HOW TO CUT A PINEAPPLE QUICKLY

I love fresh pineapple.  There is nothing like the biting into a juicy piece of pineapple. 

Pineapples are also good for you. 

But, if you are like me, cutting pineapples are a pain and it's easier to just use canned or already cut up pineapple from the store.

Well, not any more.  I found the best way to cut a pineapple and it only takes a few minutes of your time.

First, cut off the top of your pineapple.  Try not to cut off to much because you want to get all the good juicy fruit to eat.

I'm not a big kitchen gadget person.  However, this is one gadget you will want to have! 

It's a pineapple corer and slicer.  It is the secret to cutting pineapples in a fraction of the time.

You can find these at most places that sell kitchen gadgets or on line.

This is what they look like.  Pretty simple really.  You can also get them made out of plastic but I would recommend the one made out of steel.  I believe they will last longer and do a better job.

Line up the center with the core. 

Then press down a bit so it goes into the pineapple.  Then start to twist.  It will cut into your pineapple with ease.

Keep twisting until you hit the bottom.  If you go to far, it will cut the outside of the pineapple and that is fine.  You just won't be able to use the outside as a bowl to put a fresh fruit salad in. 

Once you hit the bottom, just pull up the pineapple.  It's not hard to pull up either.

As you can see it cuts the pineapple perfectly so you don't have any eyes to deal with.

You can also see that it slices the pineapple into perfect slices.

You will now have a pineapple bowl that you can use to put a fresh fruit salad in, if you like.  Just pull out the core.

I just toss it all out.  However, if I was going to have a party where I was serving fresh fruit salad I would use it as a bowl.  I think that look is so cute.

Just remove the pineapple from the gadget and you will have slices that are all the same size.  Just like the ones you get from the cans...only these taste so much better.

I love to can food so I will can my pineapple in these rings from now on rather then spending time to cut the pineapple into chunks. 

Hmmm, all this talk of pineapple makes me want to go eat some right now.

Did I tell you, clean up is super easy too?

POOL PARTY

We still have about three weeks left of summer and so I decided to get my girl scout troop together and throw them a Pool Party.

They were met at the door with this cute sign I found at Michaels for 70% off!  The little flip flop can be turned to say Open or Closed. 

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this party so I used a lot of things I already had, purchased some items at the Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart, made some things and used Free Printables I found on line. 

I wish I would have saved where I found them so I could share with you but I didn't.  If you happen to see any that are yours let me know and I will gladly give you credit.

I set up one table with things the girls got to use while at the party and then take home afterwards.

Things like water toys, mini fans, candy and bubbles.

I also got them all flip flops.  I put a cute printable on them and put them in a beach bucket.  The girls thought they were a fun gift idea and all got to pick the color they wanted.

I just love all the fun printables out there for parties.  I think they give every party just the perfect little pop that makes your party special. 

For those of you who have not yet used printables, you can find them for any theme you can think of.  You can purchase a full set for very little money on places like Etsy and blogs. 

However, many places also offer free ones.  They may not be a full set with water bottle labels, banners and so on but they still can be used to perk up your parties.

I printed out this cute Subway sign and stuck it in a frame I got from Dollar Tree and it looked very cute on the table. 

Again, I found this for free!  What can be better then that?

I also found this Have A Ball this Summer printable for free.  Rather then have water balloons which make a mess to clean up, I got these water balls.  That way the girls got to have a water fight and they can be reused.  Plus, no clean up of the broken balloons.

I found a cute banner that matched our plates from the Dollar Tree and then I punched out the bright color paper into flower shapes and glued them on a long piece of twine in order to add to the fun feeling of the banner.

I got beach balls, plates and cups with crazy straws at the Dollar Tree.  I got the cups in different colors so the girls would be able to tell who's was who's.

I tied the beach balls up over the table rather then using balloons or puff balls.  I thought it looked cute and added to the theme.

I used yet another printable that said "Stay Cool this summer" and tied it to a box of Cool Pops.  These were placed at each place setting as another little take home gift.

How funny!  I just noticed the sign in the photo was cut wrong!  Can you spot the mistake too?

Rather then buy food for the party, I just made Turkey and Cheese sandwiches.  The girls enjoyed them better then if I purchased sandwiches from a store.

I also had chips, fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies and little mini pies I made the night before. 

As most of you know, I love to can and so I made the pies with the fresh peach pie filling I had canned.  This was the first time I had tried it and the pies sure were yummy!  Every bite was gone off of every plate.

The girls went swimming awhile and then was in the mood for Snow Cones!  Yes, the sign was another free printable!

They got to pick which flavors they wanted.  We had Orange, Hawaiian Punch, Blue Hawaiian Punch and Cherry flavor. 

I love the polka dot cups I found at Target and the Snow Cone holder.

After enjoying their snow cones, they got to swim and play water games for a few more hours.  Then it was time to get out, dry off.

Each girl was then given a beach bucket to carry all her take home goodies in.

But our fun was not yet over.  Later that night, we all got back together to go to a play.  We saw Bye Bye Birdie. 

Only one of the girls had seen the movie and so they didn't even really know what the story was about.  However, they all left loving it and singing the songs. 

We had a great day/night!