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Nifty Thrifty:  Making inexpensive gifts, ideas?  |
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lovecatsandsunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
310 Posts
Tara
Sands of Time
SC
USA
310 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 25 2013 : 1:54:24 PM
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I'm always looking for ways to make inexpensive gifts for friends and family. We all need to save our pennies. I saw this idea on pinterest. Embossed napkins. I have a Big-Shot emboss/die cut machine( it was a gift from Mom). I found cocktail napkins in my pantry. These are a solid color. They can be found cheaply at dollar general or maybe a clearance bin in another store after a holiday. I took one of my snowflake embossing folders and embossed the napkins. These turned out so cute! I embossed 10 red and 10 blue for 20 total. I'm going to put these in a plastic bag( party favor bag from dollar general-25 bags were $1) and tie up with twine. Cute, inexpensive gift I can give to my Mom and my neighbor this Christmas.
Please add your ideas.
Tara
STYX the Band rocks!
Support your local organic farmer.www.localharvest.org
Monsanto you Stink!! |
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hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - Sep 27 2013 : 11:12:01 AM
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| tara - this sounds lovely! I'd love to see pictures! I'm still wracking my brain for ideas! Kinda overwhelmed with life at the moment o.O |
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danyel
True Blue Farmgirl
350 Posts
Danyel
Robertsdale
PA
USA
350 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2013 : 06:39:45 AM
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Love the idea, I did not know that the big shot would emboss on material! I will have to try that, maybe some little snowflake ornaments to decorate the tree.
Danyel
Farmgirl sister 4202 |
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edlund33
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
Marilyn
Renton
WA
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2013 : 08:43:39 AM
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What a cute idea! I did something similar with blank notecards and made envelopes to match.
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
http://blueskyanddaisies.blogspot.com
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2013 : 1:17:34 PM
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Beautiful sounding! I'm doing big bags of gourmet flavor drizzled popcorn. Dark chocolate, caramel crunch and peppermint white chocolate, and home made coco mix (My overworked sis will get a bottle of Baileys to go with hers  ) I am strapped for cash as usual and can't afford much else. I'll have to come up with something different for my dad who is in chemo right now and won't want food much, but that's my plan. Marilyn, I like the blank not cards idea!
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Annika
Farmgirl & Sister #13
http://thegimpyfarmgirl.blogspot.com/
http://pinterest.com/annikaloveshats/
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lovinRchickens
True Blue Farmgirl
3492 Posts
Kelly
Pipe Creek
Texas
USA
3492 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2013 : 1:35:57 PM
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Annika
Would love your recipe on drizzled popcorn. We too are strapped for cash.
Farmgirl #5111
Blessings
~Kelly~ |
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rough start farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3331 Posts
marianne
The Beautiful Pacific NW
Washington State
USA
3331 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2013 : 2:43:43 PM
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Oh my gosh that does sound wonderful! If you are sharing the recipe...count me in, too!
marianne |
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2013 : 4:31:03 PM
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I do jam every year, but that is getting expensive, too, with the fruit and jars. No one ever returns my jars! Love the ideas! Great post.
Farmgirl hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE
Chapter Leader, Connecticut Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, January 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/ |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2013 : 09:54:08 AM
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Good morning  Sorry for the delay in getting back to everyone.
I don't work from a recipe, but this is how I've made the flavored popcorn before. First you determine how much popcorn you're going to make at one and then make the drizzle according to what you think will drizzle a nice amount on the corn. you pop the corn, lay it out and pick out all un-popped kernels, cover with waxed paper if you have pets to keep it fuzz free  let it cool. Then you melt the chocolate of which ever sort you want to use, white, dark, milk etc., over a double boiler or in the microwave, being careful to not allow it to burn. keep it warm but not boiling. either you a cake decorating tip in a very small diameter tip or use a plastic bag with a small hole cup in one tip to act as a pastry bag. Lightly drizzle chocolate over the cooled popcorn using a quick back and forth motion. sprinkle with any additional topping that you want to add. Some ideas are chopped nuts, chopped candied ginger, shredded citrus peel, heath bits, crushed candy canes, chopped dried fruit, cake sprinkles, finely ground coffee beans, ground cinnamon stirred in to the chocolate before drizzling (which when added to the white chocolate with nuts kind of tastes like a cinnamon bun!) ...use your imagination
This year I'm going to add some flavorings to the chocolate like mint, orange and rum
I have never done the caramel drizzle before and thought I'd give it a try this year, so here is the easiest caramel recipe that I could find. I'd think that if you spread the corn out on a large counter top on waxed paper and drizzled the popcorn with the caramel that it would air dry to a firm but soft consistency, I'll have to fuss with it a bit.
Caramel sauce
Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks salted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar (preferably light brown, although dark brown will work if that’s all you have)
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
In a small saucepan, heat the butter and brown sugar until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Add the corn syrup and salt and bring to a boil. Keep at a rolling boil for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and immediately and carefully stir in the baking soda (the mixture may roil and sputter). The caramel will be thick. I don't know, but it seems to me that you could keep it warm over a very low heat in the double boiler so long as you didn't let it burn.
Once the drizzled popcorn is good and dry you need to keep it in air tight containers our it will go all spongy
I seal it in big bags and send it in large gallon or five gallon cans or new white plastic paint buckets all decorated pretty and festive.
Most people are appreciative of a good quick snack to nibble during the holidays, and these have always been a big hit here 
I hope that this helps with a yummy holiday treat gift for some of you.
Huggies!
You must do the thing you think you cannot do
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Annika
Farmgirl & Sister #13
http://thegimpyfarmgirl.blogspot.com/
http://pinterest.com/annikaloveshats/
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lovecatsandsunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
310 Posts
Tara
Sands of Time
SC
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - Oct 02 2013 : 11:31:33 PM
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I found a bag of trial sized containers in Rite aid. It has 2 small jars that could be used for a homemade sugar lip scrub. What about a bigger jar, like mason to make a sugar scrub for body? I'm going to look online for recipes.
Buy a inexpensive jar with lid or use tiny mason jar size and add candy, tie with ribbon or twine you already have in home- instant gift.
Use same sized jar for flavored peanuts. Find a recipe online for pepper, or sweet peanuts. Wash and save a glass jar from a food you used up. Use this to hold candy or peanuts. My Dad loves flavored peanuts, so there is a gift for him. I have lot's of friends/family that like to feed birds. Make your own suet recipe and pour into cookie mold. Freeze and pop out shapes. Put hole in top and add string so it can be hung. Also suet shapes can go into those plastic fruit or onion bags. Keep the ideas coming ladies. Tara
STYX the Band rocks!
Support your local organic farmer.www.localharvest.org
Monsanto you Stink!! |
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danyel
True Blue Farmgirl
350 Posts
Danyel
Robertsdale
PA
USA
350 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2013 : 7:08:06 PM
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You may already have made these, but I make a rice pack (4 cups of uncooked rice, 4 drops of essential oil. lavender. eucalyptus, rosemary, thyme.) I make a sleeve from cotton material and then a pillowcase for it from flannel. they are nice in the freezer for sprains. but I like them hot in the microwave for two minutes. you can put them around your neck to shovel snow. and when you need to go out in the cold, to heat the bed. so far this is a great hit and they last for years. even the guys like them, and they are nice if you have stuffy head to go to help you breath.
Danyel
Farmgirl sister 4202 |
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nndairy
True Blue Farmgirl
3140 Posts
Heather
Wapakoneta
Ohio
USA
3140 Posts |
Posted - Oct 04 2013 : 08:13:57 AM
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Here is a very inexpensive ornament I made. I gave away 2 others for the September ornament swap and my partner (Aunt Smelly) posted pictures so check them out too. They're just sticks hot glued together to make a star then decorated. The others had buttons on them and bells. I got the idea from a gooseberry book. You can use anything you have at home to decorate them. I'm going to be making lots more of them this year. 
Check out the monthly ornament swaps for more ideas too. There's snowmen made from socks, mittens made from old sweaters, a cute star made from newspaper, etc. Lots of great ideas. Also - check out the 2 refurbished swaps. I made an apron from old jeans. Others made pen holders, snowmen, etc. All from things around the house.
Thanks for all the other ideas. I'm going cheap as possible this year too.
Heather
Farmgirl Sister #4701
http://nndairy.blogspot.com/
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Nifty Thrifty: Making inexpensive gifts, ideas? |
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Making inexpensive gifts, ideas?
