Poncetastic Christmas 2024

[StiffyByngsDogBartholomew]

@vivajen hasn't posted on MN for a year so I've taken the bull by the horns. I can't wait any longer !
Wherever you are, Fellatio, here's to you. I hope you're brining a turkey and had crafting authentic organic woven tinsel somewhere.
"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".

🎄🎄🎄🎄

Care to share your method?
I’m not great at remembering to feed :(

I made a sourdough starter back in May, it's still doing good and I e shared it with lots of friends. I keep mine on the fridge now as I was getting forgetful about regular feeding. Pantry Mama has lots of good advice and recipes.

Marmalade gin sounds lush! You're all tempting me to try it but I have no ingredients for it 🙄

@Edgeofthesea I find slow prep through the next 3 months useful. I make and freeze what I can, food wise, slowly collect gifts and stocking fillers & try to have any events/days out written on the calendar (even if we don't go to all the events - sometimes I just write any I see on there to remind me that it's happening if we fancy it).

What's the recipe please 😋

Couple of tablespoons of marmalade, Add whisky and swirl to combine. Add two shots of Aperol and let it sit for a week. Apparently the whisky will completely melt the marmalade. You can also add a cardamom pod. They recommend straining it when it's done to make it clean and clear.

I've topped mine up with a half bottle of Bells from the corner shop. For some reason I felt the need to do a tinkly laugh and say I was making Marmalade Whisky for my father. You know, just in case they thought I was going to drink the half bottle of whisky on a park bench (why would they care?)

Anyway, here it now is sitting prettily and doing it's thing.

@HannahDefoesTrenchcoat I’m behind the thread again but thanks for the wisteria tip! I’ve got a thug that keeps trying to climb in the upstairs windows, it will be much better as a wreath

This is the sourdough thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/5124955-behold-my-sourdough?page=5&reply=138082123

@ChiaraMontague I am vegan and this site is my go-to. There is even a vegan, gluten free Christmas cake to satisfy all guests.

https://domesticgothess.com/?s=Gluten+free

Thanks! Do you think it would work with gin? They probably would have preferred you to be drinking on the park bench as more chance of you going back for another 😆. It looks lovely, the bottle is beautiful too

@Edgeofthesea I used to clear all the jars of jsm, mustard, chutney etc. out of the fridge and put in a box somewhere cool. Likewise veg (not salad) and hard cheeses are fine somewhere cool like an unheated room, on a windowsill that's not sunny. You can even put stuff in a car boot Christmas eve to stay cool, most years in UK anyway.

Welcome @flippytheseptember hope your surgery and recovery go smoothly.

I'm going to try this

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a572817/marmalade-and-bay-gin/

Hi, what a lovely thread. No one in my family likes Xmas nowadays except me - can I join to enjoy the idea of it vicariously?

Thanks for the NT workshop suggestions - off to look into those.

Have also been reminded by reading this thread that I should make a start on my Xmas cake!

Haha. Thats very true. The recipe I found / used was actually for gin. I just used whisky.

Ooh can I join, we are at home for a change so I can decorate properly. Love a fully ponced up
Xmas.
Have booked Ocado delivery slot, ordered a few presents already and bought my first Christmas mags already. Am also looking at the matching PJs ...
haven't decided our colour theme yet... thinking white/silver but want an accent colour too
Am so happy I've found my people!

I went into Smiths yesterday tobuy a Christmas magazine but not one grabbed me.
Anyone bought one they'd recommend?
I've got a £5 voucher to put towards the astronomical cost.

I looked the other day as well and wasn't really tempted by anything.

I picked one up in OneStop the other week, clocked the £7.99 price tag & put it back. They're nice to browse through but no way worth that amount!

They're not really good value compared to books.

Yeah I just buy books instead now. I do wish I'd kept the old magazines though. I don't think I did although they may be stashed somewhere in the loft.

Your local library might offer a Libby service that lets you look at magazines online or download for free. I get my Christmas magazine hit that way!

Today we had the annual family Stir-up The Cake day.
We made a vegan one and a traditional one. The total chaos of 3 dgc helping!

Hello everyone, happy to be joining my favourite yearly thread! My head's not 100% in the right space for poncing just yet but reading about everyone's plans is helping. I have no idea what we're going to be doing, who we're hosting or anything really. I'm still clinging on to the last few remnants of summer (I'm the south of France), but am almost ready for autumn, especially if it means the end of the sodding mosquitos.
I don't have any craft projects yet but have been browsing the patterns on mmmcrafts on Etsy and am very tempted by her lodestar tree topper but I don't know where to buy metallic felt, I can't even seem to find any on Amazon!
I also want to make something special in my ''ceramics studio'' (the garage), we have enough bowls and cups to start a restaurant so I'm thinking about maybe trying to make some festive side plates maybe.
I am definitely going to make a wreath and a garland for the stairs this year, last year I just put fairy lights going up but it didn't quite hit the mark (also our tree is artificial so the garland gave us the right smell).

I have free magazines with my library membership, it's the only reason I joined as I have "History" with overdue books so can't allow myself to withdraw anything 😂

love you all doing stir up Sunday, we have a light fruit cake so no need to mature here

Oh I'm here for this! With tinsel on 🥰

As some previous posters have mentioned, do join your local library if you are not already a member. I am currently spending a rainy afternoon doing some serious poncing with Christmas magazines online; current favourite is Gardeners World (as I am still too full of Sunday roast to look at more food!)
It’s easy to screenshot whatever takes your fancy.

Metallic felt on Etsy. I'm sure they would deliver to France.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/561418455/brushed-metallic-felt-priced-by-sheet?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_d-craft_supplies_and_tools-fabric_and_notions-fabric&utm_custom1=k_CjwKCAjw9eO3BhBNEiwAoc0-jarJKL7fx90zm0YTPnX9hm3qYwbJDbem4u788s9NptD14Voh-MmD8RoCVssQAvD_BwE_k&utm_content=go_12604174024_117704327177_508715420103_pla-295916403786_m__561418455engb_561806487&utm_custom2=12604174024&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9eO3BhBNEiwAoc0-jarJKL7fx90zm0YTPnX9hm3qYwbJDbem4u788s9NptD14Voh-MmD8RoCVssQAvD_BwE