This is one of my most popular projects.
A recipe wall.
I created it back when the blog was still learning to walk and it’s been facebooked and tweeted and shared and pinned thousands and thousands of times.
It always gets to sit at the popular table in the cafeteria.
Odes have been written about it. Poems have been composed it its honor. Ballads have been sung to it on fluted lyre.
Town criers have stood on street corners with proclamations dedicated to its name.
And all of that is so not even the point of this post.
The other day I was sitting in the kitchen talking on the phone to my friend.
See that galvanized bookshelf with all the white dishes?
I was just to the right of that sitting in a chair at the desk that’s next to the brick wall.
We were talking and laughing and I was wishing I had a phone cord to twirl around my fingers.
I know. I get it. That is so not even a thing any more.
So I twirled my hair instead.
And mid-conversation I noticed something.
I paused and looked at it and then looked again and then tilted my head to the side and wrinkled my nose and stared at it sideways, biting my lip in concentration.
And then?
I literally laughed out loud.
Because this recipe wall?
This amazing, incredible, super-pinned project?
The one they will talk about for generations to come?
It was totally crooked.
And not just a little .
Look at the first picture and then let your eye follow down the wall to the second.
I knew it was a little crooked horizontally because I was in a hurry when I made it and I didn’t use a level.
But vertically? This hot mess of a recipe?
It’s pitiful.
It is literally two inches off from the top to the bottom.
Here’s another wall shot so you can see the slanted recipe better, especially now that I’m pointing it out.
But here’s the thing.
Here’s what I learned that day as I perched on the edge of a chair in my kitchen twirling my hair.
There is such a wonderful lesson in that crooked, off-center, lopsided, leaning tower of pisa recipe wall.
It’s still reciping it.
It’s still standing.
It’s still beautiful.
It just shows up every day with its recipe and its flaws and and its off center cinnamon and doesn’t apologize and guess what?
It’s still loved….
….flaws and all. 🙂
PS You can see the DIY for the recipe wall here.
You can see how I made the plate rack here.
And you can see the actual recipe for Cranberry Walnut Bread here.
I've always loved this recipe wall, now I love it even more. Every time I see it I want to make one for my home. Happy weekend lovely x
I think I found your blog by seeing this project on pinterest and I've always liked it. By the way, remember that post a few weeks ago "Seven Burlap Projects"? There are no instructions for the burlap tassel.
Hey - This is our all-time fave project of yours. We think it's beautiful and creative. More importantly millions of us have loved it - even though you think it's crooked, it is perfection to us! Cheers to a Happy weekend!
And it is soooooo my favorite project of all times! Regardless if it's crooked...or if it is not often used...it is the loveliest of all... and yes...a recipe will be on a wall in my kitchen as soon as that cabinet gets painted. SIMPLY BEAUTIFULLY IMPERFECT!! just another example of love.
Aren't we glad we can be loved quirks and all. I would so be in trouble if that were not the case. Looking forward to seeing that red lipstick run into the chapel. I will have the sweet tea ready. I think that's still my job. tea hee C
Your absolutely right and even more - if you hadn't pointed it out, most people would never have noticed. And most of our self proclaimed "flaws"? Most people don't notice those either. So we need to let go of worrying about them and focus on living & loving! Have a great day!
LOL!! I've been accused of having one eye higher than the other....cannot hang a picture straight. I still don't see it! But love it just the same! ;)
I did not notice it till you pointed it out.. , but the wall as a whole looks great!! It is nice to know we are loved know matter what we think is wrong with us.,
LOL!!! I don't see it, but have always loved this wall.
Perfect post about human imperfection! I still love that Recipe Wall, crooked or straight. Flaws just add character to an already divine piece! Another great story for the "BOOK"- how will you ever choose what to include and what to delete? I'm always archiving your posts to reread over and over, and this one must be added. Thank-you for your endless wit and humor.
You know sometimes 'flaws' make perfection!!! Have a Wonderful Weekend Karianne!! Patricia (NC Coast)
First time seeing this project and I love it - Didn't notice any corks until you pointed them out. I do that too though after I make something, almost like I look for the flaws... I'm learning to not do that because life just isn't perfect and I still can't get the hang of one space after a period. Have a Great Friday!
Would never have noticed if you had not pointed it out :) I love that recipe wall!
It's true, I love that recipe wall, flawed or not. The crookedness just makes it more loveable. It's the whole package that makes it beautiful. I needed that lesson today...to remind myself that, despite my crookedness, my flaws, I'm still loved. Maybe more for those things that make me unique.
Orrrr is it an aging thing? Seems the older we get the less we see (lol) or care that everything is just so. I use to measure once, then twice and now I just eyeball it and hit the nail I love the more relaxed me and our home shows it. That's what I love most about following your blog...you just roll with life. I LOVE that wall and the perfectionist in me never noticed:)
I must be a little blind...or crooked myself...but I don't see it:):) However it is still fabulous, flaws and all. Now YOU...you are fabulously fabulous!!!!!
Well it took me awhile to see it...I've never noticed it at all and never would have if you hadn't pointed it out! There's beauty in the imperfect though. I hope someday to create something for my kitchen that's as fabulous as your recipe wall... I just have to figure out what will work in mine with its limited wall space. :-) But your recipe wall is great inspiration even crooked. Lol. Have a wonderful weekend! Cecilia
I love your recipe wall! I'm glad that you moved the rustic ladder so that I can see it again in pics because it makes me smile, plan and dream. Maybe I'll get my own recipe wall (in a year or so.) Because if something is worth having it's worth waiting for, right?! (That's what my mother says.) My husband's family has an old Indian recipe for steamed cranberry pudding that has been passed down through several generations. It's a great favorite, and something my husband looks forward to at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mother-in-law, (who has since passed) taught me to make it, and every time I see your recipe wall I think of it, and of her. Sweet times!
Oh, I still soooooooo LURVE you, Recipe Wall with all of your flaws...they only seem to make you even more beautiful to my eye! I will still sing your praises everyday on fluted lyre! Well, maybe not on fluted lyre...but you get the idea! ;)
It looks pretty dang perfect to me! I hope your brain isn't like mine and that little flaw will drive you nuts now that you see it! I love everything you do. Everything you say. You're just a gem!!!
Are you sure?!!!! Because I don't ever need a level... it's one of those things I can do... like perfect pitch... and I can't see anything off. Oh... and I've LOVED that recipe wall since its birth. Happy Weekend my friend!
Enjoy it! Hush, hush, ssss she There was only one perfect man. I will take it IF it will bother u with inperfectiond. That is what makes it home made.
I love love that crooked recipe wall and never would have noticed!! : )
I sent your recipe wall to my daughter awhile ago and told her we were going to make it for her real house when she moves out of her Victorian rental. (Excuse the run-on sentence, I've noticed you're into grammar lately and I'm too lazy right now -ha!) I have my mom's hand-written recipes cards hanging on the wall. It's the closest thing to her actually being here again. :)
The world need fewer critics........especially of one's self. Love what you do, especially when so many others have admired and copied your efforts. Take your budding students out for ice cream instead of re-evaluating a success.
As I started reading your post, I started looking for a misspelled word and when you said it was off kilter, I had to go back over from picture to picture to see what you were talking about - then I saw it. If you had never told, we would never had known, that's one of the things I like about you, your willingness to show flaws, so many people think bloggers are perfect and they couldn't do the things that they create, but thank you for showing we all make mistakes and yet life goes on. (another prepostition ending sentence from the South)
Flaws and all, I still think it's wonderful!!
Remember pulling the phone cord as far as possible to try to have some privacy for those all important teenage talks? Love the image of twirling the cord, though do you miss having to drop the receiver to have it slowly spin to loose all the kinks? As others have said, I was looking for a misspelling, my type of error. When I was in sixth grade, I was asked to make a sign for an election and misspelled something, what, I don't recall. LOVE that everyone is laughing and mentioning the importance of the work done and the need to strive for our best, because we all need to remember that trying and doing your best, is the best work. Perfection? Stops so many from even trying. Your wall is a perfect example of something that isn't "perfect" but it is. Thanks for reminding us, sweetie.
I love that you would share that with us (even though we never would have noticed). One of my most popular pins is a re-pin from you of the galvanized look boot tray. I would venture to say it might have a seat at the popular table as well : )
I just heard your story of "blueberry pancakes" that you made so I'm totally surprised that you have a recipe hanging up.