DIY: Recipe file

This is one of the easiest DIYs I have ever done but is also one of the most practical. Through the whole packing up to live in another state process, I realised that I couldn't cart all my cooking books with me or there would be space for nothing else. So what I needed was a recipe file that I could use to store my favourite recipes photocopied from those books, as well as recipes torn out of magazines or printed out and passed on by my mother. The problem was, most recipe files I looked at were a whopping $40. But then I realised I could easily make my own!

Here's what you'll need:

• A4 arch binder file
• A set of dividers (I used a pack of five)
• Plastic sleeves
• Stick on letters (I used silver glitter adhesive letters leftover from a wedding DIY)
• Alphabet stamp set
• Ink

Begin by stamping your food categories on the tabs of the dividers. As I am vegetarian, my categories were more centred around entree, main etc rather than ingredients but you could easily change up yours based on what you prefer. Then open the file and hook the dividers in.

Next, spell out whatever you like on the front of the file using the stick on letters. I ran out of the letter E as I had already used letters for another DIY but ideally I would have liked to spell out 'Jessie's Recipes'. Depending on the adhesive on your letters, you may want to add some extra glue to secure them in place.

Place a number of plastic sleeves in between each section ready to house your recipes. Then you can either put recipes straight into the sleeves or punch holes through the paper and put them in on their own. You could also add pre-punched paper to the file ready to write out your own recipes.

And there you have it! It's not necessarily the fanciest recipe file but I know for me it is a great deal more functional being able to choose my own categories and customise it to be exactly what I want. Now to get cooking...