Since sharing my Paper Solutions for the New Year I’m happy to report my first update on the Recipe project: Karen’s Kitchen is finally here!
To recap: I needed a solution for preserving a combination of memories and recipes that my mom saved in the blue box pictured below. When I told my fiancé about my plan to turn these into a memory book on Shutterfly, he came up with the perfect title, and voilà! A project that took me years to do is complete in a matter of weeks!

I know my procrastination was due to grief. My mother passed away in 2011 and losing her was devastating to our entire family. I miss her so much, not to mention her cooking! She was an amazing cook, and love was the main ingredient in every meal.

My mom was also a professional organizer – if you didn’t know before, I got it from my Mama! She had started organizing her recipes into binders and handwritten recipe cards, but sadly never finished. I felt like it was my duty to see the project through (and my family agreed, ha!)
It can be heart wrenching to do these types of projects but it can also be extremely rewarding when they are done. Seeing my mom’s handwriting preserved in this way brings me a great sense of relief, and it also brings back so many fond memories of her. This is a book my family will treasure for years to come, and I know my mom would be so happy looking down.
As she would say, “Done is Beautiful!”