Make your own recipe book binder to help you organize all of the recipes that you print out from your favorite online recipe sources. If you have a binder that you no longer use, you can easily re-purpose it into a useful holder for recipes.
I made this one for my son to take back with him to college, but it would also work as a gift idea for anyone who likes to cook.
Supplies
Binder (plastic or fabric covered)
Paper images
Decoupage (I used Mod Podge)
Sponge brush
Cutting blade
Decorative duct tape (optional)
Solid color duct tape
Self adhesive hole reinforcements
Cut off excess plastic from binder (if needed)
If your binder is fabric covered, you will not need to do this step. If you binder is plastic covered, and it has the excess plastic insert cover, then you will want to trim the insert part off of the binder on the front, back and spine of the binder.
Gather images
You can attach any images that you would like to the outside of the binder. I put together some scrap images copied from other cookbooks and a few I found online and on Pinterest, to go with a food chart theme. I ripped the images into small sections so that I could make a collage of sorts. 
I also printed out 2 copies of the word “recipe” on paper in a font that I liked, and ripped off the excess paper unevenly by ripping it against a wooden spoon handle. I also used a black ink pad to outline some of the images to make them stand out. Lastly, I used decorative duct tape to fill in any areas that I didn’t have an image for.
Layout images
Lay out images on your front and back of binder, so you know how you it will look once you attach them with decoupage.
Attach images
Once you like your layout, pull image pieces off and begin to attach one by one with decoupage and sponge brush. I attached the duct tape first and then layered the images one by one. Lastly I attached the “recipe” word to front and the spine of the binder.
Apply 2 more coats of decoupage and let dry between coats.
Attach solid duct tape to spine
Once decoupage is dry, cut 2 small pieces of duct tape to cover the outer part of the spine starting at the edge of the recipe label. Then lay a longer piece on each side of the recipe label, making sure to tuck and attach the excess tape to the inside of the binder.
Attach solid duct tape to the outer edges of the binder.
Measure the binder edges length and width and lay 2 pieces of duct tape on wax paper to match length and width plus one inch. Cut each piece in half lengthwise, so that you have 2 pieces for the length edges and 2 pieces for the width edges of the binder.
Apply the width pieces to each of the short side outer edges of the binder, placing half the tape on the front of the binder and wrapping and adhering the other half of the tape to the inside. Trim off any excess tape at the ends.
Apply the length pieces in the same fashion along the top and bottom edges of the binder. To wrap the corners with the excess, make slits in the tape and wrap down onto the inner side of the binder corners.
Recipe pouch
For extra storage you can make a few of these duct tape pouches that I found on instructables.com.
Cut a zip lock style back along the length to shorten it a bit. Apply a piece of duct tape along the length to close the edge. Wrap the duct tape piece by piece around the bag until fully covered. Punch holes in bag with 3-hole puncher and add hole reinforcements to strengthen. These pouches come in handy to keep extra recipes and such.
Make tabs
If you have divider pages, you can print out your own labels in a small font on any standard label paper, and then just cut to size to fit your tabs.
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