Thursday, March 3, 2011

Recipe Binder Re-do with Photocopied Fabric

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This is a little embarassing...

I've been keeping a secret buried deep within the depths of my kitchen pantry.

My former recipe binder. See for yourself.

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{hanging head in shame.}

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{wince.}

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Complete with rings that didn't close all the way and pages that were shoved in haphazardly.

The best part: I left the binder a little too close to the hot stove while cooking one day and melted all the plastic sheet protectors, rendering them useless.

The best-er part: I don't even remember when this happened. It was THAT long ago, friends.

{nervous laugh}

But those days are all behind me now.

I have seen the error of my ways.









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My dividers are organized alphabetically:
  1. Appetizers and Snacks
  2. Beverages
  3. Breads
  4. Cleaning Products (I sometimes like to make my own.)
  5. Desserts--subdivided by: cakes, cookies and bars, misc. and pies
  6. Main Courses--subdivided by: beef, chicken and turkey, fish and seafood, pork and vegetarian
  7. Salads
  8. Sides
  9. Soups
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And I was able to get a little creative. I need that.
For the cover, I photocopied a few of my favorite fabrics, then pieced the papers together and slid them right under the plastic on my binder.

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Some people advocate typing up all of your recipes so you eliminate any small recipe cards.

That certainly is nice and tidy, and I really almost did that.

But I just couldn't part with the beautiful, handwritten recipes that my mother, grandmother or dear friends have given me through the years.  They're like memories.

So I kept them and used 4x6 photo protector pages to keep them nice and safe. Perfect!

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I would love to hear about your favorite recipe from a special person. 

14 comments:

  1. I love this! I need to do this with my recipes. They are everywhere! Some are in a binder, some in a recipe box, and others just floating around in a cupboard. I love how you photo copied the fabric!

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  2. I've been working on my recipes, too--all part of the organization I suppose! This is beautiful and such a good way to organize!

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  3. I have the EXACT SAME BINDER!!! haha So embarrassing. My husband, an IT guy, begs me to get organized online. Ain't gonna happen! I'm with you- love the handwritten notes and cards. I couldn't trade them, even though I have typed up quite a few to email to friends/family. My favorite recipe is from my great-aunt Kay, who was FAMOUS for her pecan bars. At least in our family... haha. I have her original recipe, and it's a total treasure.

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  4. I love the idea of photocopying the fabrics...genius!

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  5. My grandma, who was a fantastic baker and cook, passed away many years ago. My mom has all her recipes that my grandma had written out by hand and they are precious to her. She has been meaning to make a book of it for quite some time. This is a great idea. On my blog, I have a page entitled "Grandma's Recipe Box" that I have dedicated to her so that any friends or family can enjoy them too! There's so many I'm adding to it gradually... but hopefully I'll have it all down someday. Thanks for sharing this!!

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  6. this is adorable! I wish I was more of a cook/baker.

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  7. You clever girl! I would never have thought of photocopying fabric...the ideas are flowing now! One of these days I really need to organize my recipes...they aren't even in one place!

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  8. Oh, don't EVER look at my recipe mess. My hubby is the organizer. I am not. Sigh. I love organization, though! Your notebook is awesome! I love the idea of photocopying fabric--and such cute fabric too!

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  9. My recipe binder used to look like that, too. I did something along the same lines.

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  10. Great job. I have a very similar binder that I blogged about a few weeks ago. I am slowly but surely re-typing and organizing all of my recipes. I try to post some of my favorite recipes once a week.

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  11. What a cute idea. Don't forget to join me for More The Merrier Monday and link up all of your great projects.


    http://diyhshp.blogspot.com

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  12. I'm with you on the recipe book. Mine is in serious need of attention. Thanks for coming out of the closet and sharing your ideas. By the way, the handwritten recipes from my grandmother and mother are some of my prized possessions.

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  13. You're a step ahead of me, at least you had a binder to start with, currently all my recipes are just sitting in a drawer, in no particular order. Great job on the recipe organization! My favorite recipe is from my Hubby's Grandma, its for homeade banana cake, which is his favorite.

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  14. I love your binder!! I started one awhile back, but I haven't finished it. I love how you copied the fabric- beautiful! You've inspired me to pull my binder out again and work on completing it. I'll post pictures on my blog when I do. Susan

    http://journalingmywaythrough2010.blogspot.com/

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