My mom has a recipe box that she started in high school Home Ec, and I just love it: almost more than anything else she owns, it makes me think of her, and what she may have been like as a teenager, and all the hours we’ve spent together in the kitchen making things from recipes written on decades-old index cards.
When I moved into my very first apartment, Mom’s housewarming gift to me was a beautiful spiral notebook in which she’d hand-written some of her favorite recipes. It remains one of my most treasured possessions.
The monogrammed recipe box pictured above is obviously beautiful (and comes in a ton of different styles and patterns)…but it’s also $80 (via Dabney Lee At Home) and easy to DIY for a fraction of the cost.
All you need:
A clear plastic recipe box, a set of tabbed divider cards, and a piece of monogrammed stationery for the front.
I happen to keep monogrammed stationery laying around at all times for writing thank-you notes, but if you don’t, you can always just print the recipient’s initial on some pretty patterned paper.
To make the gift extra-special, write out a few of your favorite recipes and add them to the box before wrapping it up.
