Thursday, March 15th, 2012
Travis’ Bright Orange Recipe Box :)
Travis has been wanting a recipe box for awhile now, but they are all usually really girly, so we never managed to buy one, but on a recent trip to Michael’s craft store, I found a wooden box that would be perfect for a recipe box. I gathered all of the supplies I’d need:
- Wooden Recipe Box
- Paintbrushes
- Paint
- Painter’s Tape or Electrical Tape
- Letter stickers
I used Martha Stewart’s craft paints for this project and they are awesome! So many colors to choose from and they are only around a buck each. I picked the color “carrot” for this project.
I cut out the letters I’d use for the box, so they would be easier to line up on the box, before actually peeling the backs off.
After figuring out where I wanted each letter, I peeled the backs off and stuck them on.
I actually used electrical tape at this point instead of painters tape. (either one will work)
Then I just painted right over the letters and tape.
I peeled the electrical tape right off as soon as I was done painting so I would get nice clean lines.
As soon as the electrical tape was off, I used an exact-o knife to peel the letters up.
I decided to do some diagonal lines on the lid, so I taped down my lines. I also added more lines on the front of the box and left some of the wood-grain to shine thru.
Once my box was all dry (Travis’ did want me to add gloss paint over the whole thing, so since it’s his box, I let it all natural) I put two recipe cards in the box and set it on the counter right by the stove. Travis is all excited to fill it up with all of his recipes – he said it will be filled in no time. :) I did already have two of his recipe’s though, so I wrote them down on index cards awhile and put them inside. (yes, I blurred them out below a bit – god help me if someone found out his secret tuna salad recipe :p)
Project Cost Breakdown:
- Wooden Box – $4.99
- Brushes – $4.99 (Set of 4, Only used 1)
- Paint – $1.39 per bottle (bought 2, Only needed 1)
Total Cost: $11.37 (This project could be under $10 if you already have paintbrushes, or just buy 1 paintbrush – I needed the other paintbrushes for other projects, so I just bought the pack)
How do you store your recipes?
Posted on May 25, 2013 - 24 comments
Filed Under: Projects
24 Comments
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March 15, 2012 at 8:08 am
Very cute!! At first I was thrown by the pink glittery letters for a dude, but once you painted over them it all made sense!
And seriously, how cute is it that he is protective of his recipes? Cracks me up!
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March 15th, 2012 at 8:08 am
hahaha, they were the only letters I could find that would work for this project at the craft store.
March 15, 2012 at 8:08 am
That looks amazing! I love it.
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March 15th, 2012 at 8:08 am
Thanks Annabel! :)
March 15, 2012 at 10:10 am
I really like the orange! The stripes on top are awesome too!
Too funny that you blurred the recipe. Travis and my grandma have something in common now :)
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March 15th, 2012 at 10:10 am
haha, I don’t know how he’d feel about that comparison.
March 15, 2012 at 10:10 am
Very cute! The orange stripes remind me of Home Depot a bit, but I think that has more to do with the fact that I’ve been going there too often lately!
Are you just using regular index cards for the box or do you have to trim them down to a special size?
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March 15th, 2012 at 10:10 am
I use the big index cards. (6 in. x 4 in) But both the small & large ones fit into the box – no trimming needed.
March 15, 2012 at 10:10 am
I love the orange with the wood tone and the stripes on top. It’s so cute and manly at the same time!
My recipes are bunch of odd-sized, stained sheets of paper with my scribbles on it, thrown onto the top shelf of a cabinet. It’s a pretty big stack, too, and it sucks trying to find a recipe. I’ve thought about buying a recipe box but never liked any I saw. I might have to follow your route and paint my own!
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March 15th, 2012 at 10:10 am
You should definitely paint your own! :)
March 15, 2012 at 10:10 am
I love this! Very cool. I love recipe cards too. There is something so charming about pulling out a card instead of going to a website.
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March 15, 2012 at 10:10 am
This is adorable- wait, I mean manly! lol Orange is one of my favourite colours so I love your colour choice. I love that you mixed it up a bit with the diagonal stripes and that border around the front. The font of those stickers is pretty awesome too.
That’s hilarious that he is worried about his tuna salad recipe. lol.
I have a binder that has all my recipes in it. I have dividers to organize them by breakfast, muffins/bread, desserts, appetizers, etc. It seems to work the best for me since I usually print out a lot of my recipes. Plus we all know I love a good organized binder! lol. I love this little box though- almost makes me want to switch up my system!
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March 15th, 2012 at 10:10 am
A lot of the time, he just puts things together & doesn’t even measure anything, but all of his “special” recipes he has all typed up. We do have a lot of cookbooks though, which I mainly use for baking. I’d love to see your recipe binder! Blog post?? ;)
March 15, 2012 at 11:11 am
Adorbs!
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March 15, 2012 at 11:11 am
Melanie, I love this! I agree with Bekah… at first I saw the pink sparkly letters and wondered where it was going. But when I saw what you did with them, it turned out to be my favorite part! I love the letters and the line that surrounds them. Great idea and well done! :)
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March 15th, 2012 at 11:11 am
haha, I guess I should have mentioned something about those pink sparkly letters in the beginning… oops!
March 15th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
haha no I just meant I loved the surprise! xoxo
March 15th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Oh – haha! BTW, my sisters dog is a long haired chihuahua. I’ll have to send you a picture of him sometime!
March 15, 2012 at 2:14 pm
I wonder how many of your readers are from Central Pennsylvania? When I lived there, it took me some time to figure out that “Leave” and “Let” are used interchangeably (“I let it all natural”) and that “awhile” means “now” or “then.” (“I wrote them down on index cards awhile.”) Thanks for the reminder of the quirky regionalisms of Central PA! I remember hearing one woman say to another “Do you want to have lunch awhile?” and I thought “Whaaaatt?”
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March 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
I do talk/write a little “different” I guess you could say. I am who I am. :D
March 15, 2012 at 4:16 pm
This is so cool! I got a recipe box like that as a wedding present, but I usually print everything out so I have a big binder with page protectors. It’s so funny that Travis is so protective of his recipes! My grandmother never gives out her recipes either, well she does, but she always leaves something out so I’m pretty sure that’s on purpose! Ha!
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March 16, 2012 at 8:08 am
I love little projects like this!!! It’s adorable!! I love how you used the stickers like that, so smart.
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March 16th, 2012 at 8:08 am
Thanks Whitney! :D
March 17, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Melanie,
Thank you so much for the sweet comment on my blog! I absolutely love what you have to say and how you say it.
This is such an incredible project! I love the color!
smiles,
thistle
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