Cooking Publish your own cookbook??

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5 'LIL *TWINKERS*

The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God, is
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Has anyone ever published their own cookbook using online resources?

I have a ton of loose recipes, recipe magazines, etc. stuffing 2 drawers in my kitchen. It takes me forever to find the one Im looking for.

I occasionally get one of those country, church cookbooks that some churchs or hospitals sell or the fundraiser ones. They have different peoples recipes in them and they are bound by a plastic coil for usually under $10.

I want to put together one of those with all the stuff my kids like. I want to do it cheaply too. I researched what out there online but I don't want to buy 500 books to sell. Just 6....one for me and one for each of my kids to be put away for when they leave home. I would rather not have to print and put together the thing myself either only because I want the book to be durable and sturdy and of descent quality to give to my children. I plan on putting their childhood memories and possible pics on the pages too.

Any ideas out there? Thank you :flower3:
 
I made recipe books for my kids using scrapbooks, so i could incorporate photos of them (and the dishes) etc., and do some short recipes hand-written to personalise it. You could scan the recipes if you don't want to type them and shrink them down so you can fit 4 recipes on a sheet of A4 cardstock or paper - thats a big saving on ink!

If you can't find a format you like you could buy a bind-it-all, but I liked the acrapbook because the page protectors will keep splashes off:thumbsup2
 
Thanks for the suggestion....I have never scrapbooked before. I am crafty but I always thought the scapbooking would be expensive.

It sounds like it would be fun. I have 6 of them that would have to be made though. One for me and one for each kid.

Any beginner to scrapbooking suggestions if I take this route?

Thank you, greatly appreciate it!:flower3:
 
Just a thought, I think at the office stores or kinkos they will bind pages for you, that is maybe something to check into. I have wanted to do this also, but it seems like a lot of work, lol.
 

I would say that if you print on cardstock- you can buy large packs of white at walmart or sometimes at big lots. If you don't want to really get into scrapping all you really need to do is type in you recipes. I would suggest changing your page format to landscape and making 2 columns. Then print them on the white cardstock- you can add pictures onto them even in word or you can just leave space for the photos you want to add. You may look at carft store and find some cute embellishments (stickers, button, ect) to add on or just leave them as is. In word you can add a border to the pages if you want and if you have a color printer you can print the recipes in different colors- I would suggest using the darker ones for easier reading.

Once you have you pages printed- cut them in half using a paper cutter and then have an office store bind them with a plastic cover.

I am afraid most of the online places to print will be much more expensive.

Rebecca
 
Rebecca's ideas are good:thumbsup2 Scrapping can be expensive, but for what you want if you get bulk cardstock and put it into whatever albums are on sale its not so bad.
 
I write my recipes on 4x6 cards and them slip them into photo albums (the ones with the 4x6 pockets)
 
You probably won't want to write them if you've got to do 6:scared1: but you could adapt and print out to fit photo albums - 5x7 pockets would give you even more space so you could keep everything on one side of the card.
 
I have a cookbook that I am in the process of making. I say in the process because I am always adding to it. Someone in my boyfriends family did something similar for a Christmas gift and I stole the idea. Basically, what she did is took a three ring binder and filled it with page protectors. Then she typed up recipes that were each persons favorite or a family favorite. She printed that out and put it in the binder. On the opposite page she printed up pictures (on regular paper) and wrote the story that went with the picture. She printed that out and put it in the opposite page so it sort of reads like a book. I don't have the pics and stories in mine. Whenever I find a recipe that we like I print it out and add it to my book. I did do one other thing that she didn't. I also bought subject separators. This keeps all my desserts together, main dishes, breads, sides, etc organized and easier to find. I love the idea that it can be added to and personalized to each person.
 
I created one using the photobook tool on snapfish.com. They have great sales running all the time . . . and at the time I had "won" a free photobook. I just type up (or copied and pasted) all my favorite recipes. I didn't have any pictures of the completed products, but I saw some amazing samples of books out there.
 
Thank you for all the ideas.....Im kinda looking into a computer software program to input all my recipes (I have so many of them, typing would be faster than writing them) into and then printing out on my home printer and probably binding them.

I just love to cook and bake and to hear the kids compliments is just heartwarming. And when they ask for me to make certain things they love, I love that! :love: I know they will appreciate the recipes and memories I include with it, when they are adults cooking for their own family.
 
Have you checked out recipe sites? I know at allrecipes.com you can order a cookbook you put together. I don't know any details though. And if you google create your own cookbook you get a bunch of hits that don't require you to bulk purchase. I didn't look at the prices though. I created mine on the computer using Microsoft Office Word. If I wanted to include pics those can be added or I can use Photoshop too. I am most comfortable with Word though so that is why I use it. I like having them in sleeves so I don't stain the pages.
 
talk your church or school into making a cookbook and add your recipes to it. one of the groups i belong to did this and made alot of money. we live in a small town and its not to hard to find one of the churches here looking for recipes for their books. now i have all my recipes in one book.
but i love the 3 ring binder idea, that way i can keep adding to it. thanks for the ideas.
 
When I'm doing these for a recipe swap I type the recipes in word then open a powerpoint doc and divide the page in 4. I then copy and paste the recipe acrod and make sure it fits into a quarter of the page - I find this works well and doesn't waste too much cardstock, especially if I might have to make 6 of a recipe (so I only need 3 sheets of A4) But equally if you want to do A5 you could divide the page oin half and include pictures, notes or whatever:thumbsup2
 












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