit of creativity for my own pleasure.

Mine isn’t about feeling smug or wanting to impress others at all. I don’t post stuff on social media and rarely have people over. It’s for my own pleasure.

This afternoons poncification is a fresh bunch of eucalyptus stems cut from the garden and now hanging from the shower head in my en suite. The heat and steam brings out the smell.

I have actually joined Mumsnet rather than just reading posts, so that I can say thank you for such a lovely thread. I have stolen many of your ideas.
My poncing effort - tying twine around the necks of plain glass vases to make a vaguely rustic and (I hope) attractive collar. Disclaimer - I am about as handy as a gorilla.

Well, yeah! I did say I am retired now. DC in late 20s and left home.

You sound like someone whose children have flown the best. All of the that would last five minutes with my kids 🥴

I have a poncy work bag, briefcase type thing that has everything I might ever need at my fingertips. I know I look a wally, but it makes my job so much easier and I can get stuff done quickly.

I love this thread!

Ponce is home made wreaths with foliage you collected on walk
I do this! TBH I do at least half of the the things on the OP's Christmas poncing list.

As others have said, it is not just about expense, time comes in to it as well. I have always wanted to ponce about more but, until a couple of years ago I worked FT so my chance to do this was limited. Now I am retired so the poncing prospects are better.

Examples:

I make my own muesli and my own yoghurt for breakfast.

DH is a huge marmalade fan so we recently made a big batch as soon as Seville oranges were in the shop.

I have a notebook dedicated to tracking what is in the freezer.

I have a drawer full of herbs and spices and they are arranged in alphabetical order.

For the first time in my married life I have a tidy airing cupboard that just contains towels and table linen, the bedding has its own special chest. I still sometimes marvel when I open the airing cupboard door and things don't fall out.

I have been known to have an Easter tree - I blew hens eggs and painted them with acrylics then attached thread so I could hang them from a twiggy thing.

I built my own bug hotel out of tin cans and foraged stuff.

I am turning in to a batty old lady aren't I?

BTW I love the idea of a cutting flower garden

I am giving a double thumbs up for the door key jewels.

Re-motivated by this thread to keep up my poncery levels, I repurposed some of my grandmothers costume jewellery last night to make pendants for the door keys. It was never going to be worn and was a broken collection of bits and pieces in a box in the loft. So now each of the doors to the house have jewels hanging from them. Looks really pretty. Totally pointless but brings a smile to my face.

What an amazing set of women, I do none of this but by jove I am going to start!