Anyone that knows me knows that I enjoy cooking, baking, and most of all eating good food - which translates into trying LOTS of new recipes!  I admit that I've been less than green for quite awhile; instead of organizing my printed recipes, or even just bookmarking them, I would search for and print them every time I wanted to make them.  Eek!  I know.  I started off printing them and saving, but I got sick of thumbing through every.single.loose.random recipe and just gave up - until now :)

With this weekly challenge I've got the base to start being better  about printing off thousands of recipes! LOL  Now I'll print it off once - if we like it I'll just file it away in my nifty new recipe binder, and if I don't, then I'll throw it away!

I found a large 3 ring binder designed for heavy duty use, with an extra long cover so that tabs don't stick out.  It has a cool pocket in the front where I can stash cards or clippings quickly to file when I have a few extra minutes.  

After whipping up a pretty damask cover (front, back, and spine - complete with scripture) I printed them on textured cardstock and then adhered the front and back to black cardstock that was cut to size.

Then I made my own category pages:

Appetizers

Breads

Breakfast

Desserts

Main Dish

Salads

Sides

Soups

Misc.

Special Occasion (for like themed treats, etc)

To Try (when something looks interesting)

I put them all in page protectors and I'll be getting some file tabs at the store later to put on the edges.  I'll likely divide the main dish section up later into beef, chicken, pasta, slow cooker, etc., but this will work for now.

And guess what!  I'm going to give away the covers and dividers!  If you'd like them, just leave me a comment with your email address and I'll get them out to you (it might be a bit - I do own a business and have 3 kids, lol)!

Of course I'm linking my recipe binder up to:

And to:

I HAVE actually been keeping up with DOING the weekly challenge, I just haven't been quite as good about blogging about them.

I grabbed a 3-ring-binder I had already and dressed it up with some white vinyl I cut with my trusty Cricut :)  Inside holds a ton of information and some forms that I'm trying out to see which ones best fit our needs :)

We actually have 3 spaces to our launch pad, all within about 2 steps of each other.

The first is this cabinet that I found at a garage sale last summer.  Inside the doors is a huge basket that holds all of our scarves, gloves, hats, baseball gloves, etc.  I'm still looking for the perfect baskets for the shelf underneath.

Second is the antique 5 paneled door that I hung sideways and attached 5 vintage door knobs and plates to.  Each family member has their own knob to hang their coat on, and there's a bench underneath to sit and take off snow pants, boots, etc.

And lastly is the paper station.  This crib spring holds work schedules, important school notes, lunch menus, etc., and magazines and misc papers go in the basket to be sorted.  This bench is also where I set my purse - it's out of the way but still accessible.

I'm still working on Week #3 (this week) so stay tuned!

What?  Isn't that how it goes?

hehe

Alright, so really, this is about the Bowl Full of Lemons weekly challenge!

Each week, starting THIS Sunday, January 30th, there will be a new cleaning and organizing challenge posted, and you have the entire week to finish it!  

You can find out more information and sign up by clicking the image above :)

I can't wait to see what our first challenge is!