How to Make Pictures Look Retro

I am obsessed with making my photos look washed out and retro. I found this basic tutorial on how to achieve this using Picasa, the free photo editing software I use. 

I think I did ok, but I could use more practice.  Have you achieved success in retro-izing your photos?  If so, any tips to share?

I used photos of my niece and my dogs...they are all the cutest!  I think the first three are the best and look most like what I was trying to achieve.