Poncetastic Christmas 2021

[VivaJen]

Welcome to the 2021 Poncetastic thread. With a nod to Fellatio (wherever she is), at the stroke of midnight, let the poncing commence.

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.

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 jobs worth 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 canapés 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 Bessie’s' on the packet, this is not the thread for you".

I've just made my raspberry vodka, so that's another job ticked off the list! I'm going to have a strawberry vodka, as even I won't drink 2L of vodka over Christmas!

I hang my wreath using a big ribbon over the door that attaches to a command hook upside down on the inside (I hope that makes sense). It would probably be easier to use a big command hook on the outside but I started with small ones years ago and I like the look of the big ribbon.

On brining… I’ve always been curious to try it but worried about plastic leaching chemicals from the bucket. Can you get a food grade container big enough? Would metal work? Would the vinegar/salt react with it?

I’m absolutely in love with that envelope embosser.

Oh no! I thought brining was universally revered. I've banged on about it to DH so much now I feel I have to go through with it. Was it a dry or wet brine you used?

Re the bucket, I didn't think you could use metal but I had figured I would line the bucket with a heavy duty plastic bag anyway as in my house it will 100% be knocked over.

On the wreath hanging. I have backed mine with some cardboard covered in foam and then wrapped that in a hessian sack. It's not visible but protects the door and holds the battery pack.

I then have attached strong garden twine to the back and I loop it over the top of the door and secure around the letter box fittings on the back of the door.

This was DH's door protection approved scheme.

Ruby that sounds like great wreath advice, I’ll certainly consider it as I usually just buy one but definitely want to make my own this year.

Someone mentioned The Bishops Wife - I’d never even heard of it before! We never watch a huge number of Christmas films other than the obvious ones - Elf, Love Actually, Polar Express, National Lampoons etc. Just wondered what other films I ought to watch that I might not have seen for a poncetastic Christmas, bonus points for any available on Netflix or Prime.

@RubyFakeLips

Oh no! I thought brining was universally revered. I've banged on about it to DH so much now I feel I have to go through with it. Was it a dry or wet brine you used?

Re the bucket, I didn't think you could use metal but I had figured I would line the bucket with a heavy duty plastic bag anyway as in my house it will 100% be knocked over.

It was Nigella’s recipe.

I really wouldn’t recommend it. But I know that a fair few people do apparently love it, so you might think it’s fantastic...but I just warn everyone who mentions it now as a matter of course because in our collective opinion (4 of us) it really wasn’t nice and was a huge waste of a turkey plus of all the brine ingredients...

Could you do a trial run in November, maybe have a one-off thanksgiving dinner?

I’d honestly say, every single time, that all you need for a fantastic turkey is a meat thermometer to ensure you don’t overcook it, and at least an hour, preferably more, of resting time after cooking.

@SevenSwansASwimming I love watching Christmas with the Kranks
Not Poncetastic, but very watchable

www.sarahraven.com/products/invisible-wreath-hanger?gclid=Cj0KCQjwwNWKBhDAARIsAJ8Hkhd267Hkc3cTOO5AcFDdXPCXKt0O7J29gLD5erpuEwSWJ-jBne9Q1JUaAprLEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I've just bought this invisible wreath hook

@SevenSwansASwimming for some slightly unusual (dark) Christmas films I highly recommend Rare Exports: a Christmas Tale, and Krampus is pretty good too. Neither of those are children’s films, though. And not cosy films either.

Otherwise my two favourites that I try to watch every year are

The Bishop’s Wife
It’s a Wonderful Life

White Christmas is fun too if you like old Musicals/Bing Crosby

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule Thanks for telling me, I appreciate the advice.

I think I might experiment, thats definitely a good idea. Am wondering if I could try brining a chicken and seeing how that goes. A wasted turkey on any occasion seems awful!

@Alicesays Gold would be absolutely stunning with the lights, do post a photo when you’ve done it?

Is there a link to the embosser of loveliness? I've tried googling to no avail @Carriemac I always struggle to do links on this iPad, but hopefully this should be it. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/734664792/christmas-wreath-embosser-christmas?ref=sim_rv-3

Thanks @HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule I’ll check them out.

@RubyFakeLips yes it’s true, it’s no better wasting a turkey in November tbf! Your chicken idea does sound like a good one though...

SevenSwans I also like the remake with Whitney called The Preachers Wife

If you like an old film, I find Meet Me in St Louis very festive. Judy Garland singing Have yourself a Merry little Christmas sends me to poncetastic heaven. Also Christmas in Connecticut is fun and dry. Holiday Affair, White Christmas, Holiday Inn and the original Miracle on 34th street are all lovely, one does have an unfortunate seen where they all black up which hasn’t aged well but otherwise charming.

Personal favourites that are not poncing but I love are Trading Places, The Family Stone and Bad Santa.

Thanks @Sn0tnose for the embosser link - DDs best Christmas present ever was an 'Ex Libris' personalised book embosser

@RubyFakeLips thats a great idea, I have a huge rosemary bush and lots of greenery in the garden but can never source any willowy bendy branches to do an all out diy wreath.
@Sn0tnose please tell me more about your cricut do you use it a lot? I have been talking myself in and out of buying one for years.
anybody got any pretty homemade cards planned? going shopping tomorrow to try and get some pre-folded cards and envelopes. Only 2 to make and post this year sadly as my elderly relatives who enjoy a card posted from abroad are decreasing in numbers rapidly.

@Sn0tnose please tell me more about your cricut do you use it a lot? I have been talking myself in and out of buying one for years

@Forrestttheout I’d love to, I could talk about them for days! It is one of the best things I have ever bought and I can’t recommend it enough. I have the attention span of a toddler and I jump from craft to craft, but this can be incorporated into most of the crafts I do. I’ve got a Maker and I mostly work with vinyl (permanent and heat transfer) but it cuts literally hundreds of things and if you’re into making cards, it really takes it up a notch. I probably wouldn’t bother with the Joy because you’re limited to smaller designs but if you don’t think you’d want to do everything that the Maker can do, the Air2 is also really good.

They’ve just released a Maker 3, but the only difference is that it cuts faster (the older machine already cuts pretty quickly) and you can use the Cricut Smart Vinyl, which means you don’t need a mat. Cricut vinyl is like marmite, so if you don’t get on with it, it’s a pointless upgrade. It does mean that there are some fantastic deals on the older machines though. Just don’t buy anything that needs cartridges if you go second hand. And there are lots of scam sellers around, so do be careful.

There are a couple of Cricut beginners groups on FB (‘Cricut Beginners UK -No Selling!’ and ‘The Cricut Club UK by EmmaJewel Crafts’) which are pretty friendly groups and really helpful for beginners. You don’t have to have a machine to join and you can get a feel for what other people are making and how they’re doing it. You’ll need the Cricut App which is free to download so you can have a look and play about with it. This is where your design will go, so you can re size it, etc and tell the machine what type of material you need it to cut. I mostly work off an android phone, but it’s suitable for lots of devices. When you link it to a machine, you get 30 days free access, which allows you to use their designs (although there are still some designs on there you’d have to pay for if you wanted to use them, as well as others that are free to everyone). After the free trial, it’s £7 something a month. I subscribe and I think it’s worth it, but I’m a complete technophobe so hate messing about with up and downloading stuff. However, you absolutely don’t have to subscribe if you don’t want to. There are enough free SVGs and cheap SVGs on Etsy etc to mean you don’t have to. Jennifer Maker tutorials on You Tube are some of the best out there.

It’s not the cheapest hobby in the world, but there are definitely ways of cutting down costs. You’ll definitely need a mat (blue for card, green for vinyl, pink for fabric), if you’re working with vinyl, you’ll definitely need a weeder, a scraper, scissors and a roller) and a decent iron/heat press if working with heat transfer vinyl). You can buy the Cricut tools but you can buy generic tools much cheaper. Cricut vinyl is unbelievably expensive for what you get and you can get better vinyl at a tenth of the price. If you want to use pens, some Crayola ones fit (although bear in mind if anything goes wrong with your machine, using non Cricut tools will invalidate your warranty).

The hardest thing to get your head around is that it doesn’t come with instructions or tell you how to do anything. It’s very much a learn as you go hobby and can seem overwhelming at first (which is where You a tube comes in). But once you’ve done that first thing, it’s very easy to use.

Feel free to pm me if you’ve got any questions.

@Sn0tnose your enthusiasm is infectious. I have a silhouette cameo gathering dust in the back of a cupboard and you’ve inspired me to find a place to set it up. I have a few projects I’d like to use it for.

Where do you buy your vinyl?

Is it ok if I join? Not sure how poncey I will actually be but I have aspirations for a fully ponced christmas!

Does anyone know if this type of foliage will dry up and go brown and crunchy if inside a heated home in a wreath? Or should all fresh wreaths be away from heat sources?

I've got a metal wreath hanger a bit like this.www.<a class="break-all" href="https://amazon.co.uk/Naisde-Wreath-Hanger-Christmas-Decorations/dp/B09DYX39Y2/ref=sr_1_79?dchild=1&keywords=two%20way%20wreath%20hanger&qid=1633102740&sr=8-79&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-christmas-4357242-Poncetastic-Christmas-2021" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">amazon.co.uk/Naisde-Wreath-Hanger-Christmas-Decorations/dp/B09DYX39Y2/ref=sr_1_79?dchild=1&keywords=two+way+wreath+hanger&qid=1633102740&sr=8-79 I hang a wreath on each side of the door.

Does anyone else think Christmas feels a lot closer now it’s October?

I still haven’t finished my felted mince pies, I got distracted by crocheting snowflakes from the Bella Coco video someone shared, I’m planning to hang them in the windows.

@Sn0tnose your enthusiasm is infectious. I have a silhouette cameo gathering dust in the back of a cupboard and you’ve inspired me to find a place to set it up. I have a few projects I’d like to use it for. @thelegohooverer Ooh, I’m so pleased! Christmas related? What are you planning?

Where do you buy your vinyl? MDP if I’m buying a lot. The postage isn’t cheap so it’s prohibitive if you only want a few sheets, but if you’re buying in bulk, it’s a bargain. Hexis Crafts is also very good. I’m a big fan of Oracle 651 and Teckwrap. MiPremium on Amazon is really good if you want glitter HTV. And, unlike many, I quite like Cricut, especially their Berry Sorbet, which is just beautiful. Avoid Hobbycraft’s own brand like the plague though, it is shocking.

@SevenSwansASwimming I loved your mince pies! I was also thinking how effective those snowflakes would look sewn together and used as a table runner.

@Row1n I think it probably will do. It’ll be like a Christmas tree. The cooler you keep it, the longer it will keep its foliage, but if it gets too warm, bits will be turning brown and dropping off all over the place.

Been lurking for a while, just getting started with it all (except cakes, I can’t do cakes) @Peridot1 I have a fireplace like you mentioned. Best advice from me is to get three nails in beam- 2 sides and the middle. I then bought a long fairly realistic Garland and added lots of my own foliage to it. Also put decs in the inglenook if not too hot. Something like this

Thanks @Sn0tnose I may need to think about it again so. I'd love some wreaths inside but Id rather avoid too much plastic if I can help it.

@SevenSwansASwimming yes! It feels so much closer suddenly, the weather is helping, strong winds and hail where I am today but I'm enjoying being inside and looking out at it all while planning christmas!

I'm going to get some paperwhite bulbs and give them a go and Im going to start making snowflakes for in the windows, or for hanging around the house