Handmade Recipe Books

Avid chefs often keep logs of their favorite recipes.  They lovingly compose handwritten cards, pages, or albums to share their favorites with friends, or simply keep track of their most well loved creations.  It only seems fair that handmade skin care enthusiasts should treat their beauty recipes with similar esteem.  This simple tutorial shows you how to create lovely, handmade recipe books in no time.  You can fill these simple books with recipes for your favorite concoctions.  Keep them to yourself, or share them with friends.  A handmade recipe book filled with your favorite beauty secrets would make a lovely gift for a fellow crafter or mixtress.

Handmade Recipe Books

Supplies
12" x 12" Card Stock
Newsprint Type Paper
1/4" to 1/2" Wide Ribbon

You Will Also Need
A Standard Sized Hole Punch
A Ruler
Scissors or a Paper Cutter

Directions
Begin with a 12" x 12" piece of card stock.  You can find an assortment of styles in the scrapbook section of most craft stores.  Using double sided card stock is optional, but a nice touch.  Trim any excess tags or salvages from your card stock, and carefully fold it in half.

Cut along the folded line, splitting the card stock in to two equal sized pieces.  Fold the two pieces in half again and then set them aside. 

Next, take two piles of five pages of newsprint and stack them neatly.  If necessary, secure the stacks together with paperclips.  Carefully cut and measure the stacks of newsprint to create 5.5" x 11" rectangles.  After the stacks are cut, fold them in half. 

Place the stacks of newsprint inside the folded card stock, keeping them as centered as possible.  Again, use some paperclips to keep the paper in place if you need to.  Using your hold punch, carefully punch two holes in the fold of each pile.  Make sure that you punch one hole straight through the entire stack of newsprint and card stock.  The holes will need to line up in order to be bound correctly. 

Measure and cut two 18" lengths of ribbon.  Thread the ribbon through the holes inside the books, and tie a knot and bow along the outside of the books folded edge.

Now fill your books with your favorite recipes! 

Comments

[Robin]

Nice post, thank you! I plan on collecting as many skin care recipes as I can, condense them into one volume and share with others.

[Emmy]

That sounds like a wonderful gift for your family and friends. I hope they enjoy it.

[Nancy]

Thanks you! I like the simple binding! I normally hand sew my books which takes a little bit to do... I have kids and not always the time... this is a perfect solution for me!

[Emmy]

I'm glad you enjoyed this project. It is a lot of fun to customize. By using different sizes of ribbon and hole punches, you can create a number of varied looks.