Poncetastic Christmas 2025

[welikebeingcosy]

Added by MNHQ upon request:
OK, first of all, I know it's still September but 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.The days are getting shorter, the leaves are starting to brown, that can only mean one thing- it's time to ignore the waves of Halloween decor all over your local The Range and head to the woods to start picking your own holly for that perfect Kirsty inspired wreath.

We want homemade stuffing recipes perfected by November, the handmade crackers draped in the most delicate of embroidered ribbon, mantle pieces draped in the most Scandinavian of wooden carvings, specialised stamps for the personalised wrapping paper ordered by next week and the word craft to be your official middle name by new year.

Happy ponceing and may Nigel and Nigella's fairy lights guide you on your way to getting the last box of rosemary and sea salt crackers in your own personal Bethlehem.

I’ve bought something from the garden centre that if I show you will have me struck from the thread. But I’m still tempted to show you for your collective horror…

I might try and make the cake this week, I need to audit the cupboards first.

This makes me conjure uo something like a wall mounted singing turkey that bursts into a rendition of Elvis' Blue Blue Christmas every time somebody says "pass the parsnips"

It can't be that bad, surely. Either way, I need to see now that you have planted the seed 👀

@RainbowZebraWarrior I believe it might actually be worse 😆

in that case of course you must !!

Please @FurForksSake , we need to see what you've bought.

I've been toying with the idea of making a "window advent calendar". At first I thought about a scene in my window - eg a picture made from coloured tissue paper - that I change everyday of advent. But that might be a lot of work so I wondered instead about something like a big picture of a Christmas Tree that I then add a star or bauble etc to each day of advent. I live in a first floor flat so it would be large enough to be seen from the road & bus stop.

@FurForksSake you have to show us now! I want to know!

@MissMarplesNiece I love the idea of adding a bauble to an advent Christmas tree. And it's lovely to do something that other people enjoy. We have a window with a very deep sill and we build a Christmas village in it with light up buildings - the Lemax type of thing. I love seeing the children stop to look at it on the way home from school.

@MissMarplesNiece A window advent calendar is such a lovely idea - Please do it!

I think I feel what you mean about Christmas and nostalgia - missing people we love and how it used to be. This will be the second Christmas without my sister and we will all miss her exacting ways on how everything should be (she loved Nigel Slater and made a lot of his recipes from the Christmas Chronicles)

Ok. I’ll take my leave and go 😆

Advent windows are a lovely thing to do. I organised a few over the years. This one I hand paper cut nutcrackers.

@FurForksSake I love them! Your window too.

Haha. So I was sort of on the right lines with the si ging aspect. Love it!

I think the window might neutralise the sing-a-long hand soaps 🧼 🎶

@MissMarplesNiece definitely do some sort of window thing. I might join in.

@Confusedmeanderings I love your window. Can't wait to see a picture of it again this year.

Ooh, it's getting exciting. I've just turned off my Christmas chutney so will be able to jar that in an hour or so. We also start our Halloweeen advent calendars tomorrow which is Not At All Poncetastic.

I also found a spot today where our council grows large swathes of wild flowers. This year's are still flowering, and last year's are a mass of dried teasle heads, etc. Noted for winter arrangements.

We made a special trip out to buy some gin to make sloe gin with. Only to get home and realise that one, not two bags of black berries in the bottom of the freezer were sloes. So we now have a small amount of sloe gin steeping, and a large amount of some slightly experimental bramble, bay and black peppercorn gin steeping in another bottle next to it. Which feels almost poncier than the sloe gin.

Ummm I just bought some singing hand soap!
my Pontastic Badge is in the post to Mumsnet Towers.

Well I was at the beach this weekend and got a bit of embroidery done but it didn't feel very Christmassy 😅

Oh I want some singing hand wash now!

@FurForksSake you have to tell us which garden centre please so we can all get some!

DC used to have some toy groundhogs or something with red and white striped scarves and hats that sang we wish you a merry Christmas and they were TRULY awful.

I made my mulled wine jam this weekend.

Ooh. Whereabouts are you? That looks very lovely

It's between the Grand Motte and Grau du Roi (near Montpellier, south of France), we go every year for a weekend to end the summer. We rent a little chalet on the seafront, it's lovely. This is the view from the terrace.

How gorgeous. And what a lovely tradition to end the summer 😍

Finished a few little bits as present toppers.
I started some red thread work that I am really enjoying. Also altered 3 dresses ready for holiday later this month.
I might even get dressed soon!

Ooh they're lovely @Trumpton

They’re really lovely, I’m sure they’ll go down a storm.

@Magnoliasunrise, how do you make mulled wine jam? One of my friends keeps giving us bottles, but DH despises the stuff, and I can't drink a bottle on my own. Was thinking of using it for poached pears, but a jam might be easier to share as well.