Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tool Time Tuesday...Photo Album Recipe Organizer

Recipes...we all have them. Some we use ALL the time, some we have committed to memory and some we only use once in a while. Where do we keep them? In a box, in a drawer, in a folder, in a book...messy or organized. 

I keep mine in a photo box organized by category. They are a mixture of my recipe cards, my mom's cards and cut outs from magazines. However, I probably only use a quarter of them. I keep going to the same recipes over and over...and those are just thrown on top of the file in a big mess.

Why not take just your FAVORITES and put them in a special place. I found this photo album in a thrift store...50 cents.



It has three hanging booklets stored in the wooden box.


Each booklet has 12 double sided pages for 4" x 6" photos. That's 72 pages.


I don't print too many pictures any more. The pictures I do print go in frames or on the refrigerator. The rest are stored on memory sticks or on the computer.


So why not use this for all my favorite recipes. You can use 4"x 6" index cards or the 3" x 5" cards fit too.






I labeled each hanging section with my most used categories.




If you want to be really organized you can re-print all your recipes on the computer in 4" x 6" text box in your Microsoft Word program or the program on your computer.

For Microsoft Word Users...
  • go to top left corner and click "insert"
  • then towards the right, click "text box"
  • from drop down box, I pick "simple text box"
  • once your box appears, go to upper right corner and put in 4" and then 6" or the size you need for your photo album
  • type what you'd like inside the box
  • click another text box and drag it to bottom of page
  • you can fit 2 per page


 Print out the pages on regular paper or card stock.


Cut out the 4" x 6" recipe card. It fits perfectly inside the page protector like a picture. They are protected from the mess by the plastic holder.


I like this method, because I can make the font larger for these "getting too old" eyes.


Easy to find and easy to see.


Not bad for 50 cents and a little organizing time.

Happy Tuesday,
~Karen~

11 comments:

  1. This is a great storage idea! Thank you also for the tutorial on making the text box, too!

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  2. Great idea and repurposing! I ended up ordering a Tastebook for all my recipes and have loved it ever since. It's one of my all time favorite things in my kitchen.

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  3. Super idea, it is the organizing the recipes "time" that is hard to find.

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  4. Neat idea Karen. I have my aunt's from the late 20's, early 30's and she used a scrap book. She pasted all of the recipes in the book and
    organized them. My mom used a picture album for hers. The one my aunt had has magazine cutouts and it has pictures of Crisco and other products that look really funny. The 20's was colorful and called for things I have never heard of.

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  5. Great idea! My recipes are never where I think they are when I need them. Where is that wonderful soup recipe Judy sent me? I know I have it here somewhere!

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  6. My mum gave me my first recipe book the day I left home she said it was to keep my phone bill down. She placed hand written favourites, typed cards and news paper cuttings of all my favourite foods in the older type photo album ( the ones with that sticky sheet) It was great because when I spilt stuff all I had to do was wipe it over. My daughter copied the same idea when she left with all her own favourites and she is still adding to hers

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  7. Oh wow! I love that box. I have a big stack of recipes from friends, torn out of mag.s, printed off the internet, etc. & I have to go through every one of them each time I need one. Never thought I was a slow learner! :> I may have to settle for those small photo albums, but I can get a different cover for each category. YAY

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  8. Hello! I'm not quite sure how I found your blog, but I love this idea! I already have a box for photos (empty of course!) that I bought years ago that is just like yours. I appreciate the directions on how to easily print the recipes. I've been off all summer, and this would have been an excellent project! Maybe this winter?

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  9. Thank you for your ideas. It is so clever what you always present
    Every time i am here i get so many ideas
    Now i must find such a photo album lol

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