By Mollie Deem, Guest Designer
I'm always on the hunt for cute things to make as gifts for friends and family. Since I can't think of two things that go better with friends and family than love and food, today's projects focus on those two themes.
I happen to have a few hundred vintage berry baskets. Why do I have a few hundred vintage berry baskets? Well ... the super short version of the story is that I was at an auction and I only needed 18 berry baskets to complete my vintage berry carriers. BUT, the auctioneer wouldn't split up the lot, so I ended up with all of them!
What's a girl to dow ith a few hundred berry baskets you ask? Well, I've been using them for all sorts of things ... drawer organizers, washi tape holders, embellishment bins (October Afternoon embellishments fit perfectly) ... you name it! Then, when I saw the Farm Girl collection from October Afternoon I thought it would be just perfect for turning one of them into a recipe basket. How cute, right?
While I love the look of inks and mists, I hate the mess of spraying! So, to color the berry basket, I unscrewed and removed the spray pump from the sprinklers bottle, dipped a paintbrush in the ink, and then painted the berry basket inside and out. Applying one coat resulted in a lightly stained look, while two coats created a rich, saturated color. Plus, since the sprinklers are not completely opague, a little hint of the wood grain still shows through.
While the basket was drying, I used graphic design software (Corel Draw) to create index dividers custom-sized to fit in the berry basket. I cut the divider pieces from the patterned papers in teh Farm Girl 8x8 paper pad because the smaller scale of the prints fit the dividers much better.
Because I wanted the backs of the dividers to just be plain chipboard, I started working on decorating the patterned paper dividers first, and then once they were finished, glued them to the chipboard dividers. (This way I didn't have to worry about trying to make the backside of the dividers pretty too.)
To help "ground" the decoration on each of the dividers, I started by first adding a square of Kraft-core cardstock (that I embossed to look like old tile) and then layered embellishments on top. Isn't it great how simply using a combination of October Afternoon chipboard pieces and stickers are more than enough to make each of the cards visually interesting without a lot of fuss?
Here are the finished dividers:
I tried to keep the decoration simple so the dividers wouldn't take up too much space in the basket. Here's what each divider looks like:
And then every recipe basket needs recipe cards, right? So I designed a blank recipe card template, printed them out and cut them apart. I also added some corner rounding to match the dividers. Just to dress the recipe cards up a bit, I also added a few stickers, some washi tape and a fussy cut stamped pig. This is a great way to use up scraps.
Here's what it looks like with everything pulled together:
One of my friends who recently took up quilting loves to collect heart-themed items and decor, so I thought it would be fun to create a little mixed media(ish) piece for her. I am pretty much dismal when it comes to real sewing on fabric, so I did what I could, and applied my version of a "free arm" quilting technique to pattern piece a paper heart onto the linen background.
In order to keep this post from getting WAY too long, I'll post instructions explaining how to make this on my blog at http://playswithglue.blogspot.com/ next week.
And last, but not least ... I made this cute little card to send to a loved one. It's cheesy, but totally makes me giggle!
Have a happy, scrappy weekend!
Love your designs! I am captivated by the farm girl collection and am definitely making one of those recipe baskets,
Posted by: social enterprise | February 28, 2013 at 06:18 AM
Really enjoy your informative and creative posts/projects :)
Posted by: Renee VanEpps | February 24, 2013 at 04:03 PM
Love the recipe basket it's so cute and easy to make. Thanks for share!! ;)
Posted by: Eva | February 18, 2013 at 06:52 AM
Love the projects but even more the heart!!!! Great inspirational projects!
Posted by: Julie | February 16, 2013 at 10:32 PM
I just love it!!!
Posted by: Gwen | February 16, 2013 at 08:16 AM
Love your recipe box!! The dividers are sweet!
Posted by: jan m | February 16, 2013 at 07:58 AM
Oh so cute! Love this idea!
If you ever want to sell some of your berry baskets (I have NOT been able to find any and have looked many places) - I would love to buy some from you!
Posted by: Susan | February 15, 2013 at 06:20 PM
These berry baskets/recipe baskets are adorable. i will be on the look out for some in my shopping travels. thanks for sharing
Posted by: Lee Ann Winters orlando | February 15, 2013 at 06:20 PM
Fun, inspirational projects, Mollie! TFS! :)
Posted by: Janet | February 15, 2013 at 05:45 PM
Mollie, your recipe box turned out soooo cute! Love the idea of the big open basket with the oversized recipe cards! :)
Posted by: Mendi Yoshikawa | February 15, 2013 at 01:14 PM
Really like your recipe basket, but like your cards in it even more.
I was in an antique shop in Denver (had to fly back to OK) I came across some berry baskets. I really wanted them but they were selling 30 as one lot. Needless to say I didn't get them. But glad you were able to get yours.
Posted by: Karey | February 15, 2013 at 12:12 PM
Fabulous project!!
Posted by: Debbie Olson | February 15, 2013 at 12:05 PM
Love your designs! I am captivated by the farm girl collection and am definitely making one of those recipe baskets, if I can find a basket! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Susan Lamkin | February 15, 2013 at 08:49 AM
Love this...will you be sharing the template for the recipe cards???
Posted by: Kristy Hansen | February 15, 2013 at 08:28 AM