A Smashing Good Idea

Hello, hostess Tami here with an idea will hopefully make all your holidays a little less hectic; at least in the food department!

This time of year is one of the busiest for the cooks among us. It's time to pull out the "good" plates, deck the table, and prepare yummy bites - big and small, savory and sweet - for friends and family.

It's also the time of year that has some of us scrambling to find the RECIPES for those goodies! Calls to moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters and friends to track down the what's and how to's for family favorites - dishes that the holidays wouldn't be complete without. Or maybe you KNOW you HAVE the recipe, you just don't know where you put it after you were done with it LAST year! Or, worse, those treasured recipes are somewhere in a stack of cards and clippings that you will have to dig through in order to find the ones you want.

So, once you HAVE tracked them down and found them again, what better time to give them a home, a permanent one, where you can keep those favorite recipes for ALL the festivities and special family occasions.

This altered composition book will provide room for TONS of recipes and for notes about them as well...

 

You can divide it up by food type: Main Dish, Veggies, Breads, etc. or keep it by Occasion - like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays and more. It's your book, set it up how it will work best for you.

You can rewrite the recipes in the book, or just adhere your cards or clippings directly to the pages. If you are fortunate enough to have the originator of the recipe at your table, you could ask them to write it down in the book. That way, you'd have the recipe in their handwriting - something your family would be sure to treasure.

Room for notes is another plus, jot down how many the recipe ACTUALLY served {most dessert recipes serving sizes and quantities are WAY off! LOL!} Also make notes about seasoning preferences, or changes to the recipe that make it uniquely yours. Another great idea would be to write down who or where the recipe came and how long the dish has graced the family table.

Just think, all the family favorites in ONE PLACE! You'll be ready for ANY occasion in a flash!

And you can have the book decked out in it's holiday best quickly and easily using products from Clearsnap! A few simple supplies and a few easy steps are all it takes to get YOU more organized in the recipe department.

Here are some closeup shots of the details, the Smooch Spritz REALLY makes this project SHINE...

SUPPLIES:

Clearsnap Products:

• Smooch Spritz: Gold Glow, Spun Sugar and Cashmere
• Design Adhesives: Vintage Heart
• Mix'd Media Embossing Powder: Black
• ColorBox Archival Dye Ink: Wicked Black
• ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink: Chestnut Roan and Blackbird
• Color Catcher

Other Products:

• My Sentiments Exactly: Multi Collage
• Spellbinder: Nestabilities: Labels Four
• Sizzix: Texured Impressions: Embossing Folders: Diamonds & Snow Cap Set
• Bazzill: Black, Kraft and Cream Cardstocks 
• Beacon Adhesives: Zip Dry
• 3L: Scrapbook Adhesives: Crafty Power Tape
• Composition Book
• Brown Chipboard Letters
• White & Black Print Ribbon
• Black Baker's Twine
• Black Pen
• Safety Pin

Tools:

• Trimmer, Scissors, Paper Piercer, Corner Rounder and Heat Gun

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cover front of composition book with black cardstock; trim to fit.
2. Cut a 6 X 10 piece of cream cardstock and place in Color Catcher; spritz with Gold Glow and Cashmere, then set aside to dry.
3. Cut a 6 X 6 piece of kraft cardstock and place in Color Catcher; spritz with Gold Glow and Spun Sugar, then set aside to dry.
4. Cut a 12" and a 16" piece of ribbon, place in Color Catcher and spritz using Spun Sugar; let dry.
5. Cut apart pieces of one sheet of Design Adhesives. Randomly apply to chipboard letters, reusing pieces until adhesive has all been applied. Sprinkle with Mix'd Media Black Embossing Powder and heat set.
6. Cut a 6 X 4 1/2 piece of the spritzed cream cardstock and set aside for front cover. Then cut as many labels as you need - they should measure about 1 X 1 1/2.
7. Using the 2 largest dies, cut  and emboss a black label from the largest and a from the next largest, a label using the leftover spritzed cardstock piece. Ink cream label using Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink and adhere to center of black label.
8. Trim the Spritzed Kraft cardstock piece to 6 X 4 {reserve leftover} and place in embossing folder. After embossing, lightly rub the Blackbird Chalk Ink over the piece to add dimension; then ink edges.
9. Stamp "festive", "family" and "favorites" using Wicked Black Dye Ink on leftover kraft pieces and trim close to words; ink using Blackbird Chalk Ink.
10. Ink edges using Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink and adhere 6 X 4 1/2 cream cardstock piece to top part of book cover and adhere 6 X 4 piece of embossed kraft cardstock to bottom, leaving 1/4 space around all pieces. 
11. Adhere chipboard letters to cream piece and label to bottom center of bottom piece. Adhere "festive", "family" and "favorites" to label. 
12. Adhere 12" ribbon down left side of composition book, wrapping ends inside. Use 16" piece to tie bow; adhere to left side of label.
13. Cut a small scrap of spritzed cream cardstock into a tag shape; ink edges using Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink and write "yum !" using black pen. Use piercer to add hole at top of tag, thread using baker's twine, then tie in a bow to end of safety pin. Attach pin to center of bow.
14. Corner round top corners of labels and ink using Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink. Write titles using Black Pen. Divide book as needed and adhere tabs to edges.
15. Finish inside front and back covers and back cover as you wish; spritzed and or stamped paper, or cardstock or printed paper.

And while you have all the supplies out and the recipes handy, how about whipping up a few batches of these as Holiday gifts! Bet that would help you cross a few people off your list extra quick!

Happy Turkey Day! Gobble, Gobble!

p.s.: Today is a great time to take time to count your blessings!