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$30 Thursday· DIY Projects· Kitchen· Organizing

DIY Recipe Box

May 1, 2014

Happy Thursday to ya! And since today is Thursday, April from House by Hoff and Jen from Migonis Home are joining forces with me to bring you a project that you can create for $30 or less!

This month I’m sharing my DIY recipe box. And even though it’s really simple, it’s so full of heart. My heart. I’ve had this sweet spot for cooking and recipes and homemaking since I was a little girl. It’s who I am.

You see, this life is truly about the little things. Like little boxes full of family history. Boxes full of love and laughter and memories. Boxes full of things to absolutely cherish. That’s what I’m sharing today…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

 Here’s how we made it, and the supplies we used:

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows us to make a small commission from your purchase, but your purchase price stays the same. Thank you for helping support our blog! We greatly appreciate it! 

Supplies:
  • 1 Package Cedar Tongue and Groove, we cut them down to our desired size, below (Pine can be used instead.)
  • 1/4″ 4′ x 8′ sheet of Underlayment, we used leftover pieces from another project
  • Table Saw, this is similar to ours
  • Miter Saw, this is similar to ours
  • 18 Gauge Nail Gun
  • 5/8″ 18 Gauge Brad Nails
  • Air Compressor
  • Tape Measure
  • Sandpaper, medium grit
  • Clamps
  • Minwax Early American Stain
  • Minwax Dark Finishing Wax
  • Metal Book Plates, these are similar
  • Index Cards

We started with the same cedar tongue and groove that we used on our stackable fruit crates…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

Anthony just trimmed down the boards to size…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

And trimmed off the tongue and groove portion of boards with our table saw…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

Then Anthony started putting it together…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

He used his nail gun to attach two sides together…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

He used a clamp to keep everything square…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage.com-6

Once all the sides were attached…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

He measured and cut a piece of floor underlayment, (the same thing we used for our plank walls: here, here and here) for the bottom…

The finished measurements are 3″ tall x 7 ” long x 5 1/2″ wide.

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

Once the bottom was nailed down, I started staining it with Early American by Minwax…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

Once the stain was dry, I wiped on a coat of dark wax…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

Then, I grabbed one of these metal book plates…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

And nailed it in place…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

For the label, I used an old recipe card that had “aged” over time and traced the font from my computer screen…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

After I trimmed it to size and placed it in the tag, I was left with this…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

This is such a meaningful little box…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

And I can’t wait to fill it full of more family favorite recipes…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

There’s just something about it, but I can’t help but smile huge just thinking about it…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

I think one of the reasons I love it so much, is because it’s full of all this classic handwriting… Beautiful!

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage.com-21

And to make it easy for me to keep adding to my recipe box, I added several blank cards to the back…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

I’m basically ecstatic to start adding to it…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

And even though I love Pinterest for all the lovely recipes (we’ve gained several new favorites), it won’t be able to compare to this box…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

Or recipe books that have been loved with splatters…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

And written in…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage.com-27

Books that eventually look like this…

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

I won’t ever be able to throw it away. My sweet great-grandma gave it to me. It will always be right next to my box.

And now that you know how much I love this little box, just go ahead and multiply that by 1,000. That’s how much more I love it since my sweet husband made it for me. This little box will be loved. Forever.

DIY Recipe Box by The Wood Grain Cottage

And now, here’s what April and Jen came up with…

$30 Thursday Collage

April created this beautiful trash to treasure seashell artwork… it’s lovely… and it makes me want summer really bad!

seashell art by House by Hoff

And Jen made this awesome numbers learning board… I’m in love with it! Pure perfection!

learning board by Migonis Home

There you have it! Three more projects that you can make and create for $30 or less! If you want to see more ideas, be sure to visit our $30 Thursday Pinterest board. It’s FULL of awesome budget ideas!

Main Signature

I’m Shayna… The small town Colorado girl who’s obsessed with home and everything that entails! I’m a creative, a decorator, a day dreamer, a huge fan of scones and I’m passionate about loving where I live and making a home.

Tagged with: DIY, kitchen, Organizing30 Comments

Comments

  1. Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says

    May 1, 2014 at 8:08 AM

    I love it, and I love the recipe cards, I have some of those that are really old too.

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      May 1, 2014 at 8:22 AM

      THANK YOU so much, Marty! I love those old recipe cards too! There’s just something purely amazing about them! 😀

      Reply
  2. Amy says

    May 1, 2014 at 8:32 AM

    I love it! I have recipe cards written out by my Grandmother and Great Grandmother, and they were starting to fade, so I laminated them so i’d always have them! And if while cooking I drip something on them they just wipe clean! You should do that too, so they’re around for ever!! I have to make a box for mine, I have them in a book, and it’s just not the same! Can you tell me what kind of wax you used? I’d like mine to have that same color 😀

    Reply
  3. Jenn~ says

    May 1, 2014 at 12:48 PM

    I love it!!
    I need my hubby to make one for me too!!
    I love your blog so much- your home is beautiful!!!
    Jenn~

    Reply
  4. Rita May says

    May 1, 2014 at 5:24 PM

    I love your recipe box. What is the name of the font you used? It has a nice old fashioned script.

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      May 19, 2014 at 5:09 PM

      THANK YOU so much, Rita! The font is called, Volutes. I love it! 😀

      Reply
  5. Cheyenne says

    May 2, 2014 at 10:14 AM

    I love this! Where did you get the alphabet dividers?

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      May 19, 2014 at 5:04 PM

      THANK YOU so much, Cheyenne! I had the alphabet dividers, but I have seen them at my local craft/office supply store! Hope that helps! 😀

      Reply
  6. M says

    May 2, 2014 at 1:40 PM

    Stunningly gorgeous… love the wood grain:) Super sweet recipe box, Shayna! Enjoy the tasty treats to come… blessings & <3
    M

    Reply
  7. Mary says

    May 29, 2014 at 9:21 PM

    What did you use to keep the cards from falling over backwards (upright)?

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      June 1, 2014 at 6:03 PM

      Hi Mary! For now, I have a rock that’s holding up the cards, but they should stay put once I get a few more recipes in there! 😀

      Reply
  8. Pat says

    December 9, 2014 at 10:01 PM

    Can you tell me the dementions of your recipe box?

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      December 10, 2014 at 8:37 PM

      Hi Pat! The box is 7″ long x 6″ wide x 3.5″ tall. I hope that helps! 😀

      Reply
      • Pat says

        December 11, 2014 at 11:23 AM

        Thank you so much!!!

        Reply
  9. Katie @ Little House of Four says

    February 11, 2015 at 5:56 PM

    I LOVE how this turned out! The stain is beautiful and I love the vintage look. Pinned!

    Reply
  10. Jennifer says

    March 14, 2015 at 11:09 AM

    LOVE this!

    Where did you get the bookplates? Also, how thick is the floor underpayment you always use?
    LOVE your blog, your home, and your projects! SPECTACULAR!

    Thank you!
    Jennifer

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      March 23, 2015 at 5:29 PM

      THANK YOU so very much! I’m so happy you enjoy our blog! I found the bookplates at JoAnn’s. They come in a pack. The floor underlayment is 1/4″ thick. It’s so versatile! We love it! I hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply
      • Carlee says

        January 2, 2016 at 8:47 AM

        What kind of dark wax did you use?

        Reply
        • Shayna says

          January 18, 2016 at 4:44 PM

          Hi Carlee! 🙂 I either use the Annie Sloan Dark Wax, Maison Blanche Dark Wax, or the Dark Wax from Minwax. I hope that helps! 🙂

          Reply
  11. John says

    February 4, 2016 at 6:01 AM

    Looking to make this for my woman =), where can I find the 3 x 5 card alphabetical dividers?

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      February 10, 2016 at 11:32 AM

      Hi John! Sounds like a great idea! 🙂 For mine, I actually reused alphabetical dividers from an old recipe box. Below are a few different options:

      Index Card Divider A-Z 3X5″

      I hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply

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I’m Shayna… The small town Colorado girl who’s obsessed with home and everything that entails! I’m a creative, a decorator, a day dreamer, a huge fan of scones and I’m passionate about loving where I live and making a home.

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