I was inspired a few years ago by a gift from my mother-in-law to put together a recipe scrapbook with my most-used and precious family recipes. She is an avid scrapbooker, and while my version is much simpler in design it brings me no less joy to use it! Many of my fondest memories can be traced back to making or sharing great food with friends and family, so this project is very special to me. It contains numerous dishes that my parents and grandparents made for me growing up and they hold countless stories in their many flavors. I can only hope that I will someday be able to pass on my humble collection of favorite recipes to my children.
The supplies you use to create your own heirloom cookbook are only as limited as your imagination. While mine is made of a 6″x8″ scrapbook you could totally make an 8 1/2″x11″ version very easily. I’ve included a link to my FREE downloadable Recipe Scrapbook Template Pack for easy printing.
Here’s everything you need to know to craft a personal recipe collection scrapbook!
Materials Needed
- 6″x8″ Scrapbook Album
- 6″x8″ Page Inserts, whole or divided pages
- Scrapbook paper – I used Echo Park
- Blank 4″x6″ index cards
- Craft scissors
- Glue, gluestick or sticky dots
- Findings such as stamps, stickers, or Washi tape
- My free downloadable Recipe Card Template Pack
Unless you’ll be writing them out by hand, you will need a computer and a printer for your finished recipe cards.
Type out your recipes
Using whichever template fits your need, enter your recipe into the word document. I like to use fun title fonts for each recipe. Because these will be for personal use you can use 1001freefonts.com my favorite resource for creative fonts!
Be sure to remove any paper from your printer’s feed tray before adjusting the tray sliders to fit the index cards. I only insert 2-3 at a time to avoid jamming my machine. You may have to experiment before you figure out if you need to insert your index cards long or short ways – and each printer is different so unfortunately I can’t give any instructions for this part. You’ll just have to print them and see if it’s the correct orientation!
Cut your scrapbook paper to size
If you’re using full-size scrapbook paper you’ll need to cut it down to fit inside the sheet protectors. I use a swingline paper trimmer for projects like this but a craft knife and a sturdy ruler will do the job just fine.
Trim the edges of your recipe cards
In order to fit the recipe cards to the scrapbook paper and still show the design of the paper beneath you’ll need to trim a bit off the edges. I like to use craft scissors for this to achieve a decorative edging, which is totally optional but fun anyway.
Glue the recipe to the backing paper
Go ahead and use your preferred type of glue to affix your recipe card to the paper you’ve chosen. I had a great time matching recipes to similarly themed paper and using the farmhouse style sticker pack that came with my Echo Park paper pack!
Optional: Create dividers for your scrapbook
I used whole-sheet page protectors and printed labels to create divider tabs for my cookbook. I feel like category sections could be an incredibly personal topic, and a good place to start is your Pinterest cooking board. I made tabs for my most-used sections on my recipes board and I’m really happy with the categories I made up!
That’s pretty much it! Now you can embellish your pages as you please and assemble them in your binder. Feel free to share pictures of your scrapbooks in the comments. I would love to see where your creativity takes you with this project. Happy crafting!
