Best in Class - Westminster 2012 - Doberman Pinscher

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GCH Protocol's Veni Vidi Vici

The dog lovers among us propably know that the 2012 Westminster Kennel Club held their annual judgings this week. Perhaps some of you have watched it. I have to say I didn't bother because I figured the Doberman would not win. Imagine my surprise when my coworker told me this morning that a Dobi did win the Working Group Class. Yey! Here she is. Isn't she a beauty. What a great Valentines day present! Cheers everyone,

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Happy Valentine's Day!

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Happy Valentines Day from

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Rustic log side table (Reuse-Repurpose-Recycle)

Happy Monday everyone! Are you enjoying the cold? It is actually going to warm up to around freezing this week~heat wave! Today I'm going to show you a rustic reuse project-using logs as the base of a side table. I told you about our fire place and the wood logs that came with our new house. I already made some angels for Christmas out of them. The fire place area is tiled and has a sitting bench built in and has stone walls. I wanted to put a reading chair there, but I haven't found one yet. Instead I added some rustic decor-the log table.

I placed a tray on 4 logs and added some goodies. What are your thoughts? In the summer I can also move it outside as a side table for my lounge chair. I think I might paint the logs white or turquoise to give it a more refined look. And chalk paint the tray, perhaps. Oh the possibilities with paint! Linking up here, at Tipjunkie, Susans. Have a great week,

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10 adorable miniature cakes (Food styling)

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Hello everyone, happy Wednesday! Today I'm going to share adorable mini cakes with you. The presentation of food or food styling is something I recently got into thanks to Pinterest. Some of the photos out there are so yummy looking they make my mouth water. They are also a great source of inspiration and ideas for parties, weddings, and other events.

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You can take ordinary food from drab to fab with clever presentation and decor. Pinterest has sources for all kind of events and seasons. You can visit my Pinterest food board here.

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You can also find lot's of recipes, and by looking at the pictures you can see if you would like it and gauge how hard it would be to make it. I found a great tomatoe soup recipe that I recently tried out and loved.

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With clever styling you can even present a cake or a cupcake as a gift.

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Don't they all look delishious?

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You can click on the links for the recipes.

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Perhaps you will reevaluate how to set up your food at the next party. I'm starting to plan for Easter and for a 4th of July BBQ in my head.

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Good thing you can't gain weight from looking-even though for some of us it might seem that way.

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I think at a party these minis are easier to eat and can be better portioned. That goes for most party foods-serve minis and they last longer. I remember a chilli lunch I hosted and I made the mistake of letting the guests serve themselves. By the time half the people got through the line the food was gone because the guys loaded up major portions.

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Linking up here. Have you discovered food styling yet? Until next time,

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Vinyl decal project fail (Crafting)

Hello, today I will introduce you to vinyl project fail. It was my first attempt at vinyl decals. I used rub on quotes before, but nothing this elaborate. The project started out good-I took a picture I found at the local Recycling plant and spray painted it turquoise. Since I don't have a fancy silhoutte or a thing of the sort, I ordered my decal online. Paid quite a bit of money for it, too. I figured it an investment for our front door for the years to come. In the picture above you can see the beautiful decal before I attempted to transfer it.

And here is the failed decal project. The vinyl stuck to the front sheet instead of peeling of the back sheet and onto the painting. I ended up manually removing the letters and sticking them onto the painting. I had to remove all the decor around the initial, because it looked so bad. This is what I'm left with-buhu, yes, I did cry. I'm thinking of embellishing it with some fabric flowers. I also had to retouch the blue and I need to get the paint of the letters. All in all very disappointing. I'm not sure if I will give vinyl another try, even though it looks great. What are your thoughts or recommendations?

Cheers,

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8 tips for a greener household (Organization)

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Hello to you-here are 8 tips for greener living. Some of them will save you money, too.

Washer temperature

This mainly applies to the new European style washers-the old ones aren't that programable. Clothing that calls for 60C washing temperatures will get just as clean at 40C. Whites do not need to be cooked, but can be washed at 60C unless you have a skin illness or such. The lower temps will conserve energy.

Water usage

Eliminate pre-washes and extra rinses to safe water. Modern detergents are formulated to wash clean at lower temperatures and quicker cycles.

Buy Organic products

Use organic detergents and softeners. They are kinder on your skin and on the environment.

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Chemical free

This one is news to me, but they do exist and I need to buy some. Brushes with antibacterial properties made out of silver ions. Cloth with silver and a silver ball for your laundry. Wow! Did you know about that? The way it works (according to this web site) is the silver ions get activated after contact with water and prevent mildew and fungus from growing and kills them. You can wash the brushes and cloth at low temperatures without damaging the effect. Used in the washer it is also supposed to get rid of bad smells and sweat. Best part-they don't cost more than regular products.

Air dry clothing

Save on your electricity bill by air drying clothing.

Use microfiber

Use microfiber cloth for cleaning instead of the throw away wipes. They are reuseable and can be washed. Cheaper in the long run, perhaps? I only use paper towels and wipes when I'm cleaning up messes the animals have made (get it?)

Sweep instead of vaccum

1 hour vaccuming uses about 60% of the energy that your fridge uses during an entire week. Unless you have carpets everywhere sweep instead.

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House cleaning ingredients

Use natural ingredients such as lemon, vinegar, baking soda, and bile soap. They work just as well and have no toxic fumes that you are exposed to while cleaning. Let me tell you-Germany is really good about  anything organic and environmentally friendly. They have a great line of natural cleaners that smell good and work! I used to scrub the shower with bleach (hello, fumes) and now I use a natural cleaner with orange concentrate and it works even better. I can use this cleaner on all surfaces in the house and there is another one for my wood floors, also with orange. Love them. I found a lemon detergent that I love, too. And the best of all the natural cleaners are cheaper or the same price than the convential items. Great for skin problems and allergies-I cannot use chemical detergents or I have skin issues.

I hope these tips are for you-which one will you try out? Linking up here.

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DIY bird food (Gardening)

Hello dear readers, if you are living in a cold climate you may want to support your local birds by throwing out some bird food. Until a few weeks ago winter here has been unusally mild. Then Europe went into a deep freeze. As I was driving to work this morning it was 6F. Unbelieveable - Germany is

 having the coldest winter in 26 years and we are here to take part in it yey. Perhaps you have seen it on CNN by now-Rome had 5 inches of snow (the pope was happy), northern Germany's rivers and the North- and East Sea's are frozen, people are stranded on some islands, and the temps have been colder than in Syberia. Time to help the birdies!

You can easily do this yourself-melt vegetable fat in a pot, add bird seeds, and pour into plastic containers. Careful-hot! Add a piece of twine into the liquid, and make sure half of it sticks out. Freeze. Remove plastic container and hang outside. Et Voila-done. I read in a magazine you should hang the bird food under a tree or house, so it is somewhat secured from the elements. Some birds may prefer to pick their food from the ground, so you can throw some seeds on the lawn, but make sure it stays clean.

Stay warm! Linking up here, Tipjunkie, and Susan.

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Valentines Day Love box craft (Crafting)

Hello dear Doberman's by the Sea readers. I finished my first Valentines craft for this year. I already posted about V-day crafts here and recipes here. While I would love to claim I came up with this wonderful idea, I saw it here:

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I made my own version. The little craft is something for my DH to take with him when he travels and it will remind him of home.

You will need

1 box of your choice (Altoids, paper, wood)

Chalk paint

Rub on vinyl quotes

Printable

Small figurines

Glue

To make

First I spray painted the Altoids box with black chalk paint and let it dry. Then I glued the printable on the inside of the box on the top part. I then placed the vinyl quotes where I wanted them and rubbed them on. Lastly I glued the figures in the box. Wrap everything up and you are done. The figures are from a toy train collectors display-can be purchased at Amazon. I find the Altoids boxes to be pretty handy and sturdy, I used one for last year’s anniversary project which I haven’t posted about yet.

Linking up here, at Tipjunkie, and Susan. If you like this idea you can pin it with the pin it button below or follow me along – see social buttons on right side bar. Cheers,

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8 hearty DIY Valentine gifts (DIY, Valentines Day)

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Welcome to another round of Valentines inspiration. These gifts are pretty to look at and you can make them! I just love the bright colors-I think I am ready for spring!

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Cute card-seems easy enough to do.

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Adorable! You could also make this with fresh herbs. I will put this on my to do list-I've got dried lavender at the house.

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This I made for my DH. I think it is so cool.

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Mod podged hearts on white coffee cup.

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DIY clock-very cute.

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Lovely blue flowers. You can buy pre shaped stones at the flower store.

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Heart shaped gallery. Which one do you like best? For more V-day inspiration read my blog posts on V-day  and visit my pinterest pages. Until next time,

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