Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
True confession: I am the worst crafty DIY person on the planet. I once painted a flower pot a women’s event at church that I had to pass off as a gift from my daughters. I can craft words but beyond that, I’ve got nothing.
However, two years for Mother’s Day I found myself wanting to create something unique, meaningful, thought filled and of course affordable for the Queen and King Mum. I landed on the idea of taking family favorite recipes and turning them into artwork. It was so simple that even I couldn’t screw it up (ok, ok, so it took a few tries). I liked their gifts so much, I made one of each for myself too and framed them for my kitchen. Here’s how you can do the same this Mother’s Day.
- Carefully select a recipe card. While having any recipe written in your mother or grandmother’s hand will do, it’s a good idea to select a recipe card that has special meaning. As I scanned through my box of old recipe cards, I looked for family favorites. The more colorful the card, the better it will pop in the frame, too. I also looked for recipes that were nearly complete on one side and didn’t have much or any writing on the back.
- Scan your card on a copier or printer. You could do this at home, the office, or choose to go somewhere like Office Depot. You want to be sure that you set the scanner to its highest resolution so you get the clearest scan of the card.
- Print out the scan. This step of the process took a little extra time and thought. You need to determine what size of frame you’ll be using and then scale the dimensions of the card to that frame. Take into account the frames edges.
- Choose a frame that matches the kitchen. More than likely this piece will land somewhere in your gift recipient’s kitchen. When you purchase a frame, think about the colors in the kitchen where it may be hung or placed. We bought a couple of nicer frames at Kohl’s for our moms but I purchased a very affordable four pack from Target to frame my recipes.
- Trim the edges and frame. Using sharp scissors or an exact-o knife, carefully trim the printed recipe so that it fits nicely inside of the frame.
- Display with a kitchen utensil of your mother’s or grandmothers. In my kitchen, the recipes sit adjacent to a piece of our grandmother’s kitchen. That’s the King’s grandmother’s teapot in the top picture and my grandmother’s flower sifter and pastry blender in the bottom photo.
It’s so wonderful having my grandmother’s handwriting in my kitchen where I see it daily. It’s like I have a piece of them with me all of the time.
What ways do you preserve and share family recipes? What simple thought-filled Mother’s Day gifts have you made before?
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
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