I love those little hanging jars with tiny flowers in them that you see everywhere. I have some from Matalan but the jars are green and I really wanted clear ones but couldn’t find what I wanted in the shops so decided to make my own. They are super simple so if you fancy making some yourself, here is how I made mine.
First gather up what you will need.
A branch
Some small jars
Some twine
Flowers
I used three jars on my branch but I’m going to make another one with five on it, just go with whatever makes you happy.
Lay out your branch and jars so that you can see how far below the branch you want the jars to hang. Once you are happy with the spacing cut three pieces of twine, the length of each should be about three times the distance from the jar to the branch.
Tie a small loop in each end of your three pieces of twine. This will involve a bit of trial and error until you get the loops in the right position so that your jar will hang where you want it to, allowing a little extra length to allow for tiring it to the branch. Cut off any excess twine. This is what we will use to hang them from the branch. Cut three smaller pieces of twine to go around the neck of each jar.
Find the middle of your long piece of twine and tie it to the branch, making sure the ends are level. Thread the small piece of twine through the loops on the ends of the long piece of twine and tie tightly round the neck of the jar. Repeat for the other two jars.
Put a little water into each jar and pop in a flower or two. Add a hanging loop made from twine.
With Mother’s Day looming how many people have forgotten to order their gifts in time for them to be delivered before Mother’s Day? I always do this whether it’s for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings etc. and I end up rushing to the shops and getting something that isn’t exactly what I wanted. So if that is you today then I thought I would do a quick round up of some of lovely, quick make at home gifts that would put a smile on any mum’s face.
First up is this sweet Crocheted Daffodil from Simply Crochet. Crocheted Daffodil from Simply Crochet
You could crochet up a few of them to make a bunch or add a brooch pin on the back to make a cute brooch. What mum wouldn’t be delighted with that!
Next up is a bouquet of Map Roses from Pillar Box Blue. Map Roses from Pillar Box Blue
If you don’t have any old maps these would look just as good on pages from an old book or on scrapbooking papers.
Or what about Mother’s Day in a Jar from Hello Splendid. Mother’s Day in a Jar from Hello Splendid
What a great way to pamper your mum, giving her lots of her favourite little treats in a pretty jar that she can use as storage afterwards.
If your mum likes to sew how about making this cute little Teacup Pincushion from Pins and Needles. Teacup Pincushion from Pins and Needles
You could use some fabric from a favourite old blouse or dress, or from clothes that the grand-kids have grown out of to make this gift extra special.
Lastly, if you like to bake how about making this yummy Rose and Dark Chocolate Shortbread from Waitrose. Rose & Dark Chocolate Shortbread from Waitrose
Add some pretty packaging to make a gorgeous handmade gift.
There are loads more fabulous ideas on Pinterest for quick and easy Mother’s Day gifts to make, but I warn you that you may end up spending so much time looking at all the great ideas that you don’t actually get the time to make anything (I speak from experience here lol).
Finally, with Easter just around the corner I thought I would make a cute Easter themed freebie for you. I love to add to my seasonal decor with printables because they are such a quick way to change things up a bit. Please remember that our Easter printable is Free for Personal Use only. Easter Printable from RecklessHen
The printable will fit in an A4 frame and you can download it here. Free Easter printable from RecklessHen
If you like our printable please Pin it and if you use it we’d love to know.
Why not follow us on Facebook or Instagram too we would love to see you there 🙂
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there.
When my kids were smaller I used to have fun being OTT decorating the house for Halloween, the scarier the better. Now that they are older and not that interested in it anymore I was missing the decorating, so I decided a couple of years ago that I was going to decorate with an Autumn theme instead. I have picked up bits and bobs over the last few years and I’ve also made a few things, and each year I bring out whatever bits take my fancy to make the house all cosy and autumnal. I love all the rich reds, oranges, golds, greens and browns that this time of year brings. This year I have added a little leaf garland to the fireplace, added some orange candles from IKEA and put them in with some of the other pretty little things I had and I am pretty happy with the result. The red wall in my main room always comes into its own at this time of year and makes the whole room look very cosy and welcoming. Decorate your home for Autumn with RecklessHen
I have picked up bits and bobs over the last few years and I’ve also made a few things, and each year I bring out whatever bits take my fancy to make the house all cosy and autumnal. I love all the rich reds, oranges, golds, greens and browns that this time of year brings. This year I have added a little leaf garland to the fireplace, added some orange candles from IKEA and put them in with some of the other pretty little things I had and I am pretty happy with the result. The red wall in my main room always comes into its own at this time of year and makes the whole room look very cosy and welcoming. Living Room decor with an Autumn feel by RecklessHen
This year I made a few things to add to my collection. I made an Autumn printable that you can download here and I crocheted a few pumpkins too. You can find the tutorial for them here. I also bought a new candle that I spotted in TKMaxx. It is a lovely orange pumpkin spice scented candle that says ‘Give thanks with a grateful heart’ on it and the gold lid has the cutest, teeny, tiny pumpkin on it. I love it. You can see it in some of the photos below.
In the rest of the house I added in some Hydrangeas from a friend’s garden, a jug full of Gerberas, some silk autumnal leaves, some greenery from my garden and some nuts and conkers. I love to settle down at night with the fire on, the candles lit and do some crocheting or knitting while the wind is howling outside and I’m all cosy indoors.
When it comes to looking for inspiration online for my Autumn decor a few of the places I love to check out are Pinterest, Country Living, Martha Stewart, Pioneer Woman, Here Comes The Sun and Ideal Home. I also find that garden centres can be full of inspiration. I don’t know much about plants myself but their fabulous displays mean I don’t need to as I can just pick plants that are in their displays and know they will work in my autumn decor as well. We have some amazing garden centres here in Northern Ireland and three of my favourites are Creative Gardens, Camerons and Hillside Nursery. Here are some of the photos I took this year when searching for inspiration.
And did I mention that they all have lovely coffee shops and it would have been rude not to take the time to sample the coffee and cakes while I was there 🙂 Speaking of coffee, when RecklessHen went on a roadtrip the other day we stopped off at Starbucks for our first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season and Heather delved into her large handbag and out came some handmade autumnal props ready for an Instagram photo. The pattern for the leaves and acorns is from Just Pootling and the conkers were just made up as we went along. Autumnal props for our Pumpkin Spice Latte
Do you decorate for Autumn? Where do you get your inspiration from?
Here in Northern Ireland we are having lovely sunny weather at the moment and I am taking every opportunity to fling the patio doors wide open and let the fresh air in. The dogs are spending lots of time lying outside in the sun and hubby and I are getting to all those jobs that get put off for a dry day, such as clearing the garage, tidying up the garden, painting the outdoor furniture etc. When it comes to the gardens I have lots of ideas in my head for planting I want to do and pots I want to decorate but finding time to do it all is a bit of a challenge. I have been stocking up on garden magazines and this weekend we are looking forward to having a family day out at the Garden Show Ireland. I want to take lots of pictures of beautiful plants and inspiring gardens, and of course we will have to sample all the delicious foods on offer at the Festival of Food and probably buy one or two new handmade items from some of the fabulous local crafters. I am always on the lookout for pretty handmade props to use in my photos and it is a good excuse to treat myself 🙂
I go through phases when I love the garden and want lots of colour and interest, and then after a while life gets too busy and I can’t be bothered with trying to keep on top of outdoors as well as indoors and I want low a maintenance garden. At the moment I am inspired by all the beautiful flowers I have been looking at on Instagram and I have been spending a fortune on fresh flowers for the house so now I want to grow my own, hence my current enthusiasm for the garden. My mum had green fingers and could grow anything. Her particular favourite was geraniums and she had them everywhere. Dad was into his roses and looked after them meticulously. Unfortunately, I have not inherited any of their skill and tend to kill any plant I touch so things could go either way with my garden plans. But looking on the bright side, if I can’t manage to grow anything I can still go to the florists and buy lots of lovely fresh blooms to brighten up the house.
My current favourite plants are Hydrangeas, white Roses and Peonies. As you may know, I am crocheting a blanket inspired by Hydrangeas from a pattern on Attic24 and I have found some gorgeous pinky lilac ones in the garden centre that I would really like to plant in the garden. They are so pretty and delicate looking and remind me of quaint country gardens. I have been taking photos of flowers a lot this past month and have been using flowers in many of my Instagram photos too. They seem to add joy and life to a photograph and I love looking on Instagram and seeing how other people have used flowers in their photos. Do you use flowers in your photos? Are you a growing guru or do you struggle like me? I would be glad of any advice you can give me on easy plants to start with and what would grow well in containers.
Here are a few of my favourite flower photos from the last few weeks.
