The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Tuesday 29 August 2017

The Christmas Challenge. A tutorial from Jane.

Thank you everyone for so many fantastic tips in the menu planning.  I am not sure I would have finished replying by the time I publish this.

The last of the show and tell photos will go over into September as they were just a few and today I am heading off to the farm for a few days.  So thanks to Jane I can go as this post was put together already with a beautiful project from her.
This is something lovely to do for our own kitchens but also for a beautiful gift.  It could be family recipes to hand down to a Grand Daughter,  budget recipes for a friend who needs help with cooking or a kitchen tea/bridal show gift.  I really need to do this as I made recipe cards years ago and I have so many new things I make that need to be recorded in one place.

Jane started transferring recipes from her notebooks to cards that she printed from Jes' site, Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.   The cards can be found  here.  They are just gorgeous.
Jane had looked and found ugly cards in a box for $25 and thought no way so she made her own!


Notice the beautiful handwriting! 


It turns out the size of the cards is just right that they can go into a photo album and this will protect them.  Jane also laminated hers and another option would be to cover them in contact. 


Finding a nice album just right was the next step!  She found this lovely one at The Reject Shop which is a cheap store. We also have that store here so I will have a look.  Otherwise try a similar dollar type store. 

Then Jane bought dividers so she could add sections and make recipes easy to find...


She used these tabs to set up her album. I really like this idea.


In the back of the album is a pocket originally intended for negatives and this is just right for holding spare blank cards for future recipes you might like to add to the collection.


I just love this project!  Jane your cards and album are just beautiful! 
I thing these would be the most gorgeous treasure, keepsake, gift.  
Imagine if we could copy handwritten recipes from our Nan's, Mums and other family and give them to all the daughters and grand daughters! 

Thank you so much Jane!  You have been a huge help to me today!

Feather your Nest Friday will be on the weekend as I will be coming back from the farm later Friday I think.  So it will be late but I am really hoping to have a lot of good things to report.  My shopping (with needing nothing in mind) got me some 80% bargains to work into the menu plan!  All I bought was bacon, salmon and pepperoni. (And milk!)  I got these all at $2 a pack.  Menu planning is really paying off!

I hope your week is going well!  I am heading off, it is a lovely sunny day so it will be a nice drive. See you on the weekend! xxx



42 comments:

  1. Love this idea and really must start putting together some books for our 2. My mother in law had her recipes put together in a book a couple of years ago - I got the last copy and I have 2 books that my mother put together printed in her own hand rather than written that I use some recipes from.

    This is going to be my Christmas Holiday project - will have to pop into the reject shop and have a look for the photo albums next week. That is one place I tend for forget about popping into.

    Have a great time on the farm and I am sure that you will come back with loads of things.

    Lynette
    XXXXX

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  2. Enjoy your time of the farm, Annabel. Jane's recipe cards look very pretty.

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    1. Thank you Nana Chel. Using a photo album to store the cards was Annabel's idea. It works a treat. The book is easy to wipe down when you spill things on it, like chilli jam.

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  3. LOVE how this turned out Jane! The album is just perfect with the lovely floral design as well, what a beautiful keepsake too! 🌹

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    1. Your lovely recipe cards were the inspiration for the way this book has come together. Thank you for such lovely printables.

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  4. Thank you so much Jane for sharing this wonderful idea and tutorial! I went straight down the Reject shop and bought some of these albums. I looked at the very one you featured in there last week wondering how on earth I could make use of it as I just loved the design and colours. I have heaps of larger photo albums already, and your idea with these little ones was just brilliant! They had them in a "3 recipe" size as well, which I bought to put my own in. I liked the compact 2 recipe ones as gifts though! Love, Kaye xo

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    1. Kaye those little albums really are quite lovely. It is nice to have such pretties that are also so useful. Thank you for your lovely comment.

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  5. Hi Annabel and Jane :).

    Thank you so much for showing us how to do this Jane. What a brilliant idea it is to put the recipes into a photo album too.

    What a wonderful gift that would make and also a pretty addition to any kitchen too.

    Sewingcreations15

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    1. Sewingcreations The photo album idea was all Annabel's. I was thinking of a memo card box way of storing. Clever Annabel suggested the album. A brilliant idea.

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  6. I just realized this morning that, "AACCK! I forgot to send photos to Annabel for the Christmas Challenge!" Next month! I did finish a vest and a little teddy bear baby hat.

    I love Jane's idea, and have to thank her for the tutorial! Very clever.

    We have hardly been home over the last couple of weeks, and this place is starting to show it! I've got a couple of days to try to get things under control and then we have company coming. It sure seems like things come and go in waves! Also trying to can some beets today. Hope you are well there!

    xx Jen in NS

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    1. Thank you Jen. I had a lot of fun putting my recipe album together.

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  7. What a great and lovely idea
    Jenny from Tasmania

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    1. Jenny it has made finding all those lovely recipes that I had written in three different notebooks so easy. Pretty and practical.

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  8. Wow these are so pretty, thank you Jane and Annabel for sharing. I cant wait to try making these :)

    Have a lovely break away Annabel, we will see you when you get back.

    Love Tania xx

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    1. Tania once I started I found it so easy to put together.

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  9. Jane, what a beautiful presentation of recipes! Your handwriting is beautiful which adds to the value of these cards. Anyone would be thrilled to receive such a gift.

    Annabel, have a relaxing visit at the farm. A little change of scenery is a blessing. Especially with people you love!

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    1. Cheri thank you for your lovely comment.

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  10. Enjoy your time at the farm! The recipe cards are a wonderful idea! When I got married 39 years ago my sister bought an address book and entered all the extended family's addresses and phone numbers. She gave it to me as a shower gift. It was so valuable to me. This is a very inexpensive idea for a gift and just takes some time and gathering of information.

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    1. Lana I am going to use this idea. Brilliant.

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  11. Lovely.
    Mine don't look that pretty - but I keep all my recipe cards in photo albums. I get small one from dollar stores and I have several. One for main courses, desserts, canning. breads, etc. Sure makes life easier when hunting for something.

    The cards and album here are gorgeous. That would make a lovely gift

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    1. Thanks Cheryl. I just printed the cards off JES site. It was so easy then to make the cards look pretty whilst being so practical. The photo album idea was all Annabel's. I think it's brilliant.

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  12. Enjoy your time on the farm.
    Wonderful project! I so need to do this with my recipes and was thinking of doing something with recipe cards

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    1. Megs, JES has some lovely printables for recipe cards. Annabel put in a link in the post above.

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  13. How sweet, Jane!!!!! Your recipe cards are beautifully practical -- as is your style!

    Regards,
    Rachel

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  14. Wow. I love this idea. Think I will use it. Have fun on your adventures to the farm. Miss my parent's farm so much.

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    1. Use the ideas. The ideas I have gleaned from so many lovely ladies has been amazing.

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  15. Very pretty album, Jane.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Love and hugs,
    Glenda

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  16. I hope you have a lovely stay at the farm Annabel. Jane's handwriting is beautiful, and it is a lovely idea and well carried out. It is easy to see that she has given a lot of time and attention to this project.

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    1. Thank you Sherri. Once I started it did not take long at all to get the album together. I have my parents to thank for my writing. Dad introduced me to an ink pen when I was developing my own style. It was amazing.

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  17. Jane I love your recipe cards those are so pretty! I started doing a notebook of recipes for my DIL that I plan on covering with something pretty, but I am thinking of someone else who I think the recipe cards would be better for so thanks for sharing!
    XOXO
    Vicky

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    1. I had recipes written down in three different notebooks. It was getting a tad frustrating trying to find certain recipes that I was using again. Putting it all together has made the finding and the making so much easier. Thank you for your lovely comment.

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  18. I love this idea, much better than the exercise books(1c each many years ago) and old envelopes that I use. Of course when i was in the Reject Shop today I forgot about buying an album, and the Reject Shop is at least a 30 minute drive away depending which shopping centre I go to. I might try one of the $2 shops here in town.
    Margaret

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    1. I had recipes in three different notebooks. I was getting frustrated trying to locate the various recipes. This little book keeps them all together. I think any cheap shop or even an op/thrift shop would have something that could be used.

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  19. Jane loving your recipe cards and the photo album idea, I will keep this in mind for my family. thank you very much.
    Annabelle enjoy your stay at the farm
    Love Chookasmum

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    1. Chookasmum, once the recipes are written they are quite easy to photocopy. I just use my computer printer for this. I gave a recipe away to a friend by copying yesterday.

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  20. Beautiful Recipe cards Jane. I was thinking of doing something similar for my son, but I don't think he would appreciate the flowers- lol. He's always ringing up and asking how to make this, that and the other.

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    1. This would be a lovely gift, you could go plain cards or with food images. I bet he would love it! xxx

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  21. Thank you Jane for all your help! This was certainly a hit. I hope to go to the reject shop this week! xxx

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  22. Dear Annabel I'm a tad late here as I'm away with hubby at a lake for a week . I hope you had a lovely time at the farm .
    Thank you Jane for your very helpful and pretty tutorial . I've been reading all the links to Jes's blog to (thank you Jes) and writing notes . As I've been wondering for ages how to collate my many recipes into a better form . Plus I may have to have sitting hobbies up my sleeve ,down the track .
    With love Maria xxx

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  23. Dear Annabel and Jane. This is a beautiful heirloom style presentation. I love it so much. I used to have a set of recipe cards in a filing box many years ago. Alas it was lost in a flood, and I have no way of recalling all of those recipes. This is a little more practical I think. I'd treasure a gift like that! Love, Mimi xxx

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