How to turn handwritten recipes into tea towels

Emma Jeffery from the blog Hello Beautiful had this amazing project where she turned her grandmother's handwritten recipes into tea towels for her own kitchen. When I seen this I just had to share it! I can't wait to do this myself, only with a grungy more primitive look!!!

For a woman who keeps a newspaper from the day she was born, my mum has surprisingly few keepsakes or handwritten memorabilia from her own mother who passed away in 1999. When I asked her to trawl through her old papers and files, she managed to find three handwritten recipes from my grandmother. They appear to be the only remaining examples of her handwriting left in the world, and they are therefore as precious as they are priceless.

I decided to use these recipes to make a set of dish towels for my mum and I. This way, the handwritten originals can be safely stored away yet the joy of being able to see my grandmother’s handwriting in an everyday context will continue to make us smile and feel close to her. Spoonflower’s linen-cotton canvas is the perfect fabric for dish towels. Linen is known for it’s super absorbent qualities, and with a 54” wide printable area, they are perfectly sized to fit a set of four dish towels on to one yard.

I began by taking photos of each recipe page, saving them to my computer and opening them in Picasa. The originals were old and yellowing with discoloration in some areas, but by using some of Picasa’s edit tools -- specifically the ‘retouch’ option (to minimize some of the blotchy discoloration) -- I was able to get a cleaner appearance to each page. I then turned each recipe into a landscape orientation.

After selecting all three images (I only had three recipes, so two of my recipe dish towels are identical), I selected the ‘Picture Collage’ option under the ‘Create’ tab. Picasa automatically places the images into a collage arrangement, that you are able to edit and move as you please. I added a grid spacing in between each image so that I would have a convenient cutting line, and by making the grid lines a color, I had an eye-catching feature for the back, hemmed edge of the finished dish towels.

Under the ‘Page Format’ option, I set the size of the collage to 54” x 36”, which will fit exactly on to one yard of the linen-cotton canvas and uploaded the design to Spoonflower. I always recommend ordering test swatches before committing to ordering the actual yardage, that way you are able to make color and size adjustments without spending a lot of money. The dish towels were simple to sew up. I cut them out along the grid lines and turned back the hem. I also sewed a small length of twill in one top corner of each dish towel for convenience.

The linen-cotton canvas is a beautiful fabric and will only improve with extensive washing and use. The really nice thing about these is that if they ever do suffer from wear and tear I can simply have more printed, without even having to dig the original paper copies out from storage.

Dry Erase Calendar Wall Art

So how easy was this project? Very. I used a tightly woven burlap. The writing and grid were done with a Sharpie and the monogram was cut from fabric and fused in place. I used a Sharpie instead of a dry erase pen to add the month and days. I just liked it better. That's it.

This great project was brought to you by Cottage Hill :)

Why Baby Basics are the Best Baby Shower Gift

“Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.” When it comes to baby showers, many of us dread the same old silly games and dislike the thought of giving yet another predictable baby shower gift even more. After all, there are just so many “It’s a Girl!” or “It’s a Boy!” signs, balloons of gifts that you can give out.

Instead, think about giving the new mom a unique baby shower gift filled with items that she will actually use and need when that baby comes, especially if this is her first baby. More than one new mom finds herself with great big expensive gifts like strollers and fancy highchairs that won’t be useful for months but without wipes or baby wash when the baby comes home.

Baby Basket Start with a good, sturdy new laundry basket if you are on a budget or a lined Moses basket if you have a little more money to spend. There will be plenty of laundry with a new baby and a Moses basket is helpful to move the baby around when she or he is still tiny. In other words, you want to have something that you can fill with other baby items but is also something useful for Mom.

Diapers Next, get some newborn diapers. Many new moms do not have enough diapers and they can be expensive, so the new mom will be grateful to get them as a gift. Remember, however, that not all babies are newborn size (up to 7 pounds) when born, so choose diapers that start at 8 pounds. Do not worry if baby really is petite, he or she will be growing quickly and will fit those diapers in no time.

Wipes Just like diapers, babies will fly through packs of wipes. So get a pack of baby wipes for your gift basket as well, but look for the ones that Mom will want for that delicate little tush, such as chlorine-free with no dyes, fragrances or alcohol.

Baby Wash Baby will need some bathing and once again, this is an amazingly ordinary product that many new moms forget to buy until the little one is already home. Again, you can make it more special by buying something delicious like an organic baby wash instead of just the generic store brand.

Onesies Experienced moms will tell you that you will never have enough onesies, especially in the beginning when spit-ups and diaper accidents are common. Therefore, stock up on onesies that range from basic white to fun and silly so that Mom always has an extra one (or five) on hand.

Mama Spa Okay, now that you have the baby basics included, put in a few things for Mom. Once that baby comes, leisurely baths and professional pedicures will be a thing of the past, at least temporarily. So find some delicious, gentle products that will allow her to do a little pampering at home, like some lovely, nourishing shampoo and conditioner. New moms often losing a lot of hair right after delivery, so some good hair products are always a good thing. If Mom is planning on nursing, you might also want to find some organic, unscented lotion because some babies object to strong scents. What Mommy Really Wants Before you finish your gift basket, check to see if the new mom has registered for products and add a few basics from the list. People often buy the big-ticket items for a baby shower, leaving the basics like pacifiers and baby bottles out of the loop. If you cannot find a registry but think one must exist, ask around. The new mom’s mother might know, as might close friends or co-workers. Some mothers may have also planned for an alternative type of shower or registry, such as an umbilical cord blood banking registry or registered for donations and gifts to be given to charity. So there you have it, a unique baby shower gift that is actually useful and will make both Mom and baby happy!