DIY Recipe Box from a Shoebox

Not too long ago, I finally sat down and organized my go-to recipes and created a monthly meal plan.  (Don’t worry, I’ll share that awesomeness with you very soon!)  I’ve mentioned before that I have a very small kitchen, so I don’t have room on my counter for a bunch of cook books.  I needed another solution.

TA-DA!!!  A DIY Recipe Box!

Would you believe that’s a shoebox?  Seriously!  Let me show you how to make one for yourself.

Start with a plain ole shoebox.  Make sure it’s wide enough on the short end to hold your recipe cards.

Then you cut it up!

My recipes are printed as 4×6 prints, so {1} I measured 7″ to leave a little wiggle room.  {2} I cut down the sides at my 7″ mark.  {3-4} I opened up the end of the box and cut away the excess flap.  {5} I folded the new end into the box, making sure it fit, then {6} cut off the excess and taped it together.

Next, I used pretty contact paper, the same stuff I lined my kitchen shelves with, to wrap the exterior of the box.

After digging through my scrapbook paper scraps, I found this black and white chevron stripe that gave me enough to cover the bottom of the box.  I found a coordinating black paper to cover the sides.  I just used double-sided tape to attach it to the box.

Now for the recipe organization!  Using more scrapbook paper in fun designs (which was also cardstock, so it’s sturdy), I created dividers.  I pulled out one of my old Erin Condren Life Planners and used the extra stickers in the back to make labels.  I placed them back to back on the top of each divider to create a tab, then wrote the name of the section on it.

Beautiful!  Now I can keep my favorite recipes close at hand in my kitchen without taking up valuable counter space.

Oh, see those fun little recipe cards on the counter in my picture?  I’ll show you how to make ’em, and I’ll even give you the link to download all of mine!  Stick around!

Need more kitchen inspiration?  Try these posts on for size: