The 2022 Poncetastic Christmas Thread

[VivaJen]

Welcome to the 2022 Poncetastic thread. With a nod to Fellatio (wherever she may be) 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".

ooh advent tax pics please, Pink! I love a vintage piece with some history.

Well it’s 1976 so not very historical, and definitely more kitsch than chic, but it makes me happy…

I love the old paper advent calendars. I'm sure we had one when I was little but god knows what happened to it. I keep meaning to buy one, the chocolate calendars don't have pictures behind the doors anymore (I'm sure they used to!) and we have a wooden advent calendar for our kids anyway so there is no little door opening in our house at all!

I love that calendar! As a child, I had a father Christmas shaped one, with jointed limbs and a string between his legs. When you pulled the string, his arms and legs would rise up! Happy days!

Òh! Oh! Oh! And his eyes rolled! How could I forget that. This was the one! Only now as an adult can I understand my mother's mirth at seeing me pull his string!

@HintofVintagePink what a beautiful advent calendar. The graphics are so much more romamtic than todays offerings. A bit like vintage ladybird books vs the cartoon style modern ones.

@MammaWeasel I think I love your mum

😁

Stuck at home today waiting for the smart meter man so I'm going to
Ponce . Went to see the chatsworth Chrystal trees this week and the place was so beautiful! Well worth a visit . Got some grand ideas now!

@OKScarpetta i love you’re tree for your dc. It’s such a fun idea and the lights/bunting are wonderful

This evening’s pouncing involved going to a wreath making workshop. This is my effort. Some of them were fabulous and I learnt lots of hints and tips. Like the outside foliage should be flat against the door. And like a Catherine wheel effect.

@HintofVintagePink how lovely to have your uncle's paper advent calendar! I love it when things like that get passed down and calendars are so fragile that it's amazing it has survived! Not in the same league but I have a wooden 'stable' made by my grandfather for my mum when she was little. He died when she was 5 so it was very special to her and I was so pleased when it was passed on to me. Sadly, there were no figures to go with it, so I have a modern set that my mum bought me. She has now passed on too and even though there are far nicer sets of figures out there I would never change them.

Well, clearly the highlight of my peg people Nativity is the cat sheep 🤔🙄

I'm not sure if their faces need to fill more of their heads maybe?

Also, the box of glass is out of the loft. The girls' dad was not overly delicate with it, and several pieces have suffered. Including one of a pair of art-deco liquer glasses 😢 However, I now think I'm going to properly hunt the charity shops & keep an eye out for antiques fairs. See what I can find.

The cocktail sticks with cockrels are not there either, but there are a pair of martini glasses with cockrels painted on them, 5 of 6 tumblers with playing cards and a few others I'd forgotten about. It was nice looking at the memories even if most is not salvegable!

Oops...forgot the cat sheep...

I'm doing the Make Arcade advent calendar...basically saving all my poncing for this month.
I'm pretty pleased with day 1 and 2...not sure how long I'll be able to keep it up for!

@lucysmam cotton wool ball on top of each cat sheep perhaps? I think they’ve got lovely characterful faces. Sorry about your glassware - I inherited my Nan’s dinner service and best glasses that are all boxed away. Daft saving stuff for best really, it may as well break in use as in storage.

@lucysmam The cat sheep are cute!! I really don’t think they need changing, they’re rather sweet as they are...

But if you do want them to look more sheep-like I would suggest thinning down their faces, just by painting over some of the grey either side - ending up long instead of round, and the ears could be changed quite easily by filling in the space between head and ear a bit (so that they stick out rather than up, like on this picture).

Sorry about the glassware. 😔But you’ll always have the memories, and it’s fun to have a charity shop project.

@OKScarpetta the tree is fab! Lovely idea and so much love and effort gone into it; there will be so many happy memories in it for your girls as they grow up.

@HintofVintagePink that is so lovely. There is something uniquely charming about paper/card decorations that have been kept for years and passed on -cherished and looked after as well as possible despite their fragility.

My grandparents made woven paper hearts many years ago (traditional in Denmark) which hung on the tree every year throughout my childhood and into adulthood. Now my mum has them and still uses them every year, and the quiet joy I feel when I see them is so, so precious. They also had card nisser (elves) which they used to place amongst their many books. They all had such characterful faces and proper little personalities. I loved seeing them every year.

@MammaWeasel 😄 I remember those. Such simple pleasures.

@ShakeYourFeathers the wreath is so nice! Will be beautiful on the door.

@Canofpeas I really love those. Very, very cute.

@BeastOfBODMAS I use all the things I love as often as I can, just for day-to-day. ‘Best’ is right now, while we’re here!

@Confusedmeanderings your little cabin sounds wonderful. How precious that your mum could have that tangible memory of him, and now you have it as a memory of her.

My grandparents also had a little handmade cabin. It was a miniature replica of the cabin my great great grandfather had built for his family, and he had made it for my great grandfather. It had a roof that opened so you could see inside. We used to bring it down to have a look every time we visited as children. It, too, was passed on to my mum. And now another generation of grandchildren asks for it to be brought down so they can open the lid (gently) and look at the little scene inside.❤️

Thank you for the suggestions; I think thinning down their faces and rounding off their ears should do the trick. It's helpful to have other eyes look at them.

We're off to an artisan market today, at a local shopping outlet, while the girls dad puts up the ceiling decs, so I'll do them while dd1 cooks later on. That just leaves me 3 wise men, and varnishing them. Thankfully the varnish dries quickly on the little things.

We'll make the gingerbread dough, to freeze, after we've eaten too I think. Plan is to make the houses in the first week of the hols - kids Vs grown ups for decoration, according to the girls 🤣

Pickling your Paperwhites !!

For those growing Paperwhites for Christmas here is the link to the original research.

HERE

I poured the water from mine today and replaced with gin 1part to 8.
DH came down and sniffed suspiciously! I assured him the gin wasn’t an 8am tipple for me.

I did mum's paperwhites yesterday. One is about 8in tall already 🙈 it's the first time we've gone them and I don't think they e been in a dark enough place. They are now getting drunk in a cupboard. There's 4 bulbs and 1 is far behind, 1 is about right, 1 is an eager beaver, and the last one is a show off and has a big bud already. I'm going to put the show off and the eager beaver in a tall jug if the gin doesn't slow them down enough. Tanquery gin for bulbs!

The tree is out from under the stairs. This is progress. The fact that it's still in its box less so.
I popped my ceramic baubles in a wooden vase to keep them safe from DH the cats, I think they might actually stay there as they look nice.

Viennese topped mince pies have been a roaring success. I didn’t have flaked almonds for the mincemeat so I chopped whole ones - must make a note to do it on purpose next year as it adds to the texture. The next batch could stand more generous filling.
Ive also made festive nut roasts for the freezer and will have one tonight. My usual chuck whatever’s in the cupboard together and bind with stuffing mix recipe, but with added cooked chestnuts and dried cranberries.

With lights!

They are stunning @LaChatte.

@LaChatte The bauble is beautiful ❤️

This is such a lovely thread! I haven't been poncing today, unless you count singing Christmas Carols at full volume this morning when I had the house to myself!