I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday and in the section where the doll house stuff is, they had fake brick and linoleum. Both were textured sheets, there were a couple different types of lino, the one with the best texture was squares. Might make interesting patterns on MMF. I didn't buy any, was in "restraint" mode! 
Like others have said, I shop at Save-A-Lot and buy all of my sugar, eggs, butter, shortening, etc. It really saves $$$.
Here's something I just thought about. It's not cheap, but may be well worth it for those of you who use alot of fondant and cover large cakes.
Besides making cakes, I also make pottery and I purchased this last year and it's been the best investment I ever made! It could work just as easily on fondant as it does clay! Mine is dirty so I wouldn't use mine on fondant, I'd have to order a seperate on for that, but you know what I mean!
Here's a link to the description:
http://www.tools4clay.com/slabroller.htm
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd start a thread about what different things people might use for cake supplies that is cheaper than buying that actual supply in the store. I just started cake decorating and I'm only doing it as a hobby and since I already have one expensive hobby (rubber stamping), I can't afford to spend too much on cake decorating supplies.
So, I'll start the list (I only know of a couple) and maybe all you knowledgeable CC'ers will post some more..
Using Corn Syrup instead of (thanks, lables12)
Using empty paper towel rolls cut in half lengthwise instead of flower formers
What other stuff is out there that can be used as supply substitutes?
Using splastic straws instead of the wooden dowels
Thanks,
Christine
This has more to do with rolling out cookie dough, but the same idea pertains to Fondant/MMF/Rolled BC, etc...
I bought a 3/8" thick (for my cookies, they have smaller width's too) dowel, cut it in half. Placed a dowel on each side of the dough, and begin rolling it out till the dough is the same level as the dowel. It is SO easy and fast, to get the perfectly flat rolled surface~!
Buy discounted chocolate after the holidays to practice with
I used a tip I saw earlier on this topic, and used a heating core made out of a small tomato sauce can. Cut both ends off, greased well, and it worked GREAT!
Buy discounted chocolate after the holidays to practice with
How long does chocolate last for?
6-12 months for milk chocolate, possibly as long as 18 months for dark, all if stored in a cool, dry place. Even once chocolate blooms it's actually still good, just doesn't look good - works fine once melted.
Although I would think if you're just going to use it for practice, you could keep it indefinitely. I am currently using some old, probably rancid 
IMBC to practice piping with. When I'm done practicing I scrape it off and back into the ziploc it goes. The bonus is that since it's totally stale I have NO desire to eat it while I work. Yeech!
I just noticed this thread http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-8964-240-days0-orderasc-.html...it parallels this topic and has some good ideas!
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