Have you started thinking about your holiday baking yet? I'm serving Thanksgiving Dinner here, so I've been thinking lately about what I'm planning to cook. While looking for some of our traditional family recipes, it occurred to me that I really should have them stored together in a mini album. I have expansion plans for this album, but right now it contains just three sweet-treat recipes. I thought I'd share this idea with you in case you might enjoy making one too. If you would like to see a larger picture, click on the picture.
I started by die-cutting four curved rectangle shapes from Craft-a-Board with the largest die. The die basically cut cleanly through my Craft-a-board; I used a craft knife in a couple of places where the board was not completely cut through. Next I stamped, then die-cut eight curved rectangles from Memory Box cardstock in assorted colors: Dill, Holly Berry, and Willow. I chose these stamps: the Polka Dots backgrounder with white Brilliance ink on the Dill cardstock, the Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock with Adirondack Oregano ink on Willow cardstock, and the Perfect Plaid Scrapblock with Adirondack Cranberry ink on Holly Berry cardstock. I covered the back and the front of each piece of Craft-a-Board with the stamped backgrounds.
Next, I trimmed the tops of all five of the covered boards to make it simpler to bind the edge.( I set up my Carl Cutter with a stop in place so that all of the pieces would have the same amount trimmed off of the top.) I inked all of the edges with some Antique Linen Distress ink, then sanded the edges to reveal parts of the white core. Why both? I wanted my little album to look like it had been in the family for long enough for the pages to darken a bit around the edges and wear on the edges too.
I used a Bind It All to punch four holes in each side; I set a stop so that they would all be the same--a great feature on the new pink BIA's! (Of course, you can use the blue one if you have it; you would just need be careful to be sure that you punched in the same amount from each edge. After getting my four boards punched, I was ready to start decorating my book. The first order of business was to choose and format some recipes! I'm attaching a page of four recipes here, in case someone wants them. You can print out this pdf version, then trim to 3" x 5" cards. Just a little note about one of the recipes: if the coconut bars are too sweet for you, you can leave out at least 1/2 lb of the powdered sugar and add extra coconut to keep it the right consistency. Download christmas_recipesdolson.pdf
I started with the cover: I knew that I wanted to use some of the Kim Hughes images, so I wanted a whimsical type to work with those images. You can obviously use stamped letters, rub-ons--whatever you have. I chose to use my Cricut (which has been needing to see some action) along with the Opposites Attract cartridge. I did a bit of tweaking to pull the cursive letters closer together, then cut my letters and attached them to the front cover. I added some clear and red Stickles to the letters after they were in place to give them some pizazz. For the image, I chose a snowman from Heart Warmers and colored him with Copic markers (C-1, R24, R29, Y68). I trimmed carefully around him, then attached him and applied red Stickles to his heart. For the snow, I die-cut another curved rectangle from white cardstock, then cut it in curves and stitched the edges of the curves before gluing them in place on the bottom edge.
For the first spread I chose old faithful, the fudge recipe. Another image from Heart Warmers, the trees, was colored with Copic markers (G82, G94, G99, R22, R24, R29, E35). I made a snowbank similar to the one on the front cover and added a picture--easy! The felt snowflake was from a packet found here.
English Toffee is another favorite around here, but, as with fudge, I need two versions--a nutty and a non-nutty version. I used a little hinge clip to hold my list of who likes which version. The "yummy stuff" image is from the Baked with Love set, cut with a Tags trio die. I snipped the end off and rounded its corners by hand to get the tag short enough.
Finally, the last spread (for now, at least) was reserved for one of my husband's favorites, coconut bars. After having fresh, moist, homemade ones, the bought ones aren't quite as appealing! I made a whole batch of these tonight just so I could get a picture. . . but he's not complaining. ;-) The "kiss the cook" sentiment is from the Baked with Love set. I added a few Dew Drops to the top of the recipe for a dash of color, as well as ribbon and button.
My Merry Cherry Cheesecake album spread isn't finished yet; I still need to make some and take a picture. It's included on the pdf recipe sheet as well though. I'd love to see a link if you make your own Recipe Mini Album! Thanks for visiting.
Debbie Olson, for the In Touch Newsletter
