Love this post and want to
see more like it? Each month through 2012 I will be tackling different
topics and creating free printables to go along with the project. View
the projects here.
On Monday
I announced that I'm going to be tackling a month long paper and digital clutter project.
Yesterday I took the time to
update a project I completed back in August. I absolutely love my magnetic recipe holder that is on my fridge. The only problem: it wasn't durable enough for weekly use. I decided to try something that I really thought wasn't going to work, but luckily it did. =]
Here are the
old recipe pockets:
And here's how I created the new ones...
I made the larger one first to see if I could even get it to work. So I didn't take pictures of the process of making this particular one.
Step 1: pick out coordinating paper.
Step 2: mark the exact size of your largest recipe (in this case, the pocket I'm making is for the small, 4x6 cards) on the back of the paper. (Yes, this recipe is for real. My step-mom gave me a bunch of easy, common-sense recipes a couple years ago. They're not common sense to me, even now. I struggle in the kitchen. lol)
Step 3: take a piece of card stock (or any other paper really, but card stock will be durable) and line it up under the colored paper you're using. I found it's easier if you cut them together. This ensures the same measurements all the way around on both.
My paper cutter = best investment ever, especially when it comes to clipping the hundreds of coupons I print ever month (no joke).
Step 4: cut about an inch larger than where you drew your lines on both sides. This allows you to get your recipes in and out of the pockets without a lot of problems. If you trim the exact size and laminate, then it will be too tight to fit your recipes in.
Step 5: take the recipe card again and line it up on the card stock so that some of it is above the card stock (see the picture below). You can have your card stick out as much or as little as you want. Mark the bottom of the card stock only and cut the bottom portion off (don't do this on the colored paper).
Step 6: take the card stock and line it up with the colored paper. Fold the excess portion of the color paper over the card stock. This creates a pocket to hold your recipe in so it doesn't puncture through the laminate. Once the flap is folded over, your pocket should all be the same size all the way around. I used double sided tape to stick my flap down, but you can use glue or whatever else you want.
Step 7: take a laminating sheet and line up your paper at the
very edge. You want your opening to be at the edge so it doesn't get laminated shut, but not over the edge so that you have paper hanging out.
Step 8: send it through the laminator.
Step 9: trim the extra laminate off. I left about a half inch around the edge so that it wasn't trimmed too close.
Step 10: When you trim, it makes a sharp corner, which I don't really care for. So I used my edge rounding punch to take care of that problem. If you want to do this step, then that's another reason to leave an edge around the pocket when you cut off the extra laminate. If you cut too close and then edge the corners, you may puncture the paper and then the laminate won't be over the corners.
Step 11: test to make sure you can still get your recipes in and out.
Step 12: attached the smaller pocket to the larger one. I used double sided tape. You can use whatever you want, of course.
Step 13: label the pocket. I was going to use scrapbook letter stickers, but I didn't have enough "e"s in my white letters. I used my Cricut Expression machine to cut vinyl letters out. I cut them at 1".
The cartridge I used was Lyrical Letters.
Step 14: add magnets to the back of the pockets.
Step 15: hang it up!
I'm sure there are plenty of ways to use these pockets around the house. I'm just getting started. When I come up with more ideas, I'll let ya know.
Enjoy your Wednesday!
