Copy-Cat Holiday Treats: #2 of---Several

Keeping you Posted on More Holiday TR-eats — for yourself or others.

I have been posting ideas for homemade, original and copy-cat, gifts you can make for your holidays, quickly and cheaply.  I’ve encouraged you to look at the myriad gift catalogs filling your mailbox with a new eye — copying not buying. I’ve “talked” a little bit about how to recreate the expensive food and treat offerings from these catalogs.

Again, I am not doing this to rush the season—rather to give you a chance to think about and plan ahead for the season. Most, probably all, cheap, simple and quick. Three of my favorite words!

For the next several days I am going to share more of my ideas on holiday goody-gifts.

Today it’s Popcorn and Snack Gift Tins.

Close your eyes and picture the popcorn that comes in a variety of 1 to 3-1/2 gallon gift tins. While you can get a container that contains only one flavor, the most popular combination is plain popcorn, caramel corn and cheese corn. You can also buy the same containers filled with a combination of popcorn, tortilla chips and pretzels.

Next I want you to think about (or actually go price) the cost of packages of tortilla chips, pretzels, popcorn kernels or even already popped popcorn—and picture the volume they take up. It doesn’t take very long to see that even if you buy ready-made-popcorn you are saving money by creating your own gift packages.

Remember, a large variety of containers, including empty popcorn drums, can be purchased at garage sales or thrift shops for very little. 

Also, the prices I list here are prices from 1996 when I first wrote the cheapskate "bookette" on catalog-copy-catting. While I am not giving names, these prices are for products from well-known mail-order companies and--- the listed prices do not include shipping and handling.

Traditional Popcorn Trio
23 ounces of corn in a 2 gallon can for $22.50 (this is the only company that I noticed that listed the weight as well as the gallon size and it is no wonder because this works out to approximately 90 cents per ounce!

• 3-1/2 gallon trio popcorn in red tin for $23.99.
• 2 gallon trio popcorn for $19.95
• 2 gallon “lite” trio popcorn for $19.95
• 2 gallon trio snacks (popcorn, tortilla chips, pretzels) for $21.95
• 3-1/2 gallon trio refill in the “home box” (described in previous post—a plain unadorned cardboard box with a warm and fuzzy name.)

Popcorn Nibble Mix
12 cups popped corn
2 cups cheese snack crackers
2 cups salted Spanish peanuts
2 cups small pretzel sticks or shapes
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
½ tsp. bottled steak sauce
½ tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. onion salt
½ tsp. curry powder
½ tsp. salt
Heat oven to 250 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in large roasting pan. Combine remaining ingredients and add to pan, mixing well. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool. Store in air tight container. Will keep for several months in freezer.

The above Popcorn Nibble Mix is one of those recipes you could make together with a group of a few friends — sharing the ingredients and their cost.

One company sells a snack mix they label “unique.” It contains Spanish and blanched peanuts and sunflower seeds — all roasted and salted, mini-pretzels, and goldfish and tiny crackers–both cheese-flavored. I think the only unique thing about it is they are able to sell a 26 ounce container for $14.99.

Another company sells a six pound tin of “deluxe snacking mix” consisting of sesame and plain bread sticks, assorted pretzels and mini-toasts, all lightly salted with a garlic seasoning for $36.00. Even way back then that was $3.60 per pound!

Also available, 26 ounces of dried fruit and nut mix in a decorative tin for $17. Want to recreate something similar? Theirs contain dried pineapple, papaya, banana chips, and coconut mixed with unsalted Brazil nuts, filberts, almonds and cashew pieces. Choose the combination you like and can afford. And check out the bulk bins at large markets or health food stores—their savings over pre-packaged products is amazing.

Next Post: Recipes for Flavored  Popcorn

‘til we eat again,
          Simply Gail

Copy-Cat Holiday Treats #1 of---Several

Keeping You Posted on Chocolate and Other Good Things to TR-eat—yourself or others.

I have been posting ideas for homemade, original and copy-cat---gifts you can make for your holidays, quickly and cheaply.  I’ve encouraged you to look at the myriad gift catalogs filling your mailbox with a new eye — copying not buying. I’ve “talked” a little bit about how to recreate the expensive food and treat offerings from these catalogs.

Today I will give you some basics to get your thought process going and then --- teach you how to “bark.”

For the next several days I am going to share more of my ideas on holiday goody-gifts.

Again, I am not doing this to rush the season—rather to give you a chance to think about and plan ahead for the season. Most, probably all, cheap, simple and quick. Three of my favorite words!

I will start off with catalog-copy-cats — a wide variety — and continue from there. 

The glossy catalogs tempt you with luscious photographs of their products, their clever packaging and descriptions that make your mouth water—at absurdly high prices.

One company offers their products in your choice of either decorative tins or (for a reduced rate) in “home boxes,” which are, as far as I can tell from the photograph, nothing more than plain, unadorned cardboard boxes with a warm and fuzzy sounding name.

Check out garage sales, thrift shops and, if you are a “big” spender, the dollar stores for great containers.

With the recipes I will show the 1996 prices for the commercial versions of these recipes. 1996 is the year I self-published the bookette introducing these copy-cat candies.

And remember, the listed prices do not include shipping and handling!

I will not identify individual companies with these prices; however, my sources will include, but may not be limited to Sunnyland Farms, The Popcorn Factory, Crate and Barrel, Swiss Colony, Hickory Farms and Especially Yours.

Commercial “bark” is very expensive, especially when you consider how very simple it is to make: “Something” stirred into melted candy coating which is then spread thin and broken into irregular pieces after it has hardened. That’s all it is.

• Gift tin twin pack with both dark and light chocolate pecan bark – 18 ounce for $17.25.
• White bark with green and red peppermint chunks, packaged in a tree container – 16 ounces for $19.99
• Combo of four barks (milk and dark chocolate with pecans, white with almonds, and light green with shelled pistachios in a gift tin — 16 ounces for $17.00.

How to “Bark”
The only challenging  part of the candy-making  is to be very careful, when melting it,  not to scorch it or let a drop of liquid into it,

1. Carefully melt the coating flavor of you choice in a microwave according to directions or over very low heat, stirring often. It will hold its shape until you stir it so you must be attentive.

2.When it is melted, stir in the additional ingredient(s) and using a rubber spatula, spread out to desired thickness on a foil or waxed-paper covered surface. Refrigerate.

3.When firm, break into chunks of desired size. That’s it!


Coating Possibilities: Starting, naturally, with the cheapest!

• Almond Bark (comes in white, chocolate and butterscotch in the baking aisle with the chocolate chips) These are the cheapest and what I usually use. Sometimes I will combine it with a handful of chocolate chips. 
• Chocolate Chips or Pieces (used in baking cookies)
• Candy Melts (all colors and flavors usually found in the cake decorating/candy making section of a craft store)
• Chunk chocolate (available in wide range of variety and price)

Some cooks get very picky about the quality of their chocolate — choose what fits your pocketbook comfortably. I use the cheapest and the only complaints I have ever had is when the candy is all gone!


Mix in Additions:
Coarsely crushed peppermints or candy canes
Chopped nuts, a single variety or mixed
M&M’s or mini M&M’s candies
Crumbled cookies
Cereals
Anything that sounds good to you!

More:
Working quickly, before the bark hardens, you can top it with sprinkles or additional chopped items. Press down lightly on the toppings to help them adhere.

You can decorate your bark with drizzles of a contrasting color. To do this, melt a small amount of coating, place it in a small plastic zip-lock bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner and drizzle it over the bark’s surface. Refrigerate until firm.

Next post: Popcorn(s)

Til we eat again
           Simply, Gail

DIY Barrette Holders for Gift Giving

I am the creative cheapskate and I love to see what commercial items I can replicate myself.

I don't like to rush the Christmas season but when you are doing it yourself you need some lead time. For this reason only, for the next several days I am going to be posting many of the gifts I have made and given that received "thumbs up! over the years." Hopefully I will include something you can use---or something that sparks an idea you can develop.

I'd love to hear about your ideas. I can be reached at thecreativecheapskate.gmail.com. You can also contact me if you have any questions about the things I post.

One of my earlier August posts "When the Catalogs Start Coming . . ." will give you a head start on copy-cat gifts.

Simple Barrette Holders 
Girl With Braids (sorry I cannot remember the original 1996 catalog price for this one)

This barrette holder is from my 1996  self-published
bookette "Simply Centsational Gifts"

Needed:                                                              
1 10x20 inch piece of felt, any color
1 9x12 inch piece of pink or flesh colored felt
1 skein of heavy rug yarn for hair
1 scrap of matching color felt for bangs
scraps of felt for eyes and mouth
needle and thread
12 inch rod or piece of doweling
glue gun or glue suitable for felt
embellishments as desired

Fold under two inches across top of large felt section. Stitch to make a casing for the dowel. Cut circles from flesh or pink felt to make face. Cut eyes and mouth from felt scraps and glue into position on face. Glue face to background. Cut bangs from hair-colored felt and glue on face.

Cut pieces of yarn, each 50 inches long. Fold the yarn in half and tie in the middle with a shorter piece of yarn so you have a 25-inch "lock" of hair. Sew this securely at crown of head where bangs meet. Divide the hank into three and braid. Secure the bottom of the braid with a piece of yarn. Repeat the process with second braid.

Decorate as desired. I like to sew bows where the top of the braid meets the crown and at the bottom of the braid. You can fasten barrettes in those locations also. To hang, slip dowel through casing. Fasten additional yarn to each end of the dowel, making a loop that will hang over any hook or nail. Fasten barrettes up and down the braids.

This barrette holder is from my 1996  self-published
bookette "Simply Centsational Gifts"

Ribbon Barrette Holder                                                  
Another catalog sold a cute barrette holder,  similarly sized. It has three polka dot grosgrain ribbons running the length of the backing piece to hold the barrettes. The ribbons are stitched to the backing across the top and the bottom, leaving the middle area loose to fasten the barrettes to. The bottom edge of the backing is folded up to hold a      hair brush or hair bands. It hangs by two loops. Three barrettes are included and  the 1996 price was $19.95.

Remember: Each post for the next several days will show a variety of gifts, for all ages,  you can make yourself----simply, quickly and cheaply.

DIY Art Kits for Gift-Giving

Art Kits

Repeating from my last post, in case you missed it:  Once again I remind you to put your thinking caps on when you look through the gift catalogs that will shortly be filling your mail boxes, especially if . . .
Craft Kits are on your gift-giving list for kids or grandkids.


If you have been reading my posts for very long you know that I am a great believer in imagination, and opportunities for children to exercise theirs. 


The ready-made craft kits look like an easy answer to a great creative gift. At first glance!

Carefully note the contents and items of the kits you see in the mail-order catalogs and decide if you can do it cheaper, and probably better, without too much effort and without a shipping and handling charge. If you do not want to make up the kits yourself, it is often possible to find similar sets, for less money, at the large discount stores.

Now, on with the new. . .

Our kids' Aunt Bobbie made up their first art kits and they were a major hit. Aunt Bobbie's kits combined art supplies and collage supplies and many other little bits of creative potential.

The contents can be as simple or extensive as you choose. In case you don't know what is "out there" in the mail order or on-line order world, here are some commercial counterparts that don't even come close to what Aunt Bobbie put together.

Again, these prices are from 1996, as listed in one of my previously self-published bookettes. Is it safe to say the prices 15 years later are a lot higher and the quality is a lot lower.

Collage Kit
Boasts a case load of inspiring craft materials for $19.95 (in 1996!). The final sentence gives the case size as 9x4x8 inches! It includes feathers, pom poms, beads, star stickers, doilies, wiggly eyes, glue, sequins, glitter, colored paper and more. The photo looks like the "more" includes small foam food trays.

You may already have similar odds and ends around the house. Is there a dollar store near you?

Marking Pen Kits
Touts "fabulous arrays for big imaginations"

One has 8 markers, crayons and colored pencils, a four-color watercolor tray, one each--paint brush, pencil, eraser, sharpener, and mixing tray. It cost $14.95 in 1996.

The second kit has 12 each of markers, water paints, oil pastels, colored pencils and crayons plus a pencil sharpener, eraser, ruler and paint brush for $9.95.

If these kits were to be given as gifts next year, think how the anytime-great-savings can be "maxi-maximized" by shopping the back-to-school sales!

See how simply you, too, can be a creative cheapskate!

DIY Craft Kits for Gift-Giving

Once again I remind you to put your thinking caps on when you look through the gift catalogs that will shortly be filling your mail boxes, especially if . . .
Craft Kits are on your gift-giving list for kids or grandkids.


If you have been reading my posts for very long you know that I am a great believer in imagination, and opportunities for children to exercise theirs. 


The ready-made craft kits look like an easy answer to a great creative gift. At first glance!

Carefully note the contents and items of the kits you see in the mail-order catalogs and decide if you can do it cheaper, and probably better, without too much effort and without a shipping and handling charge. If you do not want to make up the kits yourself, it is often possible to find similar sets, for less money, at the large discount stores.

Following are a few kits from gift catalogs so you can "see" and decide for yourself. I have taken the information from one of my self-published bookettes, written 15 years ago. What that means is the current prices will be higher and there is a good chance the contents will be less and/or the quality lower. That is a sad but probably true assessment. 

Beginning Sewing Kit
This 1996 catalog kit costs $18.95 and contains six 9x12" felt squares (they cost about 20 cents each back then), four very small spools of thread, 2 pre-cut felt birds, a small pincushion, a few large head pins, two large-eye needles, a needle threader and poly fiberfill for stuffing the projects.

The kit does contain instructions (in rhyme) and patterns for making simply shaped animals and figures from the included felt. The projects look like the shapes you would trace using  large cookie cutters, of the simple shapes in a "my first coloring book."

The sewing is all overcast stitch around the edges of the cut-out felt. The catalog states "adult help may be needed" so that could eliminate the need for an instruction book if you were not up to making one.

Sponge Painting Kit
In 1996 this kit was priced at $19.95. It contains four 8-ounce plastic jars of washable, non-toxic paint, four small plastic bowls, a sponge brush and roller sponge, eight 2-1/2" simple sponge shapes and four plastic stencils. It is packaged in a 9x7x4" box---a little less than the size of a ream of copy paper.

It doesn't appear to contain instructions or paper. These supplies are available at discount or hobby stores. The small sponge shapes cost about 25 cents each in 1996.


Rubber Stamping Set
This set contains 8 rubber stamps, ranging in size from 1x1 inch to 1-1/2x3 inches, and one tri-color stamp pad. It cost $15.98 cents in the 1996 catalog. Construction paper, 100 sheets of 9x12 inch,  in assorted colors was available for an additional $8.98!

I am sure you can beat that price --- and you would even be able to select the rubber stamps you wanted.

Next post----Art Kits!