And now for a behind the scenes ceramic animal related story. While we were working on this…
… this happened:
Since I’m still not ready to talk (or write) about it in depth, here’s John’s depiction of how the tragedy occurred:
Alas, my favorite giant ceramic dog (snagged from HomeGoods three years ago for just 29 bucks) sadly lost his face. In the words of the world’s most famous blogger, it sucked and then I cried.
Yes, there’s a candle lit vigil in progress. Goodbye Mr. Ceramic Dog. You were a wonderful pet. Never had to clean up after you once. Until this happened.
I might try to glue him back together (although some of the pieces are pretty tiny). Until then I’ll be found shaking, crying, and whispering “why?”
Just kidding, I’ll live.
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Denise says
Boo! That Happened to me with my 3′ santa from (best price ever)Frontgate at christmastime..not happy just wound up tossing it!
Allison says
Oh no! I’m sending you positive vibes to get though this difficult and emotional time!
On another note, your birthday sounded awesome! Thanks for letting us share in the fun of it all and happy belated birthday!
Rachie says
Ah boo! That dog was like your mascot!! (not including burger of course!!) May he rest in ceramic doggy heaven! xo
lauren says
That is so crazy that you posted this today because I saw that same dog at Home Goods YESTERDAY and really considered buying it. I think he was $19.99. Maybe your Home Goods has them again :)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- I haven’t seen him in ages. Will have to keep an eye out.
xo,
s
andrea p says
Where is your other ceramic pooch living in the house?
Maybe he can take his place?
RIP
YoungHouseLove says
Our concrete greyhound is near the front door. He’s there to greet people since all Burger does is run around barking like a maniac. Haha.
xo,
s
Tracie says
That cartoon made me laugh out loud!!! So sorry :(
Jackie says
Oh no! How very sad :( Rest in Peace ceramic doggie…rest in peace.
gloria says
Oh No! Something similar went down at my house a while ago. I had a white ceramic lion by my fireplace. We had kittens at the time that we found under the shed. One of them knocked it down and totally broke its face off. I was so bummed! Then I called my mom to tell her how annoying the cats were and she tells me that it used to belong to her brother who died when she was in her twenties, then came the waterworks. I was seriously a basket case all night! So. Much. Guilt!
It sucked then I cried too!
Katie says
Sherry, I feel your pain! I had what appears to be the same dog that I found at TJ Maxx this past fall for $11 on the clearance shelf! I lovingly placed it next to our fireplace and excitedly decorated it during the holidays. The family even named her Lola! Well, I definitely should’ve known better than to put her on a slate hearth. My now-16-month old loved playing with her and climbed up there often to do so. One day she knocked her over and her face cracked right off just like yours! My 4-year old wanted to know if we could glue her back together and I told her sadly, we could not as it was too many little pieces. Luckily my little one did not get hurt, but the saddest part was the next day, after we brought the garbage out, I pulled out of my driveway and there was her mangled face laying in the middle of the road! She must’ve fallen out of the garbage can when the truck lifted it up to dump it. I tried to avoid her, but my tire ran over what was left and Lola became unrecognizable. So I know what you are going through! LOL
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no! Poor Lola! I’ll do my best not to hit ours with the car. Haha.
xo,
s
Rachael says
RIP Rufus!! Hopefully you can find something similar to fill that spot. In the meantime, how about an ode to Burger??
http://compare.ebay.com/like/380080604085?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=219965053485&crlp=1_263602_304662&UA=WXI7&GUID=298597b51260a04370f42024fffefbf9&itemid=380080604085&ff4=263602_304662
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, hilarious.
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
That thing eerily looks like a cat-dog hybrid! LOL
Melissa says
What did John expect to happen when hanging a picture up while facing the opposite direction (as it appears in the sketch)!?! hee hee
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, totally his fault.
xo,
s
Kristine says
Oh Noooo! Sherry, I imagined your reaction something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFMle-jxTCk
Jump to 2:25.
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, totally me. Except louder and more crazy.
xo,
s
Marie says
I would have cried too! I hate when I’m trying to improve something and I wreck something else in the process.
becca says
oh no! that’s so sad. rip, mr. ceramic dog.
elaine says
I am so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family… well, to you and Clara. Burger is probably happy because now he is the only dog in the house, and john, well, was it really ‘an accident’? hmmmm… ;)… and on a ‘make lemonade out of lemons’ note, I think John’s drawing would make a wonderful addition to the one of the frames on the ‘wallpaper frame’ wall!? Awesome, awesome drawing. that man’s got some serious HB pencil/sharpie talent.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we actually framed it right away! We just couldn’t stop laughing at it. You can see it in the frame reveal on the top row.
xo,
s
Gretchen says
If he had to break the face off of a dog, I’m just glad that it was the inanimate one.
Aubrey says
Ah!! How sad!! The picture is quite hilarious though. I hope you can figure out a cool way to revive him, or maybe just get another one!?
bevy says
Congrats on the blog success. Saw you on MSN front page. ;)
Oh – I hate when THAT happens. Now what’s with the sideways pix? Very interesting! LOL!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we were just hanging frames at that point so they were sideways. We switched out the art to make sense after we hung everything and tweaked the frame arrangement!
xo,
s
Natalie says
I would definitely glue it together, putty the little chips, and spray it white, as you do your other beloved ceramic animals. He is my favorite, and I hope he lives on!
Nashville Momma says
What if you chipped a little more off so it’s not jagged and then used it as an umbrella holder? I had a similar accident with my gnome cookie jar; his hat broke off, so now I use it as a flower vase.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I like the way you think!
xo,
s
keri says
Had the same issue when hanging our bathroom mirror: the mirror went down, and did not break, yet, the bathroom countertop did….
alamodemaven says
During this redo, http://alamodemaven.blogspot.com/2011/03/pretty-in-pink-office-redo.html, one of my FAVORITE turquoise ceramics from HomeGoods (clearanced at $7.99 to make it worse) fell along with my husband’s newly framed MBA from Harvard. Yes, I saved the darn degree. It wasn’t cheap to frame. But…I cried over the loss of the $7.99 HomeGoods ceramic. It sucked too. Sorry for your loss. RIP ceramic doggy. xoxo alamodemaven
laxsupermom says
Oh no! I’ll miss seeing it move around your home. How in the world are you going to replace a 2′ tall ceramic greyhound?
candace @ thecandace.com says
Rest in Peace!! I loved the drawing John made help move the grieving process along!
Caroline says
oh, how sad..But I’m sure there’s a Ceramic Animal Heaven where all the little (or big in this case) chipped, broken and rejected ceramic animals move, talk and play freely on a big green field. ‘Cause y’know they do that in your house when the grown ups aren’t looking, right!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, it’s like Ceramic Toy Story in here when we go to sleep.
xo,
s
Kellie Alkayam says
I make my own ceramic animals, and I’ve had a few mishaps in the kiln. What I usually do is use a strong glue or epoxy for as many of the big pieces as possible, then use a little Bondo and sandpaper to fill the gaps and cracks. Then repaint in the color of your choice. Easy sneezy!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tips Kellie!
xo,
s
Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons says
I’m so sorry =( I lost my favorite [also irreplaceable] bowl last week to a husband related accident. I feel your pain =(
layersofmeaning says
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Lynnski says
Ceramic Dog’s body would be great for seasonal holiday decor. Jack-o-lantern? Bunny? Elf head?
Rebound. Re-use. Recycle.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I just need a pumpkin…
xo,
s
Jenny @ DIY Newlyweds says
Oh no! That’s terrible, but John’s depiction is hilarious (sorry)! Maybe you could glue it back together and then use spackle to fill in any empty spots. With a fresh coat of spray paint it might disguise your patch work, and maybe ceramic dog could even be a bright new color?
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah it’s definitely a possibility. I was thinking he might look cool in deep navy or peacock blue…
xo,
s
Sarah Mc says
I just shrieked “nooooooooooo” in my office and scared my co-workers who came running in. I’m so sorry for your loss. Is that perhaps why your friend Heather sent the flowers, really?
I’m sure you’ll find a “replacement” but I know you will never forget…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s true. They might have been condolence flowers.
xo,
s
kelly says
oh boo!
Amanda says
OMG – I just saw one of these in Home Goods the other day…maybe they got more of them years later?
Linda says
Very sad…I hope the drawing will make its way into a frame and on the wall, as a tribute (of sorts) to Mr. Greyhound.
YoungHouseLove says
It was actually already up there in the reveal (on the top row). We couldn’t stop laughing at it so we figured it deserved a frame.
xo,
s
Kayla says
I knew the table seemed lonely. Such a tragedy. Good thing you have all the other ceramic pets to attend the ceramic dog funeral. Their expressions may not say it, but I’m sure they will be crying buckets…on the inside. =)
Tanya says
What sad news. I must admit that I laughed pretty hard when I saw John’s drawing though. Now I have a game plan if a similar event happens at my home and I have some explaining to do.
georgia says
Its a dogtastrophy!!
Did you manage to glue it back together or were you fighting a losing battle?
X
YoungHouseLove says
Haven’t tried yet. He’s just sitting headless in the playroom for now. Poor guy.
xo
s
georgia says
Suppose its better than being legless! Haha
Emily says
oh.. that’s sad.
I liked that dog.
Sara @ House Bella says
Aww, poor pup!
Feedburner has been having some screwy issues in conjunction with Google Reader recently. What a mess.
robin says
i’m thinking john might want to invest in a belated b’day gift.
http://www.bellacor.com/productdetail/585221.htm
kristen says
omg, i’m so, so sorry. rip, giant ceramic dog.
on the bright side, you should be able to parlay this tragedy into years of getting your way with John [not that you currently have trouble in this department] . . .
;)
The Nester, Meagan says
RIP ceramic dog! LOVE the cartoon. Absolutely amazing. Actually made me forget how sad it was that it happened!
Meagan
The Row House Nest
http://www.rowhousenest.com
Nicole says
Commiserations :( Nicolex
Barbara @ Blogbitten says
Holy Sphinx Batman!
I gasped too when I saw what happened to the pooch. Then laughed at the drawing and laughed even harder when I read your comment that the legs John drew were to scale.
But seriously, it’s tough when something you love breaks. I have a vase that I’ve owned since the dark ages. (Faintly seen in this post. http://blogbitten.blogspot.com/2009/03/kitchen-transformation.html)
Attempting to clean off the kitchen counters, I moved it to the bottom shelf of my island. Well, the entire brim broke when it fell crashing to the floor because I was trying to jam too many other things beside it. This happened months ago and I still can’t bare to part with it.
erin says
I gasped out loud, then before I started typing this comment I saw how many other readers gasped out loud. I hope that there is a Rainbow Bridge for ceramic dogs (and that John will not be sleeping in the ceramic dog house).
As you have nothing to lose, maybe after attempting to glue the face bits back together you could spray paint the whole thing a matte black which might hide cracks better and give him a new look. On the other hand, the headless dog umbrella stand suggestion is kind of genius.
Briel K. says
Aww poor dog. I love John’s depiction though! hehe Good idea to frame it (as I read above)!
maggie says
Off topic. Do you every just sit down and look at Clara’s weekely pictures and just think how much she has grown? its a really cool thing that you have here. Something i really want to try with my kids. I think week 10 is one of my faves. You can see her personality come out!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! Actually every week after we upload the latest one we go back through all of them to the beginning. Just to appreciate how much she’s grown and changed!
xo,
s
Windy says
He was my favorite ceramic pet in your place! Sad to see him hurt :(
Annie says
So sad. I hopped online to see if I could help find a replacement to fill the void. . . Searching with Google images to see pictures of actual items I found a really cute one so I clicked on the link to find out more about it and started laughing because it was younghouselove.com with the large ceramic dog on your old front porch (I believe). That made me think that I’m sure you have the lowdown on every ceramic dog that exists or existed.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, hilarious,
xo,
s
Barb says
Sherry:
We feel your pain!
Might there be another one out there that is up for adoption? Never to be replaced….but I know you could grow to love another one….right?
I am sure John is feeling so bad.
I must admit, I loved it too. You will find another one. Begin your search today….or is it too soon yet????
Keep your chin up!!!
B.