FN's Ponstastic Christmas Thread part Trois....

[FellatioNelson]

....will be officially open for business on September 24th. I am just firing up the engines and dusting down the control room ready for action in case I forget to do it on the 24th

Do not post yet. Do not. Sit on your hands, ladies.

On your marks........................

Just getting myself back on this thread - I had fallen off due to lack of poncing

Have got the stuff to make raspberry vodka, although won't be doing that today as recovering from vodka-infused house party last night, bleurgh. I like the button tree decs posted a while back, will be making some of them.

Looking forward to a quiet evening's poncery tonight :)

Yes am on pinterest :) mm rasberry vodka...

Right, I want to make Christmas pud booze alcohol (have seen the recipe for vodka) but not with vodka. I saw it had been tried with rum, but didn't go down very well. Has anyone tried it with any other spirits? DH suggested cognac seeing as that's what we put in our actual puddings.

I've made it with brandy for years VikingVagine. A snifter alongside the pudding is rather fabulous!

Someone asked about christmas eve hampers, mine's more of a christmas even gift bag TBH, it usually includes;

1. Christmassy PJs and Fluffy Bed Socks
2. A christmas book to read before the traditional "Night Before Christmas".
3. Some nice hot chocolate or snow man soup, always a candy cane to stir.
4. Magic Reindeer food to be sprinkled on the drive in runway style.

We usually have the PIL round for dinner on Christmas Eve so a DVD is tricky, but I will include one this year because they're coming Christmas Day for lunch instead.

I might do new PJs for me and DH this year as well.

I'm open to new ideas.

That sounds brill, have all 3 dc this year as alternate years with sc so hopefully make one for age 5 to 10

That's why I have pinched the idea of doing a Christmas hamper on Dec 1st especially as its on a Saturday this year.

In the hamper will be :-

all the old Xmas DVDs which I have removed from the shelves this week and hidden in the loft will be in there plus a new one- Arthur Christmas is out in November!

The wooden advent calendar will be in the hamper with activities added each night throughout December

24 books wrapped up with Christmas themes, one to be opened each night

Christmas pjs for DC and maybe me ;)

Hot chocolate

I found a picnic hamper in loft which will be converted via ribbon and other poncery to a Christmas hamper

Last year my Christmas eve hampers were based around sitting down to watch Harry Potter DVD.

Hampers included pjs, slipper socks, lush bath bomb or bubble bar with christmasssy scents, microwave popcorn and a popcorn box from dotcomgiftshop, a coke glass from maccies and a can of coke. Oh and snowman soup for before bed.

I put them all in a gift bag for each dc and gave them out at about 5pm, giving them all time to be showered and fed and ready for the movie before 7pm. We then watched HP in the dark with only the twinkling lights of the tree.

Normally Christmas eve is a quick and easy tea or takeaway and boxing day is such a lazy day we tend to just pick at chocolate ready made snacks from the fridge.

This year in the name of starting nice traditions for older dcs I want a Christmas eve meal and then a proper rolling buffet for boxing day. Any ideas for what I could make.

Last year I borrowed one of mum's old wicker (picnic) basket, but didn't ponce it up, this year I think some nice fabric to line it and a pretty festive ribbon to close it should do the trick.

Yes to new PJs for all the family, new fluffy slippers and dressing gowns for the kids. Suchard hot chocolate and a packet of mini marshmallows (I love the idea of a candy cane to stir it). Last year DD got Maisy's Christmas day which she loved and still insists on having it read to hear each night , DS who doesn't like reading, might be getting a comic book instead (any ideas for Xmas related comic books?). I also put a Lush bath bomb in for them to share (the one with gold sparkles). And of course a stocking for each of us (all rubbishy hand made, although I might try and make new ones this year because I now know more or less how to use the sewing machine because the old ones are, well, old).

I quite like the idea of a hamper on the 1st, we don't decorate until then anyway, so maybe a special delivery from the elves with things to prep for Xmas: advent calendars, decorations, a toy catalogue and pre-written letter to Santa with blanks for the kids to place their orders make their wishes.

The best thing about last Christmas was after the dcs had opened all their presents on Christmas morning we told them we had one last surprise.

After we were all ready to go out, we got in the car and drove the opposite direction to my mums house, where we always go Christmas morning.

We drove to a really nice area and pulled up in a little close. The dcs were saying who lives here. Dh and I said nobody at the moment but we will soon.

Then we took them inside to bagsie bedrooms look around :o :o

We usually have a Xmas eve meal just with my parents.

One year: Parmesan baskets filled with cherry tomato and avocado salad, poached salmon and steamed veg, lime cheesecake.

Another year: roasted butternut squash and parsnip soup (to die for), roast beef and all the trimmings, profiteroles.

Oooh, I always do new PJs and a Christmassy book for the DC on Christmas eve but I'm pinching the bath bomb and slipper socks idea for this year too!

I tend to buy a Christmassy DVD too (DS and I saw Arthur Christmas at the Cinema last year and it was really good so I'll probably get that) but it tends to be just a thing that appears rather than a present. Christmas in our house can't start until DD has had her birthday so the tree etc doesn't go up until the 18th so maybe I'll get it for then.

Ahh the elves or reindeers leave the hamper on the doorstep. I get the kids to check regularly, until the doorbell rings and tada! The hamper has mysteriously appeared and there is magic dust (glitter) trailing away from it towards a tree or bush.

Oh and while they're checking, at some point they put out some mince pies for the elves and carrots for the reindeer (only one of the two disappears, so they'll know who's been it's usually the elves because the cats tend to take care of the mince pies before I can get out there to do the switch ).

I feel excited just thinking about Christmas hampers! DD will be 18 months this Christmas, so still too little to be excited but we will definitely be adopting the hamper tradition in years to come

Zeeky I'm getting/have got christmas related stories, so far I've got, or plan to get:

1 a personalised christmas book a friend bought for my DD
2 little miss christmas
3 mr christmas
4 12 days of mr men christmas
5 mr men christmas carol
6 stick man
7 the snowman
8 the grinch
9 mog's christmas
10 father christmas needs a wee
11 how santa really works
12 one snowy night
13 aliens love panta claus
14 kipper's Christmas eve
15 raymond brigg's father christmas
16 olive the other reindeer
17 a child's christmas in wales
18 beatrix potter tailor of gloucester
19 the jolly christmas postman
20 the night before christmas
21 the smelly sprout
22 jesus' christmas party
23 the children's bible nativity

So i just need one more! I welcome any suggestions!

Oops posted too soon. My twins are 3, so obviously we'll need to replace some of the books as they get older, some won't still hold their attention in a few years

Winegless I have pm'd you my name for pinterest.

Wolfcub you're onto a winner with Nigel's pudding, it's lovely, I've made it for the last few years. It's not too dark or heavy, and really delicious.

Ophelia how about the mr men night before christmas ?

Ophelia Shh Santa, Hurry Santa, or any other Santa book by Julia Sykes. DS2 loved them when he was little.

The polar express
One Christmas night - Cristina m butler- cute hedgehog

Ooh lovely thank you, I'll order some of these to replace some of the mr men ones, thanks!

Or there's Little Grey Rabbit

I absolutely loved this when I was a child!

I've just spent far too long browsing the children's Christmas books in waterstone's - almost tempted to do this myself now!

I've just came into work early and pilfered all the green tomatoes from the vegetable garden to make green tomato chutney. Can anybody suggest a tried and tested recipe please.

I fancy trying to copy Heston's Hidden Orange christmas pud this year. I've just found this but I must admit I am abit put off by the comments at the bottom by Rose Prince! She doesn't seem to think it's worth the effort. It is very poncetastic though, so got to be worth a bash, do you think? Has anyone tasted the real thing?

loving these christmas hampers....saw our (ashamedly only used once/twice (hides)) wicker hamper last week in cupboard, and had planned to do autumnal picnic in botanics ....and can now combine with 'christmas branch gathering'...with (excited now!)follow up use as christmas hamper on dec 1st as well!! :bliss!