Poncetastic 2017

[Annwithnoe]

Since there doesn't seem to be a poncetastic thread, and to avoid confusion with thread titles, would I be out of order to start this one?

First order of business, a toast to our dearly missed Fellatio Nelson, wherever she may be and a quote from her original thread:

^
"OK, first of all, I know it's still September by we need to start this thread now because as you all know, having a truly Poncetastic Christmas involves precision planning, strategy, bravery, heroics, and frequently martyrdom. A bit like the war in Afghanistan, only with nicer food and sparkly shoes.

So, if you, like me, actually want to make the next twelve weeks of your life a misery by hand-crafting your cards, finding a huge bucket for Nigella's turkey in brine, pickling pears, shrivelling oranges in a low oven for those rustic au naturel decorations, dragging half a holly bush back from the woods, and just generally being a smug annoying jobsworth ponce, join me on this thread.

Feel free to post photos of previous tree-trimming, cake icing or table centrepiece triumphs, discuss this year's bauble colour themes, debate the merits of Delia versus Gordon, road-test a selection of canapes and cocktails, (all in the line of duty) and link to lovely inspirational photos/craft ideas for a truly Poncetastic Christmas.

Warning: If your idea of a good Christmas involves Pizza, ITV, gravy granules or anything with 'Aunt Bessies' on the packet, this is not the thread for you".

^

HURRAH!

Man, my mouth is watering now.

I have autumn ponced by baking an apple/sultana/date cake and a ginger cake.

I've only gone and done the mincemeat!! It smells amazing - we added extra brandy too. I have a little left over to make a mincemeat tart tomorrow for DH who's ridiculously excited by it.

to you Delia Smiths recipe!

Tiny bit of poncing today:
I had some green fondant left over so I cut out some holly leaves. The big ones will go on my chocolate biscuit puddings (for those who don't like plum pudding) and the little ones are for transforming cadburys choc mallows into poncetastic Christmas tea cakes just in case anyone pops over for tea I think I'll use white choc rather than icing.

This is 7 jars of Habanero / Scotch Bonnet / Scorpion chilli jam, made tonight. It's like rocket fuel! 🌶🔥🌶🔥

The wrapping paper from amazon!!!! I have thrown away loads of it- can't believe I didn't think of it before. Thanks for that tip. Eco and frugal and poncetastic. Perfect.

Ah there is something about a Christmas pud, any time of year, that just gives me the jingle bells. Love those!

Trying out a card design ... I will have to protect them in the post with a square of felt or bubble wrap.
The "lights" are from Paperchase and are lovely .
The stars came in little glass baubles about 1 inch in size but I am planning to tip out the stars and replace with tiny bits of local sea glass then hang them on a twig tree.

I'm very late compared to the rest of you but can I join in? Too much going on here to feel Christmassy before but I found myself on Pinterest yesterday so I reckon I'm ready to start

Baking is my big thing so I've lots of mince pies, biscuits and cakes planned. I need to go though my books and make a list or I'll forget half of them.

FireflyGirl I got the little cutters for mug biscuits in Sainsbury's a couple of years ago and I'm pretty sure they had them last year as well so they might have them this year.

MyPatronusIsABadger

Brilliant idea @Annwithnoe: those holly leaves are going onto my To Do List.

Everyone's cards look beautiful, too.

My £1.99 cinnamon oil arrived from Amazon yesterday, smelling good & strong, so I'm ready to start scenting my pine cones. (I'll pop a little bit onto the Hoover filter, too).

Miles do you find the scent lasts on the cones? The shop bought scented ones are so strong, they have scented my entire loft! I'd like to perfume my collected ones- what scent did you use?

Firefly and Flavia yes, my sainsburys had mini mug hugger cookie cutters.

Thenewaveragebear I'm a cone-scenting virgin!

Relying on Pinterest.

I'll keep you posted

Just bought cinnamon essential oil.

I think you dilute it in a spray bottle, put the pinecones in a ziplock bag, spray, seal, leave, repeat.

There are a few tutorials on pinterest, with feedback from people who've tried it.

I'll be thrilled if it works!

Finished! The short one is for my mantelpiece, not sure about the long one. Have already been 'commissioned' to make another for my friend!

Did use bondaweb or similar? I have lots of Christmas fabric I can use and it looks so lovely!

Fridge, no I have machine stitched it. I made rectangles using fat quarters (8 per quarter) and then stitched them on the machine to make tubes. Iron them flat and then I stitched them as loops. I did think hemming tape would have perhaps worked and been easier!

Is it too late for me to join? I have just ordered Sarah Raven's book and thank to the wonders of amazon prime it should be here tomorrow! I've not really ponced much before but would like to give it ago this year

blog.spoonflower.com/2012/12/tutorial-how-to-make-a-fabric-chain-garland/ - I was looking at this tutorial, they've used the webbing for strength I think. So yours are just fabric? Cheaper! I will search out my fabrics and see how strong they feel.

The Irish countrywoman Christmas book arrived today - it's part of my Mum's present but I have had a nose and may make sneaky use of it before I hand it over

I'm going to try fabric wrapping this year. I've bought some 2" organza ribbon recently from Aliexpress, 50 yards for £1.80! It's taken about five weeks to arrive though so needs to be ordered well in advance.
They also sell gorgeous foiled washi tape, stamps, and dies, so much cheaper than craft shops here and everything I've ordered has been free shipping.

OMFG I've just had a look at aliexpress So much ribbon is going to be ordered...

Thank you, AWholeLottaRosie!

Bear that chain looks fabulous. I'm imagining that

I'm feeling quite out of touch this year with my wrapping paper eyes stash bought in January when I read all these plans for fabric gift wrap. Hopefully there will be good bargains to be had on Christmassy prints in January so I can up my ponce factor for next year.

*meant to say: I'm imagining that hemming tape would make it quite stiff too.

I'm planning on making my own wreath this year, has anyone tried using glycerin to preserve berries and greenery? Or is there anything else I could use to keep it looking fresh?

I did a Christmas wreath course once (as you do) and we used two wire wreaths trapping wet moss. The moss was then doing the job of oasis but without needing to be completely covered up: you stick the cut ends into it.

Next I made one with an ivy base last November, and it was still looking good in January. I'd planned to replace it in December, but it didn't need it! No preservatives, it just kept.

Has anyone else experienced this?