EDIT: Countdown has begun!

Husband - Coffee subscription
Daughter - Fidget board, Issy plush
Mum - Charles Dowding planting calendar and diary
Dad - Rhubarb forcer. I already own this, but it's in danger of being shot, so it can go to my Dad. He's obsessed with rhubarb
Brother in law - Marvel jigsaw. Thank you Mum!
Brother in law's Mum - amaryllis bulb
Sister - HELP!!
Niece - Bobbi Brown makeup

I haven't bought anything for my sister! Might have to think quickly...

So, christmas crackers... sparkle, gunpowder, jokes, hats and some kind of toy. Do you like them and if so, why? Or if not, why not? I enjoy the smell of gunpowder at christmas dinner, it's a unique feature!

I'm just unboxing a whole set of BF Twinkle Eye ponies... I was going to put this in the current thread about 35 Anniversary ponies but then I decided it's kind of a brag, in fact the best one I've had in ages. I bought a second set so I can unbox a whole set at the same time!

I have owned all of these at some point but I lost them for one reason or another. I found Fizzy at a jumble sale when I was a teenager, but she had a mohican. Sadly she got lost when I sent her off for re-hairing. I have had several Sweeties but all developed brown spots. They are still in my bait box and I can't decide what to do with them. I had a really nice Gingerbread with accessories that I won in an auction, but she was so lovely that she was making me anzious, so I sold her before she got any issues. I've definitely owned Sky Rocket before but she's another one who gets plastic issues. So I'm really happy to own  (a version of) all of these again, thank you Basic Fun.

I've put the little accessories in a clear baggy for each pony. I have to say I think it would be almost impossible for a kid to unbox these themselves! I think they look lovely displayed in the box though, so I guess all the fiddly bits are worth it. I unboxed them in the following order: Sweet Stuff, Sky Rocket, Gingerbread... I'm just going to go and get a glass of soda before I do Fizzy.

Update: As everyone says, the hair is thinner but still nice and soft. Wierdly, all 4 of them rattle but with Sweet Stuff it's not very noticeable. If they were G1s I'd be considering popping the heads off to find the loose washer. These have unglued heads and seem as though the heads would come off, but without knowing what I'm looking for I don't think I'll bother. Final conundrum is whether to style the hair, which has that sticky paste in it like a G4. I think I will see what some hot water can do, might also smooth out the tails as well. Has anyone else styled the hair on these at all?

And the Starlight Babies. Hopefully these have no recycled names, no lazy colour choices and no cartoon symbols... what do you think?

Nightsong is a white sparkle body with teal hair (Lucky Clover). Her symbol is like original Baby Nightsong (three planets). She is in the Powder pose and her baby is in the Baby Blossom pose.

Mischief is a purple sparkle pony with blue hair (Atomic Turquoise). Her symbol is like original Baby Mischief (single kite). She is in the Surprise pose and her baby is in the Baby Firefly pose.

Explorer is a yellow Sparkle pony with purple hair (Sour Grapes). Her symbol is like Baby Explorer (a hot air balloon with stars). She is in the shy pose and her baby is in the Baby Gusty pose.

Twinkler (or Comet) is a green sparkle pony (like original Skyrocket) with red hair (Sugarberry). Her symbol is like original Sky Rocket x Twinkler (a skyrocket firework with stars). S/he is in the Gingerbread pose and her/his baby is in the Baby Lucky pose. I wasn't sure about the name, but Comet is also the name of a type of firework.

Sunspot is an orange sparkle pony with pink hair (Pussycat - find similar permanent). Her symbol is like original Sunspot but with no face (sun with rays). She is in the Tootsie pose and her baby is in the Baby Cuddles Pose.

Fire Flower (or Twinkler) is a pink sparkle pony (like original Stardancer) with yellow (Yellow Fever) hair. Her symbol is like original Baby Stella (blue star with objects in orbit). She is in the Sugarberry pose and her baby is in the Baby Ember pose. Fire Flower is a name for a firework, but Twinkler would also be good.

My baby is due on the 3rd January and I'm trying to work out how to stay on payroll for as long as possible! I feel as though I'm either going to get made redundant or I may leave, so these final weeks of income are quite important. I have 15.5 days of holiday left to take this calendar year otherwise I'll lose it. I've heard that most women overstep theri due date by about 2 weeks, is this true?

I know that there are lots of folks on this forum who are good with paints and finishes and practical things like customising! I have a few DIY issues which aren't that easy to look up, either because I'm trying to be SUPER tight with money repairing stuff that people would normally throw away, or I'm trying to do something a bit different just because I don't want to live in a boring house.

So we live in an ex-council house with a lot of very standard fixtures and fittings that most UK people would recognise. First up is our doors are flimsy and made of a dark mahogany veneer with a horrid varnish like the inside of a Daim bar. Dutiful DH has sanded these with mixed results. I don't fancy painting them white like most people would do. So i've tried a hard wax called Polyx Oil on the good ones with a sample pot of green mixed in to tone down the red colour. When this has worked, it's worked really well. Other doors don't have a good enough finish where the veneer was too thin. Where I've tried the Polyx oil but I'm not happy with the finish, I plan to paint a blackboard onto one in the downstairs, and a dark grey satin onto one for the upstairs. But then i thought about decoupage. I have a spare roll of wallpaper, but not enough to do a wall. Can I decoupage a couple of doors? Would this look odd or really cool? These aren't fancy panel doors in an old house, just plain old flat ones. I'm not going for shabby chic, just decoration. Has anyone else tried this and what glue and/or sealer did you use?

Edit: I should say these aren't room doors but cupboard doors, so they would get less traffic than room doors.

I think I need to get rid of Sophos now, but I don't know what to replace it with. Any ideas?