DIY: Awesome Christmas Basket!!

Hello!
I wanted to share a gift idea for the holidays.
Every year, my family and I want to give gifts to everyone we know, but... We don't always know what to give!!!
So, last year, we decided to make baskets for our relatives and friends and this is what one of them looked like



Here is the recipe for the marshmallows

I used a rotary cutter to cut little squares (for the hot coco, and snacking) and cookie cutters to make cool Christmas shapes!

 I put the cool shapes in clear containers that I don't know where I got from...
And the square ones in clear celophan bags..

The basket has a fabric stocking, a Christmas plate, chocolate flavored Twizzlers (my cousin's favorite), Hershey's bars, a box of varied chocolates, cookies in a jar, and a bag (and little clear container) of marshmallows.. I also added a container with hot coco mix and then covered the basket with clear shrink wrap (which was a failure! hehe)



And I had some of this left over (the odd shapes after cutting with the cookie cutters) My mom, brother and I ate them all within a day!!!

Happy Holidays!!

Aranza

DIY: Take pants in. Make them skinny. Easy!

Hello everyone!

Like promised yesterday,

I have another tutorial for you to take pants in.

The before and after picture are not as shocking, but they are still great!

I bought 2 pais of colored jeans at target in the tween section a while back for very cheap! (They are size 16 for teenagers. I usually wear a size 4 in adults, but the pants tend to be too long, so these were great!)

The Red ones

The Teal ones

Even though, they were a size 16, I still had to take them in because they were not skinny. 

One pair (the teal ones, which I forgot to take a before picture) were way looser than the red ones for some reason (even though they were both a size 16). 

So, here it is. Unlike yesterday's tutorial, today we will be taking in the outer sides of the pants..

Just like yesterday's tutorial, put them on inside out,

And start pinning the extra fabric together from the outside seam like so: (you only have to do one of the legs, unless they are extremely uneven)

Use tailor's chalk to go over the pins (or like me, use a pencil :) or washable markers). That's where your new seam will be

You can now remove the pins an re-potisions them for easier removal as you sew

This is an optional step: BEFORE sewing the new seam, remove the extra fabric leaving about 1/4 inch next to the pencil marks. DONT thow away this piece of fabric, it will be used at a later step

Now proceed to sew the new seam (I used white thread for the tutorial, but I'd recomend matching your thread to the fabric color)

If you didn't trim the fabric before sewing, you can trim it now.

You can use either one of the following steps:

Option 1: Remember that piece of fabric we just trimmed? well, place it on the opposite leg, matching the old seams and pin in place.

Mark where the new seam should go with your pencil (or  tailor's chalk, or marker, or whatever!)

Remember: you are tracing what you cut out, so your seam will be 1/4 inch in from that trimmed edge

Repeat the process done with the other leg to get your new seam

OR:

Option 2: If you don't have the trimmed piece of fabric, or if you endend up cutting off more, use the leg with the new seam as a guide for the other leg.

Instead of using the trimmed piece of fabric, place the leg with the new seam on top of the other one, aligning them like so:

You can now trace the new seam line (lift up the 1/4 inch of fabric next to the white thread seam, and trace the new seam on the unmarked leg)

Repeat the same process as the other leg 

Finish off the seam with a serger or a zig zag stitch

 Here is the finished product!

Some tips:

Make sure you blend the new seam with the old seam

If you start taking in below the pockets, make sure you re-inforce that area (it receives a lot of stress)

Look at the old seam for any other place that were reinforced

Use thread that matches your fabric color and that is for jeans (althoug, I used regular thread and it's holding up pretty well)

Use a needle for jeans 

DIY Ombre Shirt or Pants

So, I made this little tutorial a while back (spring 2012?) and I am finally putting it up!

I will teach you how to make anything ombre (gradient). I transformed a gray tank top and a pair of old gray pants into awesome ombre pieces!
First off, for the gray pants, I soaked them in a water/bleach solution (about 1/2 cup for 4 or 5 gallons of water.. Or read the label on the bleach bottle) I let them sit over night.. They turned out fine, but since I didn't move them at all, there were some parts that were still kind of gray (a very subtle tie-dye look), so I bleached them again and they were now off white... perfect for dying pink!

Here is the rest of the tutorial if you are starting out with an item that is already white OR like me, your item is a lighter color (gray) and you want to add a darker color.

1. Soak the whole piece of clothing in warm water (making sure is ALL wet!)..
2. Now, soak about 3/4 of the item in the bath, and pull it out slowly so about 1/2 of it is still in the bath.
Like so... This will give it a nice blending line

Let stand for 5 mins, mix for a few seconds (move the bottom of the shirt around in the dye bath, so you wont get fake "wrinkles" of dye)..
Dip 3/4" of the shirt once again..

Repeat these few steps 4-6 times..

Rinse, and wash..
If you like the result, you are done!!

And tada!
From a boring gray shirt, to a cool obre black and gray shirt...


And a brand new pair of pants!! Now I just have to take them in to make them skinnies..

Easy Baked Parmesan Fish Tilapia

Today I want to share with you a delicious and easy recipe! Baked Parmesan Tilapia (although it's baked, it has a lot of butter and other oils! beware)

I accompanied it with white rice (and had a salad beforehand)

You can easily change the serving portions because you basically need a tablespoon of each ingredient per fish. 

Set oven at 350F

Servings : 8

Ingredients that you will need for the fish:

Tilapia Fish (8)

Mayonese (8 Tbs)

Creamy Poppyseed dressing (8 Tbs)

Parmesan cheese (8 Tbs)

Melted butter (8 Tbs)

Bread Crumbs (8 Tbs)

Salt and garlic powder 

Oil 

Side note: I would like to substitute the Mayo for greek yogurt someday and see what happens.. I'll let you know if I ever do

Thaw the fish for ten minutes 

While the fish is thawing,  chop half of a bell pepper into little squares for the rice

Cook the bell pepper for a little bit (while you do the following step)

Add some oil to the bottom of a cookie sheet, lay the fish on it and then add some salt. Put in the oven for 10 mins.

At this point add two cups of rice and 4 cups of water to the pot with the bell peppers. Let the water boil and once it does, turn the heat down to low and put a lid on. Let it sit on the fire for 12 minutes. After the 12 minutes, turn the fire off and let the rice sit while the fish is cooking (don't open the lid)

While the fish is in the oven, melt the butter (for the fish)

Put the bread crumbs in a bowl,

add the parmesan cheese,

mayo, butter and dressing and mix it all together

Take the fish out of the oven after the 10 mins, and spread the mixture on the fish.

Cover the sheet with foil and put it back in the oven for another 10 mins

The rice should be done at this point

This is what the fish look like after cooking.. Yummy!

Serve with rice and some veggies and enjoy!

Let me know if you try it!

DIY Bling Bling Bracelet

Have an awesome weekend and God bless!
Yours, Aranza

"And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever."
Isaiah 32:17