DIY Printable Recipe Binder Kit

My recipes are strewn across the house. Yes, not just the kitchen, but the house. Here’s my problem: I read magazines before bed every night, so there are torn out recipes on my night stand. I scan Pinterest from my office every day, so there are printed out recipes on my desk. And over in the kitchen, there is my favorite recipe book full of recipes I use all the time and in another cabinet is a folder of un-filed recipes. Can we say hot mess?

One of my goals this year is to get the recipes under control and in functional order! I needed a solution that would work for me. I decided to create my own DIY Printable Recipe Binder.

Printable Recipe Binder Kit

This DIY Recipe Collection Binder Printable Kit is perfect for anyone because it is completely customizable to suit each person’s specific needs. You can tackle this project in a few easy steps.

COLLECT, SORT & ELIMINATE

Gather every single recipe resource you have in the entire house. This includes cookbooks, recipe boxes, binders, loose recipes. Collect it all.

Evaluate each cookbook. If you haven’t used the cookbook in the last 6 months, it’s time to eliminate it from your collection.

All other recipes, you will need to decide if you want to toss, keep or try. Put each recipe in one of the 3 piles. When finished sorting, place the toss pile in the trash. Add the keep pile to your new Printable Recipe Binder. The pile of try recipes can go in a pocket in the back of your new recipe binder.

CREATE YOUR BINDER SKELETON

Decide which DIY Printable Recipe Binder Kit is best for you. There are 2 sizes available, either a full size 8.5 x 11″ binder or a 8″ x 5″ mini binder. Once you decide on your size, you can get started.

GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES:

Binder:  8.5 x 11 binder  OR  8×5 Mini Binder

Sheet Protectors:  8.5 x 11  OR  8 x 5

Recipe Card Refill Pages:  8.5 x 11

Repositional Plastic Tabs OR heavy packing tape

Heavy Card Stock

Binder Divider Pockets (optional): 8.5 x 11 OR 8 x 5

Recipe Collection Printables Download

PRINT YOUR RECIPE COLLECTION PRINTABLE:

Open your downloaded pdf in your default PDF reader. If you don’t have one, you can download the Adobe Reader for free here.

Need help with printing? Read my printing Tips HERE.

INSERT YOUR COVER & DIVIDER PAGES

Gather the front and back cover as well as the spine insert that will fit the binder you chose and insert into the plastic openings on the binder.

Decide which divider pages you would like to use (you can use as few or as many as you like) and insert them into the plastic sheet protectors. Place them in the binder.

ADD THE DIVIDER TABS (2 options)

Printable tabs using the Avery Self-Adhesive Plastic Tabs:

Print the tab labels (page #4 in your download) onto one Avery Tab Sheet. Add tabs to the corresponding sheet protector divider (for example, the bread tab with the bread divider). Be sure to add tabs in order or the dividers in the binder. Start the first tab at the TOP of the first divider, then line up the TOP of the second tab with the BOTTOM of the first tab and so on.

DIY Homemade tabs Tabs:

1. Cut out the tabs with the solid color background.
2. Fold each tab in half to make a fold crease.
3. Lay a piece of heavy packing tape over the tab.
4. Carefully fold tab and tab over divider page and trim off the extra packing tape.

ORGANIZE ONCE AND FOR ALL

Now for the fun part! Start placing your recipes in the binder under the correct category. Every single recipe that you can get in the binder, do so. Then any recipes that are torn or tattered, or simply need to be written on recipe cards, write and then add them to your new collection as well.

I love the back section of my binder called “TO TRY.” Now I have a specific place for all of the recipes I print on Pinterest, the web, or tare out of magazines. Gone is the recipe clutter in multiple rooms of the house. It’s easy to quickly and place these recipes in.

Simply put, mealtime can be a crazy, chaotic and overwhelming time of day. It’s time to end the dinner-hour overwhelm.

The Printable Recipe Binder will not only take your recipe collection from messy to organized in just a few easy steps, but also help you plan weekly meals and grocery lists.

In no time at all you can conquer the recipe mess once and for all!