How to Design a Custom Recipe Book Using Your Child's Artwork

Quick Answer

Design a custom recipe book by collecting your child's artwork and family recipes, then use Plum Print's service to digitize and professionally design the book. You'll end up with a personalized recipe book that doubles as a kids' art portfolio. Start by gathering materials, then send them off or use the Recipe Book Gift Box for a gift-ready option.

When your child draws a picture of a favorite meal or adds a splash of color to a recipe card, that art becomes part of your family story. A custom recipe book that pairs those drawings with your treasured recipes turns everyday cooking into a walk down memory lane. It’s a personalized recipe book that your family will pull off the shelf for years, whether you're baking Grandma's cookies or trying a new weeknight dish.

The challenge is bringing it all together without losing your mind or ruining the originals. This guide walks you through a simple, practical process—from choosing which artwork to include to deciding how to combine it with your recipes. Along the way, you’ll find checkpoints to keep your project on track and avoid common mistakes.

Gather Your Materials

Start by collecting the artwork you want to use. Ask your child to choose a few favorite pieces—maybe a drawing of a tomato, a hand-painted sun, or a crayon portrait of the family dinner table. You don’t need a lot; even five to ten pieces can add charm to every section of your book. Lay them flat and check that they’re clean and dry.

Next, gather the recipes themselves. These can be handwritten cards, printed pages, or even clippings from old cookbooks. If you have loose pages, consider copying them so the originals stay safe. For a DIY recipe book, you’ll want both the artwork and the recipes organized by category—appetizers, mains, desserts—so the design flows naturally.

• Checkpoint: Before you send anything, photograph each piece of art and each recipe as a backup. Store the digital copies in a folder you can easily find.

Choose a Custom Book Service

You can design a recipe book at home using a photo-printing service, but a custom book service like Plum Print handles the heavy lifting: they digitize your originals, design the layout, and print a book that’s built to last. That’s especially helpful if you’re juggling multiple children’s artwork or have fragile pieces like watercolors or collages.

Plum Print offers a Recipe Book Gift Box that includes a collection box ready to send to a recipient. It’s perfect if you’re thinking of gifting a personalized recipe book. Alternatively, you can choose a custom book deposit, which credits your deposit toward your final invoice. Both options give you free hi-res digital images of your original materials, so you’ll have a complete digital archive even if the book gets spilled on in the kitchen.

• Checkpoint: Compare the cost: the deposit is credited back, so you’re not paying extra—just reserving a spot in the design queue.

Prepare Your Child's Artwork for Digitizing

If you choose a professional service, you’ll send your original artwork by mail. Plum Print says they professionally photograph your items, so you don’t need to scan them yourself. Just make sure the artwork is flat and protected in a sturdy envelope or box. Add a note listing the number of pieces and any special instructions.

For a truly DIY approach, you can scan or photograph each piece at a high resolution (300 DPI or more) on a flat surface with even lighting. Crop out the background and save each file with a clear name like “sun-drawing.jpg” so you can keep track of what goes where. This step is the backbone of your design; messy scans will translate into blurry prints.

• Common mistake: Wrinkled or curled artwork gets flattened in the digitizing process, but creases can still show up. Press heavy books on top of the artwork overnight to flatten it out.

Design the Layout: Place Art with Recipes

The magic of a personalized recipe book is in how you pair the art and the recipes. You can dedicate an entire page to a single drawing, use small motifs as dividers between sections, or place a child's illustration beside each recipe. Think about creating a visual rhythm: a border of crayon flowers around a pie recipe, or a hand-drawn star next to a birthday cake recipe.

Plum Print’s design team creates the layout for you, so you just need to provide the materials and approve the proof. This is a great option if you don’t have design skills or time. If you’re doing it yourself, keep the layout clean: use one typeface for headings, one for recipe text, and make sure the art doesn’t get lost in the background. Leave some white space so the pages don’t feel cluttered.

• Checkpoint: Before approving the proof, read every recipe out loud to catch any typos or missing steps. It’s easier to fix them now than after printing.

Add a Personal Touch: Labels and Notes

What makes a recipe book feel like a family treasure is the small notes you add. Ask your child to write the recipe name in their own handwriting, or add a note like “Mom’s lasagna—best when it snows.” These little annotations become the stories behind the food. Plum Print’s design team can incorporate your handwritten notes if you send them along.

You can also include a title page with a family photo or a drawing of the whole family around a dinner table. If you’re giving this as a gift, the recipe book can become a Mother’s Day or birthday present that’s both practical and sentimental. A dedicated keepsake like this is more than just a collection of recipes—it’s a memoir of your child’s early years.

• Common mistake: Overcomplicating the notes. Two or three handwritten lines per page is enough; too much text can distract from the recipes and the art.

Step-by-Step to Your Custom Recipe Book

1. Collect artwork and recipes: Ask your child to pick a few favorite pieces and gather recipe cards, printed pages, or clippings. Organize them by category so you know which art goes with which recipe. Checkpoint: Make backup copies (photos or scans) of every item before sending anything out.
2. Choose your design route: Decide between a DIY approach (scan and layout yourself) or a professional service like Plum Print that digitizes and designs for you. Consider the time you have and your comfort with design software. Checkpoint: If using a deposit, confirm it’s credited back on your final invoice.
3. Send or upload materials: If using a service, pack your originals securely and mail them. If doing it yourself, scan at 300 DPI with even lighting and save files with clear names. Common mistake: Forgetting to return a shipping address—Plum Print can return your materials on request for select products.
4. Review and approve the proof: Look at the design layout, check recipe text for accuracy, and ensure the art is placed where you envisioned. Make any changes before printing. Checkpoint: Read recipes aloud to catch typos or missing cooking times.
5. Receive and enjoy your book: Once the book arrives, store it on a shelf or give it as a gift. Use the included hi-res digital images to create prints or share with family. Next step: Host a family cooking night using a recipe from the book and snap a photo to add to the book's memory page.

How Plum Print Products Can Help

• Recipe Book Gift Box: Recipe Book Gift Boxes have everything you need to get started. Recipients fill the box with their handwritten family recipes, old photos, Grandma's favorite apron—you name it! Plum Print professionally digitizes the materials and designs a book for their approval. This is the easiest way to create a custom recipe book if you're gifting or if you want a ready-made collection box. You can include your child's artwork right alongside the recipes, and Plum Print does the design work.
• Art Book Deposit: Bound to last a lifetime, your Plum Print custom coffee table book is the ultimate keepsake for children's art preservation. As a BONUS, FREE Hi-Res Digital Images are included with every order, giving you a complete digital art portfolio. If you want to build your custom recipe book primarily around your child's art, this deposit option gives you a professional-grade coffee table book that also preserves the original artwork digitally. You'll have a keepsake that outlasts the recipe card.
• Express Book: Send anything! Artwork, photos, sculptures, trophies, you name it. Your materials can be returned upon request. No hidden fees ... your digital files are always free! For a faster turnaround or if you have unusual items like a clay figure or a handwritten recipe on a napkin, the Express Book option ensures your original materials are returned to you safely after digitizing.

A custom recipe book that weaves your child’s artwork into your family recipes is more than a kitchen accessory—it’s a time capsule of creativity. Whether you design it yourself or trust Plum Print to handle the digitizing and design, the result is a personalized recipe book you’ll proudly pass down. Start gathering those crayon masterpieces and recipe cards today.