Framed Recipe Keepsakes

So here’s the deal. Come October we will have lived here for TWO years and I still have LARGE blank walls. When you’ve lived in a house six months, that’s understandable, when you’ve lived in it a year, you still have an excuse but alas, I feel I have reached a point where people are going to wonder WHY in the world I haven’t thrown something up on the wall.

The truly sad thing? I have plans for every. single. blank. wall. Really, I do. There are problems associated with each project though.

Case in point. This blank living room wall.

Before we were halfway through the building process I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do on this wall. It hit me one morning in Sunday school class. (I promise I was paying attention.)

My plans for this wall is to frame Bible verses in the shape of a cross in five larger frames and then have smaller frames around it with pictures of our family. I think of it as being my “witness wall.” I even measured the large console table under it and designed placement everything in Photoshop. The problem? 1. Mainly, that I don’t have the Bible verses ready that I want to frame. I want to design them myself. I do have two out of five done though. 2. The cost of all the frames is an issue too. I do not typically buy expensive frames or custom frames but I do want nicer ones for this and I can’t decide if my larger and smaller frames should be the same style or if I should mix them up. The frame issue is not my immediate problem though - having something to work with is.

Another area I already had plans for was in my kitchen. I had seen the various ideas online of framing a recipe of your mom’s or grandmother’s or someone special for your kitchen. I loved the idea. I wanted to do it. I hemmed and hawed over the “right” recipe though – I wanted one I remembered or had some story or significance. Then I had decided I wanted to include a photo of each of my grandmothers so that meant lots of contemplation over the perfect photo. *sigh*

Do you see my problem? Perfectionism sabotages my best laid plans so often. I want the perfect quotes. Or the perfect frames. Or the perfect photos…..I have struggled with this beast for many years. Plus, I want decoration in my home that tells a story or tries to define who our family is.

BUT TODAY! Today, I have shed the perfectionism robe or is it a cape? Probably more like a straight jacket!! Anyways, today I am sharing with you a completed project and I promise I will not point out any flaws. Please do not point out any to me either, okay?

Really this was eaaaaaasy. And fairly cheap. It just took time in searching for the right recipe (or receipt as you’ll see on my nannie’s) and picture. That was the most time consuming part for me so if you know already what you wanted to use then you could have this done in thirty minutes probably.

Cut your burlap to fit your frame. I used an 8x10 opening so that is the size I cut mine. (See my burlap tip in this post for the cutting instructions to get a straight edge.) Make sure you iron your burlap (no steam). I also used starch to make sure mine was nice and crisp. I adhered my burlap to the thin cardstock in the frame for the exact measurement using thin glue dots (Glue Dots Ultra-Thin found here). When adhering burlap to something like this you want an adhesive that is thin and clear so you do not see it through the porous cloth. Hot glue, glue sticks, and tape will not work. I cut off any excess burlap that hung off the edge.

Then you must decide the placement for your recipe and photo. I could have done it either of these ways and ended up adding the ribbon and liking it:

Before you adhere your recipe and photo to the burlap, you need to see how the burlap will fit in the frame and what is hid around the edges to make sure what you want seen is seen.

Once everything is in the right position then adhere it to the burlap using the glue dots mentioned above. I did use tape where my recipe and photo overlapped to each other.

Make sure your glass for the frame is clean then insert your burlap with adhered items, close up the back, and mount to your wall. I like to use 3M Command Picture-Hanging Strips for mounting my pictures. Finished project! Yay!

This blog has been fantastic at getting me motivated to get some projects started AND done. Thanks, readers! <3

Expanding on this idea...
* Other fabrics would look great for this project - linen, even patterned fabrics, striped ticking, etc. Even scrapbook paper would be a great alternative.
* There are other keepsakes you could frame in this manner too such as old letters, postcards, baby's foot/handprints, etc.
* I had thought about leaving the glass off and using some decorative brads for some of the edges for added embellishment. You can add something like that (put the photo on with Glue Dots with dimension, add ribbon, etc.) for a more textile quality if you want.
* If you were just framing the recipes themselves then you could use 5x7 frames and arrange them symmetrically or mix up the frames and get a true gallery look by hanging them at different heights but about the same distance apart from each other.

Note: It may be best to scan a copy of your recipe before you use it for this project. In fact you may prefer to use a copy of your recipe instead of the original. I scanned mine and opted to use the originals. You can use photo safe materials but the burlap is not photo safe. Over time it could transfer color to your recipe/photo. If you prefer a photo safe method then back your recipe/photo with acid-free, lignin-free cardstock.

Final project tally ~ It took me about 45 minutes total plus maybe 5 to 10 minutes of hanging time, but I wasn't consistently working on the project in one sitting. My costs in this was $28 plus tax for the two frames. The rest of the supplies I used I already had. I found the frames on sale for the Labor Day weekend sale at Michael's plus had an extra 20% off my purchase.

Do you have a favorite recipe from one of your grandparents or your mom? Maybe it's even one that a close friend or your sister shared? Take that special memorabilia in your life and display it!