JUICY CROCK POT HAM

YOU WILL NEED
1 shank portion ham
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
1 can of pineapples in chunked, sliced or crushed.


slice your ham into half inch slices, or small chunks, gettin as much meat as possible off of the bone.


mix 1.5 cups brown sugar with 1 cup water.


place all your ham in the crock pot and cover with the sugar mixture, then top with undrained can of pineapples


crock pot on high 4hrs or low 6hrs.


give the ham time to warm and warm the liquids before you mix it, as you will keep letting the heat out. after about an hour of cooking you can mix the entire contents and you can also use a turkey baster to move around the liquids as you wish.


this is a really sweat juicy ham that shouldn't require a glaze.
the way you cook it really does make  A HUGE difference mostly in part because before I tried this ham cooked this way, i would only eat spiral ham. shank portion ham was not flavorfull and was always too fatty to me. cooking it this way with smaller slices, longer cooking times, and taking it off the bone have a great effect on the meat.


Enjoy ;)


Variations:
all of the above, but add Cherries!

100% custom birthday parties, JUSTIN BIEBER (applies to other themes)

My daughter wanted a completely custom Justin Bieber Birthday party that was all about HER!
She had games, party favors, invitations, decorations, and even her cake 100% custom made to her liking. 95% of the work was done by me, and you could do it too. (everything except the cakes, which i sketched and a good friend made at our local price chopper, thank you jacey, my wonderful cake lady!)

party hats i spray painted black for the boys.

party crowns i bought in multcolor and spray painted black.

some of the kids at the table, i didnt get a picture before the children arrived.

vip cards for all of the children, paint shop

these were sort of like a place card. i made these using paint shop pro, on a 4x6 image and i  flipped them so there would be one on each side. it basically stated the partie schedule & some information the guests needed. we put two on each table

place cards also made in paintshop

these are her invitations and thankyou cards. both also made with a little bit of TLC and paint shop pro.

her photo cut out, which i made on a poster board.

mentos wrappers, once again a little bit of TLC and paint shop pro, a tutorial is available on my blog.

centerpieces

justin bieber themed party game. made on a poster board with crayons. after this photo was taken i also used fabric doiles to make a pocket on the backs of the holes so we were not chasing balls that flew thru the back.

mini bubbles, i purchase plain bubbles and printed custom address size labels which i double secured with their own adhesive plus a line of hot glue on each end, and a ribbon bow. tutorial available on my blog as well

pins! bought blank pins at about 2/$1 from my local craft store and printed inserts with paint shop pro

purchased plain white favor boxes 12/$1 at my local dollar store and we customized with printed stickers and ribbon, and finished them off with colored tissue paper and candy.

Nevaehs personal cake, made to look like a concert stage. her name was accross the front in the stars, this cake came out awesome on so many levels, she loved it.

A matching game i made with some printed pictures and construction paper

Nevaehs sheet cake, which she sketched out and my friend jacey brought to life. everything she wanted, zebra, stars, different purples and grays, even a small pink cancer awareness ribbon for Nevaehs great grandmother who is a breast cancer survivor and one of Nevaehs favorite people in the whole world.

additionally each table had two purple paper fans to keep the guests cool, 2 purple beaded necklaces, purple/white lai necklaces, a zebra bag with m&ms, 8 favor boxes, 2 mentos, a candle with a photo on it, a bouquet of purple/zebra/black and gray balloons, and a custom centerpiece.

the children all sat at their own VIP table which was complete with justin bieber paper goodies, table cloths, and matching favors. and each child guest got a VIP necklace with their name and a picture of Justin.

Her party in all was a total success, alot of work, but not half the money our guests suspected. everything was home made and dirt cheap for me to make. the biggest cost of all was the hall and food, which i paid/saved for months in advance.

JUSTIN BIEBER THEMED PHOTO CUT OUT-how too

for my daughters 7th birthday she had a justin bieber themed party, but she wanted "carnival" style games, custom favors, and some fun props.
one prop I made was a justin bieber face cut out board

Using a foam project board i sketched out justin bieber and a female friend. I printed a cartoon version of him from google for comparison. once you have it all sketched you will want to color it in. paint works wonders but is messy, so this time i went with crayons. you could use markers but they tend to leave alot of uneven color patterns.
using a razor blade cut out the friends face. this will be where your guests will put their face for photos.

addtionally you can also draw on the other side and perhaps cut out justins face, or a boys face for any boys attending the party.

i also used the same technique to make a game board...

THE CUTEST HOME MADE VALENTINES EVER!

Here is my tutorial for "THE CUTEST HOME MADE VALENTINES EVER!"

you will need:

a digital camera

an empty wrapping paper tube

cute kids (lol)

basic paint program

solid color sheets or a solid color bare wall.

hang up your sheet, and take pictures of your child in front of it, in different poses, holding the empty wrapping paper roll...like this...

then open the photo in your paint program.

(I have corel paintshop pro, but there are plenty of other programs that will do)

In corel, i use the clone tool to replicate the sheet to cover the wall and floor, then you use the crop tool to crop the photo to 4x6 in size. using the color change tool and touchup brush i changed the color of the roll to white. then using the auto shapes you can add a callout cloud with a clever text, and finish the bottom with a "love *** 2012"

in a traditional paint program, you probably wont have all the tools listed above. Your best option would be to zoom in really close to the wrapping paper roll, and using a white paint brush in a small size slowly fill in over the roll. you can then resize and crop your photo. Then using the circle/oval draw tool you can draw a callout cloud of your own size/shape and use the text tool to fill it in. and use the regular text tool to finish the bottom signature.

additionally if you cannot figure out the cropping tools, most photo printing sites such as CVS, Walgreens, Walmart etc offer a cropping tool online that you can crop before sending the photos for printing so you can be sure they are the correct fit.

PRINT & DECORATE:

print the photos out in 4x6 size either on photo paper or cardstock, and use a hole puncher to make a hole at the end of the roll, which will be the stick. by lollypops of your choice and insert the stick into the hole and secure with a piece of tape on the backside.

p.s if you want to skip the editing process you can use a light background and a white pvc pipe, this way you dont have to color change and you can just write on your finished product with a sharpie ;)

SOME OF THE SAYINGS I USED WERE:

"thats a lol'ly muscle"

"im a sucker for love"

"worlds biggest pop for worlds best friend"

"worlds strongest boy"

"say lollypop"

"lollypop, lollypop, oh la, la, la lollypop!"

"sugar sugar, honey honey"

HERE ARE MY FINISHED VALENTINES!

IF YOU MAKE THESE PLEASE SHARE YOUR INPUT! THANKS!!
NEW CREATIVE TIP IM THINKING OF: if you use clear tape to tape two wrapping paper tubes together (width wize not length wize), they will be double the width. then after printing punch 2-3 holes connected together at the end, and insert a chocolate dipped spoon decorated with small candies of your choice and wrapped in clear plastic wrap or a lollipop bag. you could write "spoon" or "candy" themed qoutes instead of lollypop themed. I HOPE TO HAVE AN EXAMPLE TO SHARE SOON!

Do it yourself zebra picture frame, light cover, wall borders.

You will need:
one roll of Zebra printed duct tape
FRAME: A picture frame, of any size
LIGHT SWITCH: any light switch covers or outlet covers
Sizzors

To start off decide your direction.
Take out your frame and remove your glass and cardboard sheets from the openings.
starting with the edges and working towards the center, cover each edge with one long strip. (either vertically or horizontally based on the direction you choose). continue to work towards the center, you may completely cover the openings or trim as you work. do not change direction.
If you do not wish to cover the openings (harder but saves material) simply cut a shorter strip, and fold the edges around threw the opening to the back.
If you cover the openings you will simply cut a slit where the openings are all the way to the edge of the openings and then fold the extra into the back of the frame.
You may overlap or trim the width for smaller sections.
In my case, I trimmed smaller sections for around the openings, and covered the sides and center with a long strip.
Place your glass and cardboard back inside,be sure to tuck any extra tape between your photo and cardboard so its not seen ;)
LIGHT SWITCH
You can also use the same techinque to cover a light switch or outlet cover ;)
in this case, I covered it horizontally. using two strips edge to edge I covered the top and middle, for the bottom I only needed a half a strip. I then cut a slit for the light switch and bent it backwards. the screws easily pushed right threw the duct tape. and it was ready for use.
ADDITIONAL DECORATIONS
Duct tape will also make a cute thin border around a room, or can easily add decoration to dressers etc.
With one roll of standard duct tape I was able to cover my frame, my light switch cover, a middle room border for a 12x12 room, and I had just enough left to make a small decoration on my door hanger. Tons of ZEBRA Decor for under $5.00. If I happen to pick up more I plan on doing my outlet covers and possibly some dicuts for my dressers.
addtionally I plan on making a zebra print lamp in the future, so check back soon for updates and a tutorial!

ENJOY!
and if you have your own tips or techiniques or you try the ones listed above, please be sure to share them with me! I love pictures and feedback!

finished frame with original package

empty frame with duct tape-materials

frame with strips of duct tape vertically

duct tape light switch, wall borders, embelishments

duct tape light switch.

do it yourself custom party horns/blowers Transformers

So, most of you know that a pack of character party horns can run about $4-$6 for an 8 pack.

Well here's a tip to get them at less then half the price, PLUS have them customized.

I first bought 2 packs of plain sports themed blowers at my local dollar store, for $1 each.

Then using paintshop pro (or another paint program) I made circles about 3.5 inch in size with a transformer and the writing "Happy 3rd Birthday Jeaven".
I was able to fit 2 circles on a 4x6inch background to print on photo paper.
You can also copy paste them into a word program to print 8 on a full 8x11 sheet. The easiest way to make the circle is to copy a full sized photo from the internet, use the selection tool in the shpe of the circle to select a part of the picture to use, and then write over the circle with the text tool. additionally some cliparts online may already be circle, saving you a step.

After printing I simply cut out the circles and attached them using a glue gun right onto on top of the sports shape already on the blowers.

And there you have it! For just $2 and some ink/paper, you have perfect custom party favors!

traditional "sports" party horns

3inch circle photos cut from 4x6 sheets

NEW PERSONALIZED PARTY HORNS

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