I made this for my son Matthew for Christmas but actually just finished it. I know it's June but don't be too hard on me. He actually ended up moving back home for a while so he hasn't needed it recently. Hayley has requested one too. I liked this project!
He is always asking me how to make this or that and I realized most of my recipes are in my head and not on paper. I really had to think hard on how to make a recipe box for a guy. I wanted to make it fun and not too feminine. I also wanted it to be something that he could share with his wife someday. - I loved this paper!!!!The background looks like recipes and clippings you would find in your grandma's kitchen. There are even a few food stains thrown in for fun. I sanded & painted the $3.00 box inside and out and then added the paper to the ends, "recipes" to the front and mod podged the whole thing. I wanted it to wipe clean easily in case it gets dirty. The mod podge achieved that. I bought some chipboard dividers and had to trim them just a little and covered them with different colored papers and used my label maker for the tabs.
I used lined large index cards for the recipe cards and ran them all through my printer to personalize them a little. I added several favorite recipes and had his aunt add some as well. I think it's important to have them in our own handwriting to make them a little more special. I have one recipe that my mother hand wrote for me years ago and I have it preserved in a zip lock bag because it is beginning to deteriorate. I have a special feeling when I see it in her own hand writing. I need to give some blank cards to his great aunts so they can do the same. I printed plenty of blank cards so he can add to it as needed.
I hope you like it!