What to Do When You Need A Large Recipe Card File

I love to cook and over the years, my cook book selection has grown to be quite large.  We recently moved and I realized it was time to do some paring down. (There is nothing like a move to let you see how much junk you've accumulated!)   I had kept many of the cook books around for years, but only used one or two recipes from them.  It was then that I decided to put the recipes I liked on recipe cards and get rid of some of the books.

One day I was in Target and looked for a recipe card box, but didn't find a single one.  While browsing in the household section, I noticed a square napkin holder.  I'd already picked up a couple of packages of 4 x 6 inch index cards, and when I tried them, they were a perfect fit for the napkin holder.

I cut dividers from some old file folders and began the arduous task of writing down all the recipes I had stuffed in various folders, cook books, and drawers.  When I put them in the holder, the support bars made them sit crooked. 

What to do?  A piece of black craft foam in my craft stash was just the solution needed to level off the bottom.

Often, I couldn't remember in which cook book the recipe I wanted was located.  The card file is much handier than having to look through several books and small enough to stay in the kitchen rather than the book shelf.