Yes, I know, you do get meat for the efforts. But these days, it’s a more a hobby than a means to feed your family because quite a bit of money is spent on equipment — and sometimes travel — before you bring home that deer or turkey.

And during the recession, Michigan hunters are cutting back on their upfront expenses.

The Detroit News has this report: Economy takes aim at hunting.

A snippet:

Two severely cold winters killed off many white-tailed deer in the Upper Peninsula, one of the state’s hunting hot spots, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The lack of available trophy last season is expected to dissuade hunters from heading too far from home during the firearms season, which runs until Nov. 30, state officials said.

“Instead of going to the U.P., they’ll go to closer camps,” said Rick Torres, a natural resources park interpreter with the DNR. “It costs them less.”

The fall and holiday craft and vendor show schedules for Monroe County, Mich., are arriving so fast at The Monroe Evening News I’m having a hard time keeping up with it all.

Here’s a bookmark to those listings now through Dec. 31 at the MonroeTalks calendar so you can watch for dates and sales that fit your schedules and merchandise.

You probably have a collection of something. We have collections of favorite things, and we use some of them to decorate our home.

On my kitchen window sill, you’ll see an arrangement of blue pottery items. This started about five years ago when we moved to our current home.

Since the kitchen colors are blue and white, I started pulling out knickknacks that I had acquired over the years and set them on the window sills if they were blue or white. For example, the solid blue creamer and sugar set is something I inherited from my grandmother.

My daughter thought this arrangement was so clever that she’s been finding items to add to the collection – she’s the one who got me the small bowl at a craft show, and the vase and the pitcher at gift shops.

Probably the most unique thing I do with my collections is feature my Barbie dolls on rotating displays on the china buffet. We don’t have a fireplace so the china buffet is where we put seasonal or floral decorations such as those would find on a mantel piece. If I don’t have a centerpiece for a given time of year, the dolls go on display in various arrangements such as this:

Yes, these are all Native American dolls! I usually do this arrangement in the fall. I’ve also done arrangements with Asian dolls, African and African-American dolls, the historic era princesses.

And yes, I do take my Barbie dolls out of their boxes. I have no intention of reselling them. Most of them are birthday and Christmas gifts from my husband and daughter.

If the dolls get dusty, and they do when I have them on open display like this, I’ve found the dolls and their outfits clean up pretty easy with a dusting cloth sprayed first with a mild non-toxic cleaning solution.

We also have an “Asian corner” that features gifts from students we hosted who were from Japan, South Korea and China and through our involvement in the Monroe International Friendship Association. The only item I purchased in this collection was the candle. The shelf was repurposed from another display.

Why is decorating with your collections a frugal thing to do?

The main thing is: you’re not spending money on additional art or knickknacks if you are featuring or building upon things you already own, and enjoy looking at, as the “color” and personality for your home.

You will also find, as I have, that friends and relatives will cheerfully add to your growing collections on gift-giving occasions. I have bought exactly one Barbie doll on my own during the past three years. It was a doll people didn’t expect I would like, so I was on my own to seek it out.

And if you focus on a collection of items that other people like and enjoy, you might also might some great finds on the second-hand market. I picked up some really cool 1970s-era Bicentennial plates at an estate sale this spring. They go nicely with the colonial / country American items we’ve picked up here and there to showcase in the living room and dining room areas.

What do you have stuffed in a storage box somewhere that can perk up your house?

Why? The character is homeless.

The situation is feeding a commentary frenzy not only over the doll / toy / story line – but over the cost of the A.G. dolls, which have always been expensive in comparison to some other toy selections.

I’ll talk first about the characters in A.G. – and then I’ll tell you how to deal with the cost of the dolls and accessories.

Here is the doll at the center of attention: Gwen. She’s one of two friends to the Doll of the Year 2009 special edition Chrissa.

The A.G. product line is dolls with story books depicting girls who are around age 10 and dealing with a variety of situations in their family and American life. The first A.G. dolls portrayed significant eras in American history – but the collection has since included a special edition series of dolls who wear modern clothes. Sometimes the modern dolls got story lines of their own.

It is completely in keeping with A.G. “tradition,” both in the historic and modern dolls, to have their characters deal in an age-appropriate way with serious issues. One of the classic historic characters, Addy, was a former slave. Do you think she was enjoying a pleasant childhood when her story line begins?

There’s nothing on the AG site to explain the circumstances that Gwen is dealing with. The story line introduction is on the lead character, Chrissa, and her challenges with bullies at a new school.

But there’s been some pretty strong reaction as people followed up on the plot.

Here’s a post on the Mom Logic site:

Snuck into the collection is a doll that comes with a biography that is weird and potentially offensive enough to keep Mom running to the Maalox. Gwen, you see, is harboring a terrible secret.

She is homeless. A homeless doll.

In the history books that come with every American Girl doll — bringing to life these little monsters until impressionable little ones believe they are actual people — you learn that Gwen’s father walked out on the family. Her mother lost her job.

The Mommy Files noted the reaction as well:

But social commentators are questioning Gwen’s heart-wrenching tale. Is Mattel presenting an important social issue to children by manufacturing a doll who faces real, present day challenges? Or is the company commodifying and prettifying the issue by slapping on a Barbie Band Aid? And how can you charge nearly $100 for a doll that’s supposed to promote compassion for homeless people?

Now, if you are writing a children’s story that deals with issues of today, why wouldn’t you make reference to homelessness somewhere along the line? These are pretty tough economic times for a lot of people. Even Sesame Street is talking to children about joblessness!

Besides, if you are familiar with Kit, the Depression-era character in the A.G. series, you know that a failed business and the threat of foreclosure was part of that story.

Now, the A.G. product line has been around long enough that parents and grandparents should know whether they like the concept or they don’t. Personally, I do like the product line. My daughter had two of those dolls when she was growing up and I bought a lot of doll clothes at craft shows when my daughter was still playing with dolls. (We now have the dolls and doll clothes in storage bins since my daughter is in college.)

The initial price tag for an A.G. doll gets at lot of attention, but think about it: Many families, including my own family on a budget, do spend about that much per child on Christmas anyway. If you are going to spend $100 on Christmas presents, it seems prudent to me to focus the money and attention on one memorable item rather than boxes and bags of cheap, cluttery crap just to have a pile of stuff to open.

Here is how you deal with the cost of those dolls when you are a family on a budget:

Hunter’s Den, a shop at 673 Cooper Ave., Monroe, Mich., that sells used hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor gear, will have its grand opening from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday Sept. 27.

Owner Paul Goodnuff, who hosts the Local Sportsman show on Monroe Public Access Cable Television, said the event will feature a Darton Archery enclosed shooting trailer to allow crossbow and archery enthusiasts to try out the latest products.

Mr. Goodnuff has hosted the cable TV show for more than 10 years and also owns and operates Images Taxidermy in Monroe. He also is a night manager for The Kroger Co. in Monroe. Born and raised in Monroe, he is a 1979 Monroe High School graduate.

Hours for the store are 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday; 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sundays and Mondays. The new telephone number is (734) 625-1808.

I like making and eating cupcakes anyway. So when potluck appeals get sent out, about half of the time I report back to the planning committee “Paula will bring cupcakes.”

I have discovered that my co-workers would rather have oatmeal cookies than cupcakes, so I follow up on that lead. And now that I have a bread machine, I’ll bring some fresh bread to the next scrapbook crop and see what my artistic friends think of that.

But cupcakes will always be one of my favorite potluck contributions. They’re so easy to make. I have both regular and mini cupcake pans available.

You can do cute cupcakes on a budget. Here is the basket where I keep my cupcake supplies.

Did you notice that I buy plain pastel cupcake papers? Yes, I’ve seen the holiday and birthday themed patterns at the stores. But do you seriously think anybody can see patterns on cupcake papers when they are eating the treats?

The plain papers go with any occasion and you are not in the situation of having pattern papers left over that don’t work with the next party theme.

Also note that I also have an assortment of colored sugars and sprinkles. You can’t see all the bottles, but I have about 15 selections. With the appropriate color of frosting, I can use the colored sprinkles to create cupcakes to match pretty much any party theme. Stock up on some basic decorating colors, and that’s really all you need for basic cupcakes.

However, there are people who like to create the more formal cake decorating. One of my sisters took this up as her hobby. She’s made some very fun designs including this doll cake for my birthday.

If you’ve tried to make creations like that, you know the supplies are not cheap. The doll pick alone cost about $3.50 at Crafts 2000. I bought it, and donated it to my sister’s cake supply stash because some of my nieces are now insisting on doll cakes for THEIR birthdays. (Ha, ha, Aunt Paula got the first one!)

And then my sister needed a shape that would make a doll skirt – luckily, several styles of cake pans can do that.

But what’s going to happen is you’ll walk into the craft or grocery store and see stuff like what’s in stock at Jo-Ann Fabric in Monroe:

And you are going to be overwhelmed with the product selection and the expense.

Now what?

If you want to get into serious cake decorating, I recommend you take a beginner class. You need to know how and when to use the various techniques. The bigger Jo-Ann stores in Ypsilanti and Taylor, and the Michael’s and Hobby Lobby stores in Toledo are among the places that host the Wilton cake decorating classes on a regular basis.

If you are interested in the Jo-Ann courses, the Taylor class fliers are distributed at the Monroe store. Sign up during the open house / discount days to keep your class fees down, and use the Jo-Ann coupons in the mail fliers to buy your initial supply kit.

And for my local readers, there will be a beginning cake decorating class starting Sept. 29 with Monroe Public Schools’ Community Education program. Again – use the craft store coupons to buy whatever supplies the instructor calls for.

The first thing I suggest is you do to save money while enjoying this hobby is to make a list of frequently used items and buy something from that list every time you have a craft store coupon. That’s what I do with my scrapbook and woodcraft supplies. If I do not have a project in the works when that Jo-Ann coupon is in effect, I buy a roll of tape or a stack of paper with that coupon. Yes, I know. I “saved” only about $2 by using that coupon on tape instead of a fancy album. But that’s better than spending $5 on tape.

My sister makes her list of needed supplies as much as a month ahead of the occasion so she can watch for sales at the craft stores in her neighborhood.

I have been known to buy white cake boxes four or five at a time at Crafts 2000 so that I don’t have to make a trip across town when the next potluck appeal goes out. I do use my plastic cake carry tub as much as possible for social events – and owned two metal cake plans previously. But you need to plan for the times when you have to leave the cake pan at the scene. Don’t buy that foil cupcake set when you can cram about 21 cupcakes into a 50-cent white box.

Another tip is start your own library of pretty cakes. Take pictures of every cake you make. Bookmark the web sites that have cake designs or tips you like – Wilton is one to check out. Tear out and keep the cake, cookie and candy creations that show up in women’s magazines. Then if someone asks what to buy you for birthday, ask for the latest cake decorating book.

One of the biggest expenses you’ll have are the fancy design cake pans. I’ve seen many variations of Halloween pumpkin and Thanksgiving turkey designs in the Monroe-area stores. I’ve also seen the price tags. If you think you’ll use it repeatedly and can wait for the after-season clearance sales, that would be the best way to get a new holiday pan on a budget.

I also remember reading about a library somewhere that loaned out cake pans like most libraries loan out videos. I don’t know of any cake pan library in southeast Michigan or northwest Ohio. If anybody has heard of one in the area, please add that in the comment section.

But you can get some really good deals on the second-hand market. I bought a “rubber ducky” pan for my sister at a garage sale hosted by one of my friends. The eBay listings also have lots of cake pans to pick from.

Given that situation, the only cake pans you should need to buy new because you’ll be using them constantly are a sheet pan, 13 by 9 pan, circle pans of various sizes and perhaps some square pans. I even have heart-shaped pans that I’ve used for many years.

Hunter’s Den, a shop fea­turing used hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor gear, will open soon at 673 Cooper Ave. in the West Sev­enth Street Plaza.

Owner Paul Goodnuff, host of the Local Sports­man show on Monroe Public Access Cable Television, operates the store, which features a variety of outdoor gear. clothing and equip­ment in good condition.

Mr. Goodnuff stocks the specialty store from his own possessions as well as those provided by others and sold on a consignment basis.

A long-time outdoorsman, he has hosted the cable TV show for more than 10 years and also owns and oper­ates Images Taxidermy in Monroe. Mr. Goodnuff also is a night manager for The Kroger Co. in Monroe.

He was born and raised in Monroe and is a 1979 Mon­roe High School graduate.

Mr. Goodnuff said he was excited about opening the store. He noted that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources encour­ages residents, especially young people, to get out­doors more. “The idea came to me because people come to me and say ‘My son wants to bow-hunt, but we can’t af­ford new gear,’” he said. “By offering this type of concept, I’m hoping it will increase the number of kids getting into hunting and fishing because this will make the products less expensive to get involved and get into the outdoors.”

Hours for the store are 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday; 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sundays and Mondays. The telephone number is (419) 340-0438.

At last count, I had more than 70 dolls. Most of them are the international Dolls of the World series that started in 1980. I also have four small plastic boxes of “pink box” play dolls, clothes and accessories that are just for fun. I’ve loaned my international dolls out to library for a display, have kept a rotating display on my desk of play dolls since May 1997, have enough Barbie Hallmarks and coordinating pink bows and beads to do a themed Christmas tree, and at one time belonged to a doll club in Ohio.

I’ve had to put my doll purchases on a budget in recent years – and I’m not the only one.

What can you do about that situation?

Dolls Magazine has this article, which was picked up by the Barbie Fan Club Twitter, 10 tips to collect on a budget.

A snippet:

Branch out. Dolls may be the meat of your collection, but don’t overlook the side dishes—the accessories. If the budget is tight, purchase a new outfit for one of your dolls instead of buying a new doll. Or, consider accessories, such as furniture or other décor, for displaying your dolls. One Wisconsin Barbie collector decided to start a secondary collection of paper goods—such as vintage Barbie books, paper dolls and the like—that set her back less than $100.

Good ideas there.

Now, what’s my frugal trick? I ask for Barbie dolls and Barbie Hallmark ornaments as birthday and Christmas gifts. My husband, daughter and in-laws like that idea because they don’t have to spend a lot of time shopping – and they know I’ll like the gift.

I picked up a show flier today at Jo-Ann Fabric in Monroe, Mich. I’ve heard this is a really great show and it features a variety of classes and products aimed at beginner through expert sewing skills.

Admission is $12 per day. Parking is $5 per vehicle. Vendors will have a variety of make and takes. There also will be some free demos and fashion shows.

If you are interested in taking one or more of the workshops, the schedules, fees and package details are at www.americansewingexpo.com. The workshop topics include making “green” shopping bags, a “cost efficient wardrobe,” and fitting techniques for clothing.

The club I belong to is based in Toledo and the members were very interested in going to Star Trek: The Exhibition at the Detroit Science Center. For a variety of reasons, we decided to skip the early-season celebrations and go in the summer. Our day trip was today.

Now, I’m currently on a tight budget. But I really wanted to go. And it is very frugal to travel with a group of friends to an out-of-town event or exhibition. We had a group of seven carpooled into two cars so to save on gas and parking fees.

It also worked out very well for us to pose for a group photo at one of the souvenir photo stops – the first photo in a pose is $20 but additional photos of that pose are much less expensive. Since another friend was willing to eat the $20 initial print fee, my print of the group shot cost only $6.

Because I know how particular Paramount can be with Star Trek copyright, I’m not going to post even a cropped version of the photo here. But you can arrange for some great photos through this service: the original series bridge, the Next Generation transporter room, the Guardian at the Edge of Forever, etc. (No individual cameras are allowed in the exhibition hall.) Feel free to pose for as many pictures as you like, and then be picky about which print you order.

Regular admission fee is $18.95, and that’s what I had to pay. But at least one of my friends qualified for the senior citizen discount. If you can coordinate the details for a group outing, there are discounts available for that arrangement too.

I did not buy an IMAX movie ticket (none of my friends did – we recently saw the movie in the theater). Nor did I buy a ticket on the simulator ride, which cost $6. But only three in my group wanted to go on the ride anyway, the rest of us had fun watching their video screens.

Now here’s another tip for budget-minded Trek fans: There is a Trek Tuesday promotion when you can get $4 off regular adult admission and $2 for the children or senior admission if you come in Trek attire such as “Spock ears,” a Starfleet uniform, Klingon outfit or other alien outfit.

I will tell you that a costume this is not an easy way to earn a discount admission. The Starfleet uniform I wore today cost about $50 to $60 when I bought it about 10 years ago. It’s a handcrafted later edition Next Generation shirt and blazer, blue for science division (my choice); a communicator pin; appropriate rank pins; and a handcrafted Bajoran-style earring I bought at a convention. I wear that attire with whatever black dress pants and black shoes I happen to own at the time.

However, should you have such attire, or can borrow it, the museum staff enjoys seeing the outfits and any photos you pose for will be that much more fun.

My friends and I went out to eat at Bob Evans in Monroe afterward. I selected my dish off the “breakfast menu” since that’s available all day and cheaper than a dinner selection. But the science center’s Trek page also has a list of which Detroit restaurants will give discounts to the Trek visitors.

In the meantime, here’s a heads up for those who enjoy the Trek novels: author Diane Carey will hold a book signing at 1 p.m. Sunday June 21 at the science center planetarium.