Boleros are a must-have accessory for warmer weather, especially a basic like this that goes with everything. Knit this simple jacket from 1957 in every color of the rainbow.
See my free patterns page for more vintage crochet, knitting and sewing patterns

Lately, I've been experimenting with baking and making a lot of things from scratch. I tried making pretzels for the kids school snacks a few weeks ago but they turned out more like pretzel buns. They were delicious but not pretzels. Yesterday I decided to try it again, this time using Alton Brown's pretzel recipe. I got the dough together just before the kids came home from school and then got a text from Pj that we were meeting his mom for dinner. I didn't have enough time to make the pretzels before we had to leave so I stashed the dough in the fridge.

This morning, after we got the kids off to school, I whipped up some quick breakfast with some veggies and soft boiled eggs from the chickens next door. Soft boiled eggs are one of my favorite things and nothing beats a happy back yard chicken egg!

After breakfast, I preheated the oven and got a pot of boiling water and baking soda on the stove and rocked out on some pretzels. We found that the pretzels are easier to manage in the boiling if we lower them down in a metal colander.





While we waited for the pretzels to bake, I took the compost out and tossed some goodies over the fence to the chickens. Every time they see me, they run to the fence to see what I have. They used to jump over and graze in our yard but they started digging in the neighbors garden beds and wandering too close to the street so my neighbor clipped their wings.







We started a compost bin this weekend and I didn't have a counter top compost bucket to keep our scraps so I decided to use this vintage coffee canister. I always buy vintage canister sets when I find them at thrift stores. They're often missing lids or pieces or they have little dings but they're great for stashing away sewing supplies, things in the bathroom, office supplies and of course, in the kitchen!
Pretty soon, my kitchen timer started to ring and our pretzels were finished! They turned out perfectly!




We finished the afternoon photographing a few things for my etsy shop. I added some pin curl scarves that I knit from this wonderful 1950s pattern and I took some extra photos of my vinyl tinsel bags and confetti mirror compacts. So many sparkles!