A very minimal alternative to FactoryGirl?

factories.rb

module FlexMinder
  module Factories
    def factory(klass, attributes)
      name        = klass.to_s
      underscored = name.underscore

      class_eval(<<-END, __FILE__, __LINE__ + 1)
        def build_#{underscored}(attributes = {})
          attributes = valid_#{underscored}_attributes.deep_merge(attributes)
          #{name}.new(attributes)
        end

        def create_#{underscored}(attributes = {})
          build_#{underscored}(attributes).tap {|x| x.save!}
        end

        def valid_#{underscored}_attributes
          #{attributes.inspect}
        end
      END
    end
  end
end

test_helper.rb

ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= "test"
require File.expand_path('../../config/environment', __FILE__)
require 'rails/test_help'
require 'rr'
require 'flex_minder/factories'

class ActiveSupport::TestCase
  ActiveRecord::Migration.check_pending!

  include RR::Adapters::TestUnit
  extend FlexMinder::Factories
  # Setup all fixtures in test/fixtures/*.yml for all tests in alphabetical order.
  #
  # Note: You'll currently still have to declare fixtures explicitly in integration tests
  # -- they do not yet inherit this setting
  # fixtures :all

  # Add more helper methods to be used by all tests here...

  factory Cpt, \
    :code              => 'foo',
    :short_description => 'bar',
    :long_description  => 'baz'

end