One of my favorite gifts to give is a yearly Cookbook Treasury. Using scrapbook supplies, craft items and a hand picked album, you can give a gift that keeps on giving throughout the entire year.
Getting Started:
Gather all the recipes your family adores, perhaps even traditional recipes served at family functions and anything your own family just can’t get enough of. Remember to include items for each individual section – Soups and Salads, Desserts, Main Dishes, Appetizers, Snacks, etc. It’s your choice how you break them up.
You Will Then Need:
An album or binder in the size of your choice.
White cardstock
Page Protectors
Embellishments – stickers, die cuts, buttons, ribbons, glue and anything else you desire!
Recipe Cards – optional but fun!
Scraps for divider tabs
Getting To Work:
You will need to write down the recipe on the recipe cards or you can type up the recipes and print them onto white cardstock. The recipe cards are more festive and can be attached to the white cardstock and you can even include photographs of the final dishes. You can decorate the page with stickers, doodles, drawings, clip art, die cuts and anything else your heart desires.
When you have completed all the recipes pages and finished all the decorating, it’s time to begin assembling.
Assemble It:
You will first need to divide the recipes by category. You should have already chosen your categories and have at least 3-5 recipes for each category. More is better, but you need at least three. Slip them into page protectors. You can even create “chapter” covers for each category. For instance, in big bold text you can write PASTA DISHES. Decorate the page as you have the other ones, and slip it into a page protector. This becomes the title page for that category. When you have completed the entire thing and have it fully organized the way you want, you can the slip them into the album or binder. Using scraps of paper and a strong adhesive, create tabs for each section. Glue them to the page protector that holds the category title page or the first recipe in that section.
Guess what? You’re done! And you have a great gift! If you were really thinking this through, you already printed out several copies of each recipe and are ready to assemble another one! You can repeat this gift each year with new recipes that your family has found, or with different themes, etc.
Have fun and watch the scrapbooking blog and frugal living blog for more creative gift ideas for a fraction of what you’ll spend at the store!!
Related Articles:
Getting Started On Christmas Gifts
Top Ten Gifts For Scrapbookers
Giving The Gift Of Your Creation