Today Kara is going to share a darling recipe book she recently created…I moved into my first apartment earlier this year and I've had a great time experimenting in the kitchen. Though my recipe organization leaves a lot to be desired… I finally put together a DIY recipe book to keep my favorites organized and I'm excited to share how today!1. Find a old or vintage recipe book at a thrift or antique store. I chose one with ring binding, so it'd be easier to flip through. Most thrift stores have tons of old recipe books for super cheap! 2. Use a thick piece of paper or cardboard to make new organizer tabs. I cut up a record cover for mine! 3. Next, label the tabs however you would like. I used a white Signo pen to write on the labels, but you could use a labelmaker or letter stickers! There are certainly more categories, but these are the 5 categories I cook most from. 4. Now staple the category tabs to another small piece of cardboard. Depending on the type of book and cover you use, the length will vary. You'll want to staple the new tabs in succession so they are equally visible. Staple the tabs directly on to the recipe book's pages.Decorate the recipe pages and title pages with your preferred embellishments. I used a 1960s Ladies Home Journal to decorate the title pages with corresponding images. Most old, lady-magazines have plenty of recipe photos! Again, I used a white Signo pen to doodle on the titles. Add a new title to your recipe book and cover up any words you don't want. I used part of a LHJ page again for consistency.Now it's time to add in your favorite recipes! You could use recipe cards, but I printed out my favorite recipes on regular printer paper and embellished them over the recipe book pages. You could also take photos of your completed recipes to add to the pages! This would look super cute with instant photos.And now you have your very own personalized recipe book. This would be a great wedding gift idea! xo. Kara
78 Comments
This is so great! What a wonderful idea! Looks so totally cute too! xoxo, Emily
so smart! thanks for sharing. looks like it’s time to start printing off some recipes.
I need to do something like this! Such a great idea!
This is really cool! Much better than throwing random recipes in a box, like I currently am 🙂
Great idea! I love re-purposing thrift store finds.
This is so sweet and crafty it’s like a cook book scrapbook
so creative !!
Totally love it! All of the recipes I’ve clipped out and printed are just floating around in a big drawer in my kitchen…I need to do this!!! 🙂
Rory
http://www.wearaboutsblog.com
Love this and will be totally doing it! Thanks for the inspiration!
This is such a great idea! I really need to organize my recipe collection, and this kind of book looks like the perfect way to do it. I have a big collection of paint swatches in pretty colors that I could cut up and use for the tabs. I can’t wait to get started!
This is a lot better than scribbling them down on post-it notes..haha that’s what I’ve been doing so far. =)
-Jess
http://wearegypsies.blogspot.com
this is so lovely. great job!
http://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/
this is uber cute! thanks for sharing 🙂
Rima
ADORE this, and I love your writing.
http://www.eatblogpray.blogspot.com
xo
This is so precious. I’ll definitely be making my own version of this soon!
cool.. 🙂 http://lovesimplegreen.blogspot.com
Sooo perfect! Would be fun for a couple to put together a book of their favorites! Might try this out with my mister, actually!
xo Heather
http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/
Perfect! I’m about to move out too and I’ll read a good way to keep track of all my recipes. I’ve made an art journal, but this is way more practical. 😛 Great post!
This is such a great idea!
My recipe journal is very plain, i’ll def be trying this Thanks!
xo,
N|D
http://rainbowsandtress.blogspot.com/
Love it!!! This is such a great idea!!!! I love how it looks!!!
Amazing idea! I need to make a recipe book of all my recent recipes 🙂 I’m in the same boat with being on my own for the first time an finding tons of new recipes.
GREAT idea!
xoxo Kate
http://acreativecookie.blogspot.com/2012/07/4-ways-to-wrap-gifts.html
love this kara! and I was totally thinking, “this would make a great wedding gift!” . . . and then I read the last sentence. ha.
totally cute! i’ve been needing a way to keep track of some of my fun recipe finds!!
neha
neha made
How fun is this! Totally makes me want to go create a beautiful book for my recipes.
-Ashley
http://pencilleddaydream.com
Oohhh!!! Another DIY/craft project coming my way! Thanks for sharing!
Great idea!
I can’t wait to start working on mine!!
http://stainedpalette.blogspot.com/
This is such a great idea, I’m so going to be making one of these. Thanks
http://www.jodiesjunk.com
I’d love to do this as a gift for someone.
Gosh I Love Kara’s DIY’s and Blog such a cute idea. Might give this ago, some much cuter than my word doc saved recipes!
Becky K.
https://pixiwishes.jux.com/
https://pixiwishes.jux.com/
https://pixiwishes.jux.com/
Love this! My mom and I just made a diy recipe book to give to my sister for her birthday. We used a binder and printed out our favorite recipes as well as family recipes passed down from our grandparents. We also used a lot of the photos we took of the food and put fun little food memories under the pictures. It was a lot of hard work but so worth it! She loved it!
I’ve been wanting to make one for myself and I think I might use this method to do it! Thanks for the ideas! 🙂
I love this project! Definitely one for those recipes I need all the time!
this is so adorable! better than the scrapbook i was planning to use!
http://www.pinterest.com/babushkamaddi
This is amazing! 😀 You guys are so creative!
great idea!
xo, cheyenne
Such a cute DIY, one I want to try one day when I get a day off!
Lovely idea 😉 thanks!
Ohhhhh that is so cute I love it maybe I will make one but for my sewing and crocheting and knitting projects 🙂
It looks really nice, such a good idea!
This is totally cute and creative. Definitely added it to my to do list this summer xoxo
LOVE it!!
Cute!
Love it!
I love this! Makes it so much more personal.
Sarah x
http://www.tellhershesdreaming.com
Great recipe book!! 🙂
This is perfect! I really need to organize my recipes and this is such a great inspiration!
This is so cute! I love the idea of having all of my favorite recipes in one spot! Thanks for sharing!
http://subjectivelysimple.blogspot.com/
great pics! great idea!
http://www.be-so-chic.com
This is such a great idea 🙂 LOVE it. Mine are in an ugly book or just printed out pieces of paper scattered around. ♥ Lovely.
I was just working on an idea like this yesterday! How fun.
I’m sorry, but that is ghetto.
My mind is spinning with possibilities!! I love the idea of this and I especially love that it leaves room for tweaking it to make it your own….another win in my book ladies! Thank you.
http://nateandabbyclark.blogspot.com/
I really love this idea. I’ve been thinking of starting a recipe book!
So cute!!
http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogspot.com
Adorable! Now I know what to do with all the loose recipes I’ve cut out from magazines that have been cluttering up my cook book pages!
what a cute idea!
I love it ! This will be a great present for one of my friends, I will try to make one !
Thanks for giving us such good ideas 🙂
So lovely! I really need to get around to organizing all of my favorite recipes–love this idea!
ncie
These look fab! I have just ordered myself a starter kit of pmc cant wait for it to arrive. I think i will look for a course too… Im just going to take a look at your tutorials now for some ideas
thanks for sharing!!
This is such a great post! You always come up with such inspiring DIY ideas 🙂
It would be seriously cool if you did a post on jazzing up a boring old cork/pin board. I’ve got one above my desk that could use some personalizing!
<3
This is my first time i visit here. I found so many useful stuff in your website especially its discussion, From the a lot of comments on your articles. I guess Im not the only one receiving the many satisfaction right here! keep up a good job;
Would make a lovely and very personal paper anniversary gift!!
Those category tabs are so cute!
This recipe book is too precious! Right now, I keep all of my recipes on a software program or on my blog, but nothing beats a cookbook. I’d love to try transferring them all over soon. 🙂
Kara this is such a great idea, thanks for sharing the how-to. Great idea for upcycling an old forgotten retro book! Can’t wait to try it 🙂 Katie. xxx
You just solved my what to get my Chef boyfriend for his birthday dilemma. He lost all his recipes a while ago and I am super excited to start this project for him. Thanks girlies. Love Elle xo
What a treat! This is a fantastic little project – I think I’m going to use it as a ‘wedding memories’ book/diary to stick in my fave behind the scenes preparations, photos, fabric samples, memories etc. Thank you for the inspiration.
I love your blog!!!!
This is one of those ideas that makes me smack my head and say duh! I love it! I am always digging through my computer, magazine clippings, and pinterest. This will be a life and time saver!
My recipe book is similar. Check it out
http://sewmuchtosay.blogspot.com/2011/12/home-cooking.html
I did this, too! I´m saving my ideas for meals, cocktails and cupcakes there. My trick: write down what alternatives you know to the recipe. And write down how many people are served and what you did for deco on the table and in the room.
Hi! I wrote about your post here: http://www.bebesymas.com/actividades-bebes-ninos/hazlo-tu-mismo-libro-de-recetas-para-ninos
Hope you like it!
Wow!
Val
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
I love this! I ended up making one myself 🙂
http://muchmorethanthebirds.blogspot.fr/2012/07/diy-recipe-book.html
It’s a great idea! Thanks to sharing. I like your blog!!!!
This is great! Best idea I´ve found so far about making your won recipe book and I will not look any further. All while recycling an old book at the same time!