I told you about one of my favorite holiday traditions in the Farmhouse Kitchen at Christmas post. Annual cookie day was even more special this year because of our special guest Ava! She didn’t help much, but she did get her first taste of our favorite Sugar Cookies! 
(Sorry Mom and Whitney for posting this picture again)
I’ll show you how I made this tea towel for mom, now she can display our favorite recipe for everyone to enjoy during the holidays. Hey Mom, maybe they will write it down and you won’t have to make them any more?! Probably not!
This project begins with this recipe that belonged to my Step-Dad’s mother, Christine. I never did get to meet her, but if she was half as sweet as her sugar cookies, I bet she was a real gem!
Mom is pretty protective of this special recipe card, hand written by Christine over 60 years ago. I had to practically pry it out of her hands when I asked to borrow it. She made me promise her I would bring it back in the same condition she loaned it to me in!
Items Needed:
Glass window and a bright day
Tea Towel
Sharpie (with a sharp tip)
Favorite Recipe
Tape
Copier or office supply store
I started by enlarging the recipe card to the desired size. I used our home printer and enlarged the recipe card to about 150%.
I needed the print dark enough to see through the tea towel when I traced it so I used a fine point sharpie to darken the font on my “copy” then I taped it to the sliding glass door at a comfortable height so I could trace it.
Next, fold your tea towel so only the area you want to add the recipe to is exposed. Next carefully tape the towel to the window covering the copied recipe card.
Word of Caution – be sure to keep your tea towel pulled tight as you trace the recipe card. If not your copied words will look distorted.
To keep your transfer from washing away try washing the tea towel in very cold water with 1/2 cup of iodized salt. The salt prevents the color from bleeding. Add 1 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in order to further set the print and prevent the marker from fading.
This is a very simple project that even kids could help with. Be sure to pin this idea, so you have it for next year! And if you are really loving what I do, follow me on Pinterest for more fun DIY ideas and inspirations.
I love the tea towel my Jodi made for me. Every time I look at it many, many memories come flooding back!! Our “Christmas Cookie Day” has a long history and not all of those days were pleasant!!!! They started when Jodi was very young and I made her sit at the stove and make Krum Kaka with me.and we would make cut out cookies, etc. Neither one of us were excited about making the cookies but I’d tell Jodi that we were starting a “Tradition” and that some day she would love looking back on these days. Then came marriages, grandchildren and now I have great grandchildren!!!! Many, Many Blessings! Jodi and I still don’t like making Christmas cookies but we do it because it’s “Tradition”!!!! Grand kids are all adults now and busy with jobs and not enough time or interest but there was a day that they sat on my kitchen table in diapers and frosted cookies, then as they got older, they stood on stools and helped us add ingredients and stir. Next year, we will have Daxten and Ava helping with the stirring and frosting!!!! I can’t wait!!!!! Our Tradition continues……………..
I’m going to do this and embroider it.
Great idea! I would love to hear how it turns out….
What a great idea. Hand embroidered or by machine?
Mine are simply written with a pen – but you could hand embroider or machine
Try using liquid embroidery pens. They won’t wash away. I’ve had tea towels “embroidered” with these pens and the paint outlasted the towels.
Love the idea and will be making some!
I have never heard of an embroidery pen. I will have to look into that and give it a try. I made mine for my mom and I am sure she will never actually use it! (So washing won’t be an issue)
You can also try fine tip fabric markers. They don’t bleed on fabric, but its always good to test first. I used them successfully to sign fabric items that I made to sell and you can get them in various colors too. 🙂
My heart is swooning over your recipe towel! I wish that I knew to do this when the doing was good! This is definitely in my wheelhouse!
Good Luck! I am sure yours will turn out wonderful.
I just had to smile when I saw the recipe card your recipe was written on! I have those same cards and my recipes go back 46 years and family one even longer. Thanks for the memories and your idea to print them on a tea towel is great!! Now which recipe do I use??
How awesome is that!!! I know this towel brought tears to the eyes of my mom when I gave it to her! I hope yours favorite recipe turns out great too!
Great idea! Where do you get the plain tea towels?
pretty sure I picked them up at Wal-Mart
I am doing this for Christmas this year with my Mom’s recipes for my kids and sisters. I am using a light box for tracing. It is amazing to see my Mom’s handwriting on the finished tea towel. I have people asking me to make some for them with their own treasured family handwritten recipes. Merry Christmas!!
Thank you for sharing! I think they are amazing gifts!!
One of the nicest things I’ve seen on Pinterest ! I have two treasured recipe boxes filled with hand written recipes from my mom, two grandma’s, numerous aunts, godmothers, childhood friend’s mothers . . . all long departed. And all recipes I still use.
I plan to make these for my sisters and nieces for Valentine’s Day as a loving tribute to the women of my family.
Thank you SO much for sharing !
I am so glad you found the pin and love your Valentine’s Day idea for your family.
I have tremors. So I was wondering if there is a way to transfer somehow without tracing. I am unable to write without shaking.
maybe you could transfer the recipe to an iron on transfer and then add it to the dish towel?
I’ve been doing this for a long time. Hand embroiderd recipes on tea towels make great gifts for family and friends. The idea of tracing the handwriting is very nice! I will try that with a trickmarker and sew over the lines. Thank you for the idea.
Love this idea,going to try this!! Thank you!
I have wanted to this with my grandmother’s recipes for each one of her grandchildren but just couldn’t figure out how to do this. Thank you for sharing a great idea.
You are welcome! I hope you enjoy them