a skirt refashion that is a sort of fail

I totally forgot to take a before picture but the skirt was the same style as the skirt I refashioned a few weeks ago.

I made it pretty much the same way as the last dress... I took in the skirt until it fit Sutton's body. Using the excess material I made the straps and ruffled sleeves.

Again with the wrinkles. You probably think I don't own an iron. I do, I'm just lazy.

I used the contrasting material from the bottom of the skirt to make a pleated ruffle between the straps.

I used more contrasting material on the back because I am sort of a prude when it comes to modesty, especially when it comes to my children. Only, I think it looks a little weird and doesn't cover that much. I may just take it off.

But that isn't the worst part. Look closer. Notice how the ruffled sleeves are totally uneven? Crappy workmanship right there.

The sash was part of the original skirt. All in all, it's not so bad. Just don't look too close!

Luckily Sutton isn't as nit-picky as I am!

homemade dishwasher detergent: the results

Way back in November I posted about making and using homemade dishwasher detergent. I promised I would share the results with you and I am finally making good on that promise!

I should mention that I have a very basic dishwasher, no bells or whistles and it is probably a good 10 years old or more. I rarely do more than rinse dishes before loading them in the dishwasher and when I do scrub it's usually only casserole dishes or the crockpot- you know, baked on stuff.

The first few loads of dishes turned out perfect, clean and spot free. After that I noticed that particles of food were stuck to the plates and bowls. I decided to make sure to scrub the all dishes before loading them in the dishwasher. I figured it would be worth the extra time and effort to save money and and be gentler to the environment. The scrubbing took care of the food on the dishes but then I noticed that plastic items were greasy and glasses were foggy at the end of the wash cycle. I doubled the amount of soap and added white vinegar but nothing got the dishes clean enough.

Long story short, the homemade stuff sucked and I am back to using the electrasol tabs. You can't win them all, right?