I’m going to print this off and put in my cookbook shelf. I knew there were recipes available for this stuff, but hadn’t looked it up. I do occasionally make biscuits with baking mix.

Trent has a Garage Sale and Thrifting Tool Kit so he can find the sale locations, know what sizes he’s looking for in clothing and household items, and has plenty of small bills to make the purchases.

One idea for the men:

Fleece Blanket – There are plenty of new-sew versions to make too. You can buy fleece in a manly print (like camo) or with a favorite sports team logo.

• ABC Frugality: Decorating for Pennies Part II. She’s got some great tips that work for rental housing.
• Wise Bread: 5 Quick Fixes to Salvage a Good Meal. I’ve done that leftover bread trick many times.
• Make it From Scratch: A little girl’s headband. This is a great set of directions to make a special pattern or design that you can’t find on the retail market.

There were nearly 50 people attending the free program tonight, and a waiting list besides. If you got bumped off the list, or weren’t able to attend, a copy of the handouts with lots of recipes will be kept at the reference desk for you to look at.

The Newport library staff said they’re used to seeing big crowds at their events. Now, from my experience speaking at library and community education programs, and discussions with librarian friends, an audience for adult programming is harder to get an audience for than kids’ programming. Even when people may be interested in the topic, it’s hard for parents to get away to an event that doesn’t involve children and many other adults would rather just settle in at home for the night.

So I was astonished to see the number of people who came to this event.

Scrapbooker Amanda Maue helped with a make-and-take greeting card project. Pauline Hood from the Flour Garden did chocolate making demonstrations. The librarians then pulled a collection of materials together that featured:

• Make-and-take hot cocoa mix.
• Remelted crayons (I’ve heard about these as a frugal craft project, but never saw any until tonight).
• Samples of kettle corn and candied almonds.
• Cute gift ideas like the tea cup in this first photo.
• Ornaments made of applesauce (I had one that lasted more than five years).
• Simple and cheap ideas for gift wrapping such as the Sunday comics in lieu of gift wrap paper and plain paper bags snazzed up with do-it-yourself decorating.
• Books from the library collection such as “gifts in a jar” recipes.

There were lots of door prizes. I won one of the gift baskets and I’ll give it to one of my frugal friends for Christmas! (She’ll like the gift, and like the story behind it even better.)

David Ross, community librarian, said the staff proposed the idea about two months ago. The Friends of the Newport Library helped pay for the supplies.

If you weren’t able to attend, or you are one of my national readers, here are some of the tricks Pauline shared at the program about chocolate candy making:

• Use fresh chocolate. Candy-making chocolate will last a few weeks, so it is perfectly OK to make goodies now for Christmas gifts and store them in a cool room in the meantime. But don’t expect chocolate supplies to survive over a summer, much less two years. You won’t be pleased with the results, and Pauline has heard many such stores.
• Buy smaller amounts of chocolate than you think you need. You can always go back to the store to get more, but you certainly want to use up what you buy each season. You really don’t need much to begin with. Pauline says a pound of candy chocolate will go a long way when you are mixing in nuts or raisins, or coating pretzels. So for a little bit of money, you have enough candy to treat several friends.
• Be careful about what add-ins you use. Chocolate flavors and colors that you mix in must have an oil base, not a water base. If you shop at Flour Garden, Pauline said ingredients will be marked if they are appropriate for chocolate candy use.
• Don’t use microwave ovens to melt chocolate. I’ve done it too, but you all know what happens. The candy easily gets too hot and burns. The better method is the old-school double boiler procedure, or you can get a chocolate melting pot. (I used to dabble in chocolate candy making, but one of my sisters-in-law took that on as her hobby and is quite good at it. I gave my sister-in-law all my supplies some time ago.)
• Chill the molded chocolates. If you use proper candy-making ingredients, drop-style items such as peanut clusters can cool at room temperature. The molded chocolates, however, should set in the refrigerator so they are certain to remain stiff as you pop them out of the molds.

What can you make with chocolate and no molds? How about these yummy treats!

This week’s episode features the utility bills, and he picked up on a tip I hadn’t thought of: Find out whether a cheaper wireless plan is a better fit for your actual calling patterns. The 700-minute family plans aren’t always the smallest plan now.

And when I was spot-checking family plan prices for a couple of companies to see what he was talking about, I also found at least one national wireless company offers a discounted “senior plan” for those age 65 and older.

Those who “have everything they want”, who live in a small home or apartment, or who are trying to reduce their physical impact on the environment, are usually not interested in the knickknacks that have long been popular Christmas gifts. To be honest, there are a lot of people who don’t care for such things. But those who are de-cluttering and living eco-friendly lifestyles REALLY dislike them.

As alternatives, the suggestions I’ve seen from those people include food gifts, theater or sports tickets, movie passes, park and zoo passes.

These are actually good options for frugal families too.

So let’s talk about food gifts. If you look around for food gifts, you’ll find a lot of great options both for homemade and for store-bought items.

You will have to get over the fact that a lot of store-bought food gifts seem expensive compared to regular groceries. They aren’t meant to be regular groceries. They are meant to be gifts. You want them to have seasonal flavors, pretty packaging and feature ingredients you don’t normally see or brands you normally don’t buy.

Some ideas:

• Gourmet coffee. The first picture you see in this post is seasonal coffee from Millstone. I saw that display at Wal-Mart in Monroe, Mich. There are several varieties but that peppermint one sounds good! Almost any coffee shop has flavored beans or fresh ground coffee you can purchase to take home. Fair Trade coffees are the coffee of choice at many churches as a social justice project, so ask your church pastor or secretary if they know of a local supplier for Fair Trade or have some available for sale. If you’d like a homemade Christmas coffee mix, here’s my recipe.
• Homemade cookies and candy. You can buy the baking ingredients as soon as you see the sale and coupon deals begin (ahem, now!). In some cases, cookie batter can be prepared and frozen ahead of time. To present the treats, you can buy paper goodie boxes and cardboard cake platters at any store that sells cake and candy supplies, such as Flour Garden or Crafts 2000 in Monroe, Mich. You can also buy favorite goodies at a charity bake sale. Just wrap the goodies carefully for the freezer if you need to store them for more than a day or two.
• Cocoa mixes. See my second picture. I saw this selection of cocoas at Big Lots in Monroe, Mich. You can also get single serve gourmet cocoa packets at the grocery stores this time of year. This is a nice idea for a family with children; or a stocking stuffer for teenagers or college students.
• Boxes of chocolate. If you know someone is on a diet or diabetic, maybe you want to pass on this idea. But a box of chocolate has long been a popular hostess gift. If you live near a Russell Stover or other specialty candy store (I visit the Russell Stover in Dundee, Mich., two or three times a year), you’ve got a huge selection to pick from. Boxed candy also frequently goes on half-price sales at the drugstsores this time of year.
• Regional or seasonal wine or beer. Again, this is a gift idea where you need to know your audience. If they aren’t drinkers, don’t get alcohol. But if you do make that choice, go to a supermarket or liquor store that is known for having a large selection of beverages and ask the clerk where you can find the regional or seasonal labels. For example, there are Michigan beer and wine selections stocked at the Meijer store in Monroe, Mich.
• Holiday dinner. You can order a catered or heat-and-serve holiday dinner for another family at many supermarkets. Omaha Steaks also has a “gifts under $50″ selection.
• Fruit box or basket. You can buy pre-wrapped fruit baskets at the supermarket or order them from a gift company, but that’s not the only option. You can find school groups and clubs that sell fruit boxes, or order a holiday fruit box from Angel Food Ministries. If you want to present the fresh fruit in a basket, look for cheap baskets at the thrift stores.
• Restaurant gift cards. These make nice co-worker and teacher gifts. You can often buy restaurant gift cards from a school or church fundraiser. Great Lakes Scrip is one of the services that handles fundraiser campaigns in the Monroe, Mich. area. Local readers: there also are Monroe-area restaurant gift cards in the Mistletoe Market auction items (watch www.monroenews.com for details).
• Coffee shop gift cards. This is a less expensive alternative to sit-down restaurant gift cards. Think coffee in the morning, coffee beans to take home, pecan rolls, or sandwiches.
• Grocery store gift cards. This is an obvious gift for a family on a budget. But they also work well for college kids who want to stock up their dorm room with snacks.
• Meat and cheese boxes.When I get those for Christmas, I save them for munching during New Year’s or during the college football bowl games.
• Gifts in a jar. These are the baking mixes that are gifted in a pretty jar. Mason jars are hard to find now because canning season is done, but I did see some on a clearance shelf the other day. There are several cookbooks that feature just these kind of treats. The Organized Christmas web site also has a nice collection of recipes. Note: if you are gifted with a Gift in a Jar, be sure to rinse out and save the jar. Give the empty jar to a friend who cans if you don’t preserve food on your own, because they are certainly re-usable.
• Holiday versions of year-round treats. Have you seen the Little Debbie holiday snack cakes? They work very well for “kid treats.” Since they are individually wrapped, I usually buy a box every year to divide up for stocking stuffers. Here’s some of the product line I found at Wal-Mart in Monroe, Mich.

Notice that I didn’t mention fruitcake. But if you know the person you are gifting likes fruitcake, go ahead and get them one!

If the attention has been on Santa Claus bringing a pile of gifts, it’s time to put some “old school” celebrations on your calendar.

As you focus your family’s Christmas celebrations away from the secular, modern and commercial customs — and more toward the religious, historical and cultural customs — you will find reasons to enjoy the holiday season even during the years when your family is on a budget.

You don’t have to banish Santa Claus from your home, unless you want to. We followed the Santa traditions when my daughter was growing up. But Santa and his gift-giving generosity was never the main focus of my family’s celebrations. That was just one part of our Christmas.

A great place to start is to schedule a visit with the pastor, youth minister or director of religious education at your church. Ask that person what holiday season resources they recommend for families. Books, videos and music CDs on this topic are stocked in any church or Sunday School library. The Sunday School staff at my church is even hosting a special program this year that will explain many popular and little-known Advent and Christmas customs to our parish families.

You also want to watch for announcements of Christmas pageants, “lessons and carols” concerts performed by local musicians and choirs, and Advent prayer services. These events are a free or inexpensive alternative to the elaborate ballet and professional theater holiday productions.

If you are looking for religious-themed Christmas materials, the best time to shop is just before Thanksgiving. These items aren’t easily found during holiday clearance sales because they’re hard to find on the retail market in the first place. You will most likely be shopping on the Internet, at the craft stores, in the religious supply stores, or at the church craft shows for appropriate books and supplies.

Some of the inexpensive old school ideas (or create / purchase only once ideas) include:

• Nativity sets and Advent wreaths – While such items can be acquired as beautiful works of art, you can also find a nice selection of kid-friendly religious materials in a variety of price ranges at CatholicSupply.com. For example, the cloth Advent wreath for kids on that web site is only $8.95, which is quite reasonable since you would pay at least that much to buy a metal wreath ring and four taper candles at one of the local craft stores.
• Jesse Tree – This tree, which features ornaments representing significant events and people in Bible history, can be as artistic or as simple as you want. I remember making an apple out of layered felt when I worked on such a project for my seventh grade religion class. If you have a tabletop tree, it can be repurposed for this arrangement. You’ll find design suggestions and corresponding Bible verses at CatholicCulture.org.
• Christmas wafers – I know about this custom from my Polish relatives, who broke and shared these wafers on Christmas Eve. You’ll find them at Bronners Christmas Wonderland.
• Family prayer services and blessings – There are many such traditions ranging from blessing of a Christmas tree to blessing of the door post at Epiphany. Your church or Sunday School library certainly has a collection of songs and prayers from your faith tradition that you can borrow or copy for family use.
• Christmas family heritage scrapbook – If you are already scrapbooking, or looking for a project to get started with, create a Christmas family heritage scrapbook by asking the older people in your family about their cherished Christmas memories. You will find that relatives who were children before the 1950s experienced a Christmas season that was far less commercial and less hectic than what we see today.
• Investigate the history of your favorite Christmas traditions – This is a great project for homeschoolers, a church high school youth group, or a family that has some time in their schedule. Go to your local public library or get on the Internet and find out the answers to questions such as: Do historians really know what day Jesus was born? Who was St. Nicholas? Who is credited with the inspiration of the Christmas tree, and how did that custom get introduced to England and America? Who originally drew the image that we now recognize as the American Santa Claus? Why does an audience stand when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed?

Even while celebrating new “old school” traditions, your family members will probably notice if there are fewer presents under the tree this year. You are not alone. A lot of families, especially here in Michigan, will have no choice but to cut back on expenses this year. The way to deal with that situation is to be honest with everyone up front about “Santa’s budget.”

But you certainly can build lots of cherished Christmas memories without a lot of cash.

After all, that’s what Christian families did for generations before the bulging Santa Claus gift bags crowded out old-time traditions.

It’s a little harder than it used to be to get a nice Christmas gift for $20 or less.

But that is a reasonable range for families on a budget, or gifts for people outside your immediate family (hostess or teacher gifts, for example). And the typical range for gift exchange parties in the Monroe, Mich., area, in recent years has been $10 to $15.

So what can you look for in the frugal price bracket?

Kids

• Art supplies such as construction paper, stickers, chalks.
• Barbie doll from the less expensive “pink box” play line. Look for holiday-themed Barbies that are in the $10 to $15 range at the supermarkets and drugstores.
• Mitten, hat and / or scarf. Remember that kids need multiple sets of these items because they frequently lose their winter accessory pieces.
• Fun-looking socks.
• Christmas tree ornament to start or add to their ornament collection.
• Sweatshirt in a favorite color, sports team or character design.
• Add-on or accessory pieces to their favorite toys such as their Lego collections, doll house or action figures.
• Picture books, story books or chapter books.
• A toss pillow, fleece blanket or afghan in their favorite colors. (This is an easy do-it-yourself project or craft show purchase.)
• Coloring books with crayons.
• Tote bag or case to carry favorite toys to a relative’s home or friend’s home. (Remember the Barbie and Hot Wheel cases from years ago?)
• Christmas themed or kids’ title DVD.
• Holiday themed hairbow or barrettes.
• Night light.
• Nativity set with pieces that are safe for little hands to act out the baby Jesus story.
• Santa hat, reindeer antlers, angel halo or other fun holiday headband attire.
• “Old school” board games such as Twister, Life, Scrabble and Monopoly.
• Rechargeable batteries for their favorite electronic toys.
• Handcrafted outfits for the favorite dolls. (Look for those at the craft shows if you can’t sew.)
• Cash. (I’m serious. It’s a rare treat for kids to do their own shopping).

Adults

• Flower arrangement or potted plant.
• Box of Russell Stover candy or a similar product line (You can frequently find sales on boxed candy at the drugstores during the Christmas shopping season).
• Wall calendar or desk calendar.
• Gift card to a coffee shop or bakery.
• Gift card to a bookstore, craft store or office supply store (This is particularly good for teacher gifts).
• T-shirt, winter hat or ball cap for a favorite sports team.
• Cookbook for their favorite cuisine.
• Gourmet coffees or teas.
• Christmas tree ornament.
• iTunes gift card (for those with mp3 players).
• Christmas music CD.
• Umbrella.
• Slippers.
• Key chain with a unique charm or design.
• Handcrafted beaded necklace or earrings (these are frequently seen at craft shows and Fair Trade booths).
• Coffee grinder.
• Magazine subscription.
• Homemade goodies such as a cookie plate, jelly in a jar, “gifts in a jar” cookie or coffee mixes, freshly baked bread or coffee cake. (Look for the bake sale notices as an option to do-it-yourself.)
• Holiday themed pin or holiday tie that can be worn at the office.
• Nail polish or lipstick assortment (there are fun holiday colors at the makeup shelves this time of year).
• Bird feeder.
• Carry-case for a wireless phone or digital camera.
• Decorative tote bags (think eco-friendly shopping bags that actually look good).
• Decorative kitchen towels or guest bath hand towels.
• Decorative cookie jar.
• Assortment of handcrafted all-occasion greeting cards.
• Pretty picture frame.
• Lovely flower vase (You can purchase fresh flowers to put in the vase just before presenting it).
• Beaded or fabric lanyard for those who have to wear ID tags at work.
• A handful of instant lottery tickets.
• Family photo calendar. (This service is available at various photo labs and office supply stores. You could also handcraft one.).
• Bottle of Michigan wine, six-pack of Michigan beer or another regional beverage that’s common to your area.
• Flameless / battery-operated candles. Yes, there finally are some nice ones on the market. Look in the household and cleaning supply aisles at the drugstore or supermarket if you can’t find them with the holiday gifts.
• Cat’s Meow or Open Window collectible wooden building. (These are typically found at gift shops that focus on local or country items.)
• Cooking or barbecue utensil set.
• Wineglass charms.
• Charity donation in his or her honor.

Feel free to add your ideas in the comment section! In the meantime, if your Christmas is on a tight budget, I have a lot of tips and resources throughout this blog. Start at Help! I Can’t Afford Christmas!

A snippet from that column, which also appeared in Sunday’s edition of The Monroe Evening News:

You can find seasonal place mats, tablecloths, cloth napkins, bedding, throw rugs, vases, candles (new) and candleholders, and mismatched silverware. If you visit frequently, are patient, and are looking for a specific item, you’ll find it at a thrift store. Many have brand-new items from department stores, too. Some merchandise is going to be common, but you can find unique and vintage items, too. This is especially true in the housewares department, where you can find collectible dishes and glassware.

Are you one of my local readers in Monroe, Mich.? Here’s a list of second-hand stores in our area.