Making the World Cuter with Clean Mama

I am on Maternity Leave from September 4th-October 18th: This post was contributed by Becky at Clean Mama.

Here's how I make my cooking and baking "a little bit cuter" - I file recipes in binders and decorate the binders a bit. There are lots of ways to make recipe binders, but I'm going to show you how I made mine. I love to cook and bake and peruse cooking magazines and online cooking sites. Combining all of these things into an easy, accessible personal cookbook is fun for me and super helpful in the kitchen. I have two Recipe Binders - one for Cooking and one for Baking/Desserts.

Here's what you need to make a binder:

• 3-Ring notebook (two if you want to make a Cooking and a Baking/Desserts binder - I started with one and it quickly needed to be morphed into two)


• Clear Plastic Sleeves - look at an office supply store or Costco and buy a big box of them - you'll save money in the long run


• Cute 12x12 inch scrapbook paper - I bought a food-related pack at Joanne's

• cardstock to back the labels for the subject dividers


• Paper cutter to cut down the scrapbook paper and to trim edges of recipes (if necessary)


• label maker to make labels for subject dividers


• packing tape (I like the Scotch Tear-by-Hand packing tape)

Here's how to get started:

Decide on what sections you want in your binder(s). In my Cooking Binder I have - appetizers, salads, breads, vegetables, soups, pastas, pizzas, poutry, beef, holiday recipes, canning recipes. In my Baking/Dessert Binder I have - candies and snacks, cakes and frostings, desserts, pies and tarts, cookies and bars, holiday desserts, muffins and quick breads. Start pulling out favorite recipes from magazines, printing from websites, and copying favorite recipe cards. Maybe you have a stack already - here's a perfect way to organize them!

Cut scrapbook paper to fit the binder cover and page protectors for the different sections.

Using a label maker (you could also write these out or print from computer and cut to fit) print out different sections vertically.

Cut small strips of cardstock (3/4inch wide) and attach labels to cardstock - trim excess cardstock.

Place cardstock on packing tape and attach to page protectors.

Start organizing your recipes and start cooking!

I'd love for you to come and check out my little cyber spot - Clean Mama - where I like to try to "make the world a little bit cuter".