Father’s Day round up and freebie

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018 KarenLeave a comment

Father’s Day is coming up in the UK on Sunday June 17th and I’ve been looking around for ideas for things to make for dads. I always think something handmade is lovely to give because you’ve taken the time and effort to do it and that makes it special. I thought I would share some of the lovely make at home gifts I’ve found that would put a smile on any dad’s face.

First up is this fabulous Grill Set Holder form Lil Luna. Since we are having fabulous BBQ waether in the UK at the minute this would make a fab gift for a dad or grandad and there is a very detailed tutorial for making it on the Lil Luna blog.

Next up is a super cute tie card from Kiki & Company that would be so easy for a child of any age to make and would really make dad feel special. I really love this one and it comes in four different colourways so you should find one to suit dad.

My third pick is this cute keychain from Hellobee. My kids made their dad a keychain like this when they were small and he still has it on his keys ten years later. You could put any message yo like on this so could adapt it for other family members and other occasions too.

Fourth up are these amazing cookie/brownie/cupcake creations from Bakerella. If you haven’t discovered Bakerella yet go visit her site but I do warn you that you will be there for hours because there is just so much to drool over.

And last but not least is this Car Wash Kit from The Crafting Chicks. You could also do this as a movie bucket with DVD, some popcorn, coke and dad’s favourite snacks in it.

Well I hope that has given you a few ideas of things to make for Father’s Day and there are loads more to be found on Pinterest.

I also made this sweet printable for you to download, pop in a frame and make dad’s day.

You can download my free printable here.

I’d love to know if you use the printable so go ahead and leave a comment 🙂

You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

have a great weekend x

Freebies · Tutorials · Uncategorized

Creating custom Pin It buttons ( plus a freebie)

May 1, 2018April 29, 2018 KarenLeave a comment

Ever wondered how people get those cute Pin It buttons that match their blog? I was getting frustrated that my blog template did not come with pretty Pin It buttons so I decided to make my own. I knew I wanted them to feel like the social media icons over at the right hand side of my site and I knew that I wanted them to match the brand colours from my logo and I also knew I could create them button easily enough in Photoshop. What I didn’t know was how to then get that image used in my blog as the Pin It button. Well it turns out it is really easy. There is a neat little plugin called the jQuery Pin It Button For Images that does all the hard stuff for you.

All I had to do was create the image I wanted to use, upload it to my media library, open the plugin, tweak a few settings and Hey Presto!

If you use WordPress on a self-hosted blog you will find jQuery Pin It Button For Images in the plugins library.

Install the plugin, activate it and then go to the settings.

On the Visual tab you will be able to upload your image and set the size you want it to be.

Save your settings and you are good to go.

I had so much fun creating my button that I thought I would make it in a few different colours and give it away as a freebie to anyone who might want to use it. It is for personal use only and if you do use it I would love to know how you got on. Click below to get your free buttons and don’t forget to Pin them!

Download your free Pin It buttons.

Have a great day x

Crafting · Freebies · Home & Life · Uncategorized

Mother's Day round up and an Easter Freebie

March 10, 2018 KarenLeave a comment

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.

simply crochet crochet daffodil — 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.

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 — 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.

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.

The printable will fit in an A4 frame and you can download it here.

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.

Freebies · Uncategorized

Spotty Dottie font goes global

October 18, 2017 KarenLeave a comment

We are so excited to be able to tell you that our Spotty Dottie font is now available on dafont.com. Spotty Dottie is available free for Personal Use. If you are interested in our Commercial Licence please email us for details.

Spotty Dottie font by RecklessHen (free for Personal Use only)

Freebies

Free Autumn printable

September 13, 2017 Karen3 Comments

I just love the colours of Autumn – the reds, browns, greens, golds and oranges that seem to speak of cosiness and warmth and evenings indoors wrapped up on the sofa. I love the crisp cooler air that means it’s time to put on a sweater and get out the wool to knit or crochet a new scarf and hat. I love the crunching sound of leaves under my feet and sitting in front of the fire at night with a crocheted blanket on my lap and lots of candles dancing on the walls around the room. I love how my cooking changes as the days get cooler and the salads and barbecues of summer change to soups, stews and hearty casseroles to warm and nourish. I love getting out my recipe books and planning crumbles, pies and delicious treats to make use of all the amazing fruits of the season. I have many happy memories of coming home from school to be met with the smell of freshly baked apple pies and scones just out of the oven. In Autumn more than other seasons I find that the smell and taste of food evoke childhood memories.

free Autumn printable — Free Autumn printable from RecklessHen

At this time of year, I love to decorate the house with a few bits and bobs that bring the Autumn indoors. I try to find a new piece to add to the collection each year, this year it was some silk leaves in fabulous Autumn shades. I also made an Autumn themed printable to frame and put on the table in the hallway. I was so pleased with it that I thought it would be a nice freebie to giveaway so you can download it from the link at the bottom. It is designed to be A4 size but I trimmed mine to fit an 8 x 10 frame as I found a lovely red frame hidden away in a cupboard that I had put away ‘somewhere safe’ and forgot about.

Free for personal use only Autumn printable from RecklessHen — Free Autumn printable from RecklessHen.

Our Autumn wordart printable is Free for Personal Use only.
You can download it HERE.
We hope you like it and can use it in your home, we’d love to see a picture if you do.
Leave a comment if you have an idea for a free printable you would like to see on our blog and don’t forget to follow us for updates.

Freebies

Playing with Fonts (and a freebie)

August 28, 2017 KarenLeave a comment

So this week I have been playing around with creating my own fonts. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while but didn’t know where to start. Thanks to a fab course I did on Skillshare I was able to give it a go. So armed with my ipad Pro and my apple pencil I got stuck in and had so much fun. My first two creations were OK but need more work so I will come back to them another day and tidy them up for sharing, but my next two fonts were much better and I am really pleased with them. They aren’t professional by any means but I think they are fun and kinda quirky. The first one I call Spotty Dottie. When I am writing signs and posters I often do letters like this with dots on the ends so I thought it would be fun to turn it into a font and it would save me alot of time.

The second one I call For the Love of Zebras for no reason other than it has stripes in the capitals and it made me think of zebras.

If you would like a copy of either of these the links are below and they are free for personal use, feel free to pin and share. If you use them I’d love you to leave me a comment. If you have ever thought of creating your own fonts I definitely think you should go for it. They may not be perfect but you will enjoy the process and learn loads.
Spotty Dottie ttf
For the Love of Zebras ttf

Crafting

A pleasant way to spend the day

August 3, 2017 KarenLeave a comment

Today has been lovely so far. This morning we went to one of our favourite breakfast spots, General Merchants. They do a great selection of slightly unusual breakfasts and today we both opted for Elvis and a latte. I can wholeheartedly recommend Elvis and not just because I am a fan of its namesake. In this case, the Elvis in question consists of toasted sourdough, back bacon, banana and Meridian almond butter. It was delicious and very moreish. Then it was off back to Casa Hezza (a.k.a Heather’s house) to get some photos of our Vintage Granny blanket and to start to write up the pattern so we can share it with you. The Vintage Granny started life as a way to use up some of the ever growing stash of our favourite Stylecraft Special DK. We have so much extra yarn, in every colour imaginable that it was hard to choose but Heather knew she wanted to create a blanket that had a vintage vibe to it and used some of the colours from the Attic24 Hydrangea blanket. She soon whittled the hoard down to nine scrumptious shades and set about deciding what to make. Should it be a stripey blanket, a ripple, a granny square or something else? After many hours deliberation, and quite a few glorious detours via pinterest, she decided that the Granny Square from The Patchwork Heart would be perfect. If you haven’t found the beautiful patterns on The Patchwork Heart blog you really need to pop over and have a peek, they are fabulous. We took loads of photos of the blanket and really hope you like the colours. Surprisingly we have since discovered that Heather chose the same shades as those in The Patchwork Heart Vintage pack so just goes to show great minds think alike. Heather is the vintage loving half of RecklessHen whereas I am more of a brights girl but I do love the muted, almost faded effect of these colours together. I will write up the pattern and colour sequences and post them tomorrow.

Vintage Granny Square Colours from RecklessHen

Freebies

Hooked for you tags, free to good home

May 10, 2017 KarenLeave a comment

Good morning, what a lovely, sunny day it is here in Belfast. The weather has been fabulous for the last week and I am hoping it lasts for the rest of the month (and June, July & August too, but that is probably too much to wish for). Today I have a freebie for you. It is a cute set of gift tags for the crocheters among you. I was searching through some photos at the weekend and came across some crochet themed clipart I bought quite a while ago, planning to make stickers with it. I decided that I really need to be better at organising the files on my computer so I know where stuff is and it doesn’t get forgotten about and also that it was really time to put the clipart to good use. I have a few things I have crocheted to put away for birthday gifts so I thought it would be a good idea to make some tags to go with them. I had so much fun playing around with the graphics and trying to come up with suitable messages to go with them. I really need to do this kind of thing more often because I love working with graphics and designing things.

free Hooked For You gift tags from RecklessHen (personal use only)

I came up with three different designs so I hope you will like at least one of them and be able to use it on your gorgeous handmade yarn goodies. I printed mine on normal A4 white card and then I just cut them out, punched a hole at the top and put some coloured yarn through to hang them from. I think I might have to go and make some matching stickers now and I can think of lots of ways to use the pretty images in my EC planner.
I found that printing the tags from the pdf reader built into Google Chrome gave better colours than using Adobe Acrobat Reader but that may just be my printer. The link to download the tags is below the images. Let me know what you think of them, I always love feedback.
Have a great day whatever you are doing.

Download your hooked for you tags here.