Refashion: Not your standard pillowcase dress

The other day, I was folding laundry mid-day and as I folded my king size knit pillowcase, I envisioned a beautifully simple dress for myself. I love all of the little girl pillowcase dresses out there and still plan to make my daughter one some day. However, this refashion vision was one for me…an easy, no sew dress. Let me emphasize the “no sew” part :). I love love love knits because they’re comfy, fall nicely on most body frames and they don’t fray..,meaning less sewing ;).

So, I went to Goodwill to seek this king size pillowcase so that I didn’t use my husbands in the name of fashion! I wasn’t able to find a king size knit pillowcase so I settled on a navy colored standard size since I’m barely 5′ tall.

Here it is in all of its glory

I folded it in half lengthwise and cut a neckline. I prefer a wide neckline but any style would work.

I then cut armholes

And that’s it…seriously, that’s it! I tried it on and it fits perfectly!

I even added a belt and I think it’s pretty cute…especially for a pillowcase! Beautifully simple…just as I envisioned.

Now, I need to hunt down more knit pillowcases! Anything with a nice stretch to it would work…who has an over abundance of king size pillowcases?!?!

More pics…using it as a swimsuit cover-up.

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Repurpose: old dresser drawers repurposed into toddler bookshelf

I took two dresser drawers…

Painted them…

Bolted them to the wall…

Lastly, I covered the back of the shelves with fabric scraps!

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Homemade baby wipes (or eye make-up remover)

When my daughter was born, we used only cloth wipes on her little bum. Well, since then we’ve mostly used Huggies…until I started making homemade wipes. These wipes are twice as nice because I also use them as an eye make-up remover 🙂

You will need a roll of paper towels, large non-serrated knife, two tupperware containers, a measuring cup, water, coconut oil and baby body wash.

First, cut your paper towel roll in half. Heat up 2 tablespoons of your coconut oil so that it is melted.

Now, in a mixing bowl combine 2.5 cups of water, 1 tbs of coconut oil and a squirt of baby wash for each container. Pour into Tupperware containers.

Place the paper towels (cut side down) in your plastic containers and squish them down with the lid to shut. It never looks like the lid is going to close but it will!

Now, turn the containers upside down to make sure the mixture reaches the whole paper towel.

Now wait 5-10 minutes for the solution to soak through all of the way. My daughter likes to play the drums on the containers…today she banged on the containers with cuties (oranges).

Flip the containers back over and pull out the center of the paper towel roll.

Pull the first wipe out from the center and you’ve got yourself homemade baby wipes and eye make-up remover! This is all we use and I make them about every 2-3 weeks.

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Homemade: Laundry soap

We have 3 kids plus run a daycare so laundry is a BIG thing in my house! I figured I’d try making my own laundry detergent since I do so many loads that it may actually save some money.

I bought:
Ivory bar soap $2.99/4 pack at Target
Borax $3.99 at Target
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda $7.49 through Amazon

I researched online and found a couple recipes. I pinned this one homemade laundry detergent on Pinterest and followed it.

I grated 1 bar of Ivory soap with a regular cheese type grater and poured it in a pot with 4 cups of water to bring to a boil. Brought it down to med/low heat and stirred until the soap melted. I filled my 5 gallon bucket 1/2 way full with hot water. I added in the soap mixture, 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1/2 cup of Borax and stirred it with a really long wooden spoon. I then filled the remainder of the bucket with water and stirred again.

Next, let it sit overnight. When you open the bucket, it will have a sort of gel on top so stir it up some more! Now, fill up 1/2 of an old laundry container (or old milk jug) with your soap and fill the rest with water. Shake it up to blend each time you use. I measure each load with the lid just as you would with store bought detergent 🙂