Organize All Those Recipes with Creative Graphics

Have you ever been asked for a copy of a favorite recipe and dreaded it? Family recipes that you have literally had for years all piled high, tucked here and there. Messy papers with drips of vanilla extract or who knows what spilled on them. Several recipes that only you can read. Some people find that charming, I’m not one those people! I had a friend text me recently for a favorite recipe, one that I was always asked to bring to every potluck, and she needed it now! I was embarrassed to send it to her. I did not have time to type it over and make it look pretty and she did not have time to wait for me to do it. I took a screen shot with my phone, mortified,  apologized profusely, and sent it to her.

I finally decide that it was time to organize my recipes once and for all. The only question was, did I want to download them on an electronic device or on individual cards. With all the technology you now have tons of options at your fingertips. I decided I wanted to keep things simple. I really like the old fashion charm of having a recipe box with actual recipe cards. I searched several places for just the right cards to download and print. I found that many of them were free for use and reprinting. Some you pay a small fee to download the template.    There are several App’s available that will allow you to organize and store your recipes on a device, printing them if needed. They even allow you to make your own recipe book! I did some research and considered doing that but found that free was not free.  Although they say free, ultimately you do pay for portions of using the App. I  like the idea of an actual written recipe. To me it’s nostalgic. Ultimately the one I ended up using was perfect for me and free.

What you will need for this project

1. A printer or Cricut which ever you prefer (I used my printer for this project)
2. Card stock
3. Template for recipe cards
4. Fine tip marker
5. Cute recipe box or any box that holds cards

When choosing which template to use make sure to keep in mind if you are going to print the actual recipe or write it out by hand. Some of the templates did not give enough space to write out the ingredients or the instructions. I tend to write big, so I wanted a large area.  The one I decided on and printed worked good for me.

The other thing to keep in mind is the back of the card may not be lined. I did not mind that   because I was able to get more writing on the back. If it had lines it would have limited me.

I wanted a heavy card stock. I found that I had so much paper that I bought throughout the years that I literally went shopping in my craft closet. I ended up choosing a textured card stock, linen look, that I loved. My printer is not fancy, it is functional though, however it only holds a standard sheet of printer paper and this card stock was 12 x12, so out came the scissors. It only took a few minutes to cut the excess paper, so I felt it was worth the extra work.  Let’s talk a minute about the texture aspect of it though. When I printed on it, it printed very nicely. I did have to nudge it through the feed a bit but that would have been the case with any cardstock just because its heavier and I have a standard printer.

When you write on textured paper it can be a bit challenging however I found with a fine point marker this ended up not being a big problem. I tried other writing implements that didn’t work so well. I suggest if using paper with texture make sure it’s not too textured. I chose the lighter colors that were in the pad and stayed away from the darker ones as I wanted my writing to show up nicely.  I printed several sheets that held two of the recipe cards and started cutting them out. One thing I did end up doing after I had cut a few was leaving about ½ inch on the bottom of each card. I thought this small area would come in handy for notes. Such as where the original recipe had come from, etc. For instance, I will probably put “recipe handed down from my mother who made this every year on Christmas”. Just an idea. I’m sure I will manage to write something in that space.

Now on to filling my new recipe box. I have recipes tucked everywhere so this might take me a while.

I had an ugly plastic box that had seen better days. I’ll probably just toss it out or put it in the donation box.

I went shopping and found this farmhouse seed box at a local tractor supply store and fell in love with it. I wanted something that didn’t look like a standard recipe box.  This one looks like something I would purchase as a décor item and I couldn’t be happier with it. I ended paying a bit more than I wanted 17.99 however I will have this for the rest of my life and hopefully pass it on some-day, so it was worth it. I was able to get two cards side by side so It will ultimately hold a lot of recipes. If had to guess I would say over 100. I absolutely love the charming look of it sitting on my countertop. I haven’t decided if I should change the words on the front from seeds to something else?? I don’t think it needs to say recipes. For right now I think I will just leave it.

Time to get busy writing out my recipes! Hopefully this inspires you to organize all those recipes that I’m sure you have tucked here, there, and everywhere.