The Recipe Box

After searching and searching on Etsy and Hyenacart, I couldn't find a recipe box that I liked, so my friend Michelle S. gave me the idea of making my own.

I went out to Michaels and bought the little wooden box that will become, I hope, a family treasure that I will pass on to my kids and their kids too.

Ever since my kids were little they each had their own colour so I didn't mix their stuff up; Cody is green, Ethan is orange, Mia is purple and Sydney is pink. I decided to do their hand prints in "their colour." So while at Michaels, I loaded up on paint and stencils and varnish and paint brushes too. This varnish I bought is interesting too...but I'll get to that.

So finally I got a chance to do it, but I figure it would be best to let the box and paint dry between each hand print so as not to smudge it. I got everything ready...laid out on the island and it was Cody's turn first...painted his hand put it on the box. It actually turned out well, I was surprised. Now to wait for the paint to dry.

Next it's Ethan's turn...paint his hand orange (which he really didn't like) and press it on to the box too...another good one...this box might actually turn out half decent. Waiting for paint to dry again...ugh..why does it take so long.

Finally Ethan's print is dry, now it's Mia's turn. Out comes the purple paint and we paint her hand too and put it on the box...not as good as the boys' but still good. We have to wait again...boy this is taking longer then I thought.

At last it's Syd's turn to have her print put on the box. I painted her hand with Ryan's help and quickly realized that she was going to eat the paint if I left it on too long so I quickly mushed it onto the box and washed it off....the print is soooooo cute....definitely a treasure.

The hands are on and once it's dry I can stencil on the name of my box.

Now, the name of the box was another problem...I didn't know what to put...so I asked my wonderful friends at GranolaChicks.com what they though. Their choices were:
Mom's Recipes

Catt's Recipes

Recipes

Mom's Recipe Box

Catt's Recipe Box
something else

Most voted for Mom's Recipes, with Mom's Recipe Box coming in second. I also got some awesome suggestions: Our Recipes, Made With Love, and Our Recipes Made With Love (which was too long to fit). I finally decided to use Mom's Recipe Box.

Stenciling took FOREVER, but when it got done, it looked pretty good...especially considering that it was the first time I'd stenciled something like that.

Last but not least I had to varnish the box so that it wouldn't get ruined if it got wet. I was doing this during Ryan's birthday party and I'm sure people were wondering why I kept going outside in the cold. I did about 5 coats, letting it dry in between and it still wasn't getting shiney....I had no idea what was going on. Finally I realized that I bought matte finish varnish, so not matter how many times I sprayed it, it would never shine!!

I'm very happy with the way my little project turned out...people have had nice comments about it too.