by Sydney Brink
Making your own recipe cards is a great way to stay organized in the kitchen. Cooking is a huge part of my “making” career – and yet, all of my recipes are misspelled, jumbled notes on my phone. My grandmothers both have stacks of old-fashioned recipe cards that got whipped out when it was time to impress. I’ve used Ignite Studio’s laser engraver and Cricut Maker to update the family tradition with a more modern and efficient approach.
In thinking about how to get started on this project, I knew I wanted to take advantage of the broad range of equipment available in our space. Luckily, Ignite Studio is a multi-disciplinary artist’s haven – a good amount of the projects I do here end up bouncing from one piece of equipment to another and then to a kit from our kit library. That was definitely the case for this project as well!
Making a Recipe Card Holder on the Laser Engraver
I started out by thinking about the space the cards were going to occupy – a box, a book, a binder? I decided I wanted more of a cover for the cards than anything, something sturdy that opened so I could leaf through the contents. With this in mind I found a template online that, when cut with the Fab Lab’s laser engraver, would create a “living hinge” that makes wood pliable. I used this design to create a solid carrying case for the cards.
Making Recipe Cards on the Cricut Maker
I like that the Cricut Maker can hold thin tip markers and preferred that look rather than something printed, so I moved to Cricut Design Space to start designing the recipe cards themselves. Using the simple shapes provided in the toolbar, I made a couple of different cards that would fit within the cover I had just made. The Cricut drew and cut out four recipe cards per piece of cardstock that I sent through.
It all fits together really well – I think this is a great little mock-up for something a little bigger once I hammer out the design. As you can see, the finished product has to be held together by a rubber band. It’s functional, but I’ll have to play around with the design a little more to get an end result that’s closer to my original vision. Which is okay! It’s all part of the making process – burning cookies and not getting a design quite right are all stepping stones in the grand scheme of being a maker. Show us what you’ve been working on in our Facebook Community Discussion Group using #IgniteAtHEPL.
