Our eight pound chihuahua has proudly held the title of our favorite (i.e. only) child for over three years. And even though Burger’s about to have some competition in May, we don’t think there will ever be any mistaking that we love our dog. In kind of a crazy way. Heck, he’s already represented in three separate portraits in the third-bedroom-slash-nursery-to-be’s photo wall:
And thanks to 1) some foresight on my part, 2) a generous giveaway sponsor and 3) our love of all things Burger, the future nursery is about to have one more ode to the tiniest Petersik. Introducing Burger the Zoonie:
To explain: you may recall this fun giveaway from Eleni Creative, maker of custom felt mobiles and stuffed animals called Zoonies. Well, Sherry and I were quite smitten by their handiwork (I even broke out the word “adorable”; the dad-to-be thing was already making me soft, okay?). But they really do great work. Just check out the custom “flying elephant” mobile that our big winner Amy scored in early October:
Didn’t that come out great? We’ve been dying to share it with you guys since it was a completely one-of-a-kind creation made just for our lucky winner. And after the giveaway I secretly asked Eleni’s resident “feltician” Helen if I could hire her to make a custom piece styled after our favorite chihuahua as a little surprise for my lady. Surprisingly, she didn’t laugh or call me crazy. Instead, she kindly offered to do it as a “thank you” to us… and even sent me this cartoon-y sketch of our Zoonified pup for approval before the felting commenced!
Fast forward two months and Sherry finds me handing her a wrapped present as we exit the doctor’s office after our second ultrasound. We were both walking on air because our latest scan had confirmed that the baby’s doing perfectly (and flipping around like a gymnast) so it felt like the ideal moment to hand it over in celebration of “this is really happening!”
And that’s how I gifted Sherry our baby’s first stuffed animal. Which just happens to be modeled after our favorite chihuahua.
And Sherry went bonkers over it. Seriously. Lots of jumping and screaming. So maybe “the bean” won’t appreciate his or her felted brother (aka: Burger 2.0) for a while (heck, even Burger himself isn’t that sure what to make of it) but at least we’ve stacked the deck in favor of our new favorite child loving our current favorite child just as much as we do. And maybe the two of them will learn to share the title…
But what about you guys? Have your pets inspired any home decor over the years? Any framed pooch or kitty pictures or silhouettes out there? How about one of those pillows that they can personalize with an iron on image? Or a ceramic replica of a certain breed for your mantel? We wanna know how your favorite four-leggers are celebrated in your house.
Bridget B. says
cute!
Briel K. says
Ahh that’s so cute! Hopefully Burger won’t decide that it’s his favorite chew toy or something. ;)
shannon says
That’s so cute!! Now I want to get one of my yorkies!
denise @ little ant design says
How stinkin’ cute is that? Love it!
Jocelyn Stott says
Aaaahahaha – that last photo cracked me up. He is so cute! I just want to pick him up and cuddle!!!!!!!!
Bethney says
I was inspired by Burger’s silhouette a little while back and created two of my own to go in our master bedroom. We definitely treat our cat and dog like they are our furry children, our friends without pets just don’t understand haha.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45227755@N05/4156057526/
YoungHouseLove says
Glad you guys are liking my little “surprise” to Sherry.
Bethney – those silhouettes are awesome. They should be friends with Burger’s silhouette. Well, at least the cat one. He’s doesn’t always get along so well other dogs.
Jody – Great story about the blanket. Hopefully Zoonie Burger will be just as loved by our little one.
Jessaca – If you’re looking for new blogs to add to your reading list, check out the ones under “Link Love” on our sidebar under our Sponsors. Those are the ones we love to drop in on whenever we have a chance.
-John
amanda says
LOVE.
My sister in law is really creative, and so she painted us a version of Stephen Huneck’s “Devotion” painting with our two dogs in it. It’s in our bedroom, right over our older dog’s bed. :)
Sherry says
That is sooo cute! What a great idea. I bet Sherry was def. surprised :)
Amy B. says
What a cute idea for Sherry! We have just a few representations of our dalmatian, Truman, around the house. Well, actually, just in our bedroom. Last year for Christmas my in-laws gifted me a set of ceramic dalmatians they found while searching estate sales. There are 3 of them: a tiny puppy, a somewhat larger pup, and a full-grown dalmatian.
Truman just made room for a new sibling 3 weeks ago, and he’s doing great – just like we thought he would. It’s interesting how quickly dogs take pride in protecting their family. He’s becoming quite the guard dog.
Chelsea says
Aww! How cute! I love my Chocolate Lab so much I drink my morning coffee out of a chocolate lab mug. I also refer to myself as “mom” to him…and just the other day as I perusing the isles of Wal-Mart ans talking to myself outloud I caught myself saying “oh, mommy wouldn’t like that”. Not only did I refer to myself in 3rd person outloud, but I also dont have any human children!! So I understand that you want your new baby to have a special stuffed animal of your 1st baby! Ridley will always be my first born child, even though I went through zero labor to have him!
Jody says
That’s so cute!
I know this is off the subject but I have to share it with you both as soon to be parents….
I remember the very first thing that my husband picked out for our baby. We had just found out that I was pregnant and needless to say it was a huge surprise more of a shock at the time, but anyways we went into JcPenney’s that next day to pick up a coat that I wanted and while I was shopping around my boyfriend then came up to me with a shopping bag and in it was the softest fluffiest light green, yellow and blue baby blanket and I of course broke into tears it was so real from that moment on. It’s been a little over 3 years since then and our daughter is now 2 and 1/2 and to this day she has not slept without that same blanket and it goes everywhere with her! It’s not very soft anymore and it’s pretty faded and ratty but it still holds that same feeling of joy everytime I see it with her.
Congrats again to you both!
Carol N. says
Love the pillow! I actually ordered an individual flying pig from Helen – and it hangs in my office as a reminder that I’ll get to your ’emergency’ request as soon as pigs take flight. Just a little programmer humor there.
I have personalized Christamas tree ornaments for all of my kitty babies (past and present). I take great joy in putting them on the tree every year even for the ones who have gone on to the Rainbow Bridge. And I do a needlepoint of them as well – a Charley Harper design with a calico cat, another design with a black cat, etc. I love my babies – we chose not to have human babies – and celebrate them and their memories every day.
Jessaca says
Yay for dog love and children. I’m envious. I’d love a Boston Terrier, but I’m allergic. Like break out in welts allergic. So unfortunate.
I’m curious: Do you guys follow any blogs that you would recommend?
Vee says
The resemblance is uncanny! So cute!
Christa M says
first off, I love that Carol above used the word “Christamas” I use it all the time ;)
Secondly, I love the burger 2.0’s expression. It reminds me of the most recent video!
Leigh says
That is so cute and such a good idea!
Our two kittys are our children. We have framed photos of them, they have their own Christmas tree ornaments and their own monogramed stockings. We know they are spoiled, but it’s so much fun and we know they love it! I hope that one day, when we have human children, our furry children will understand.
Amanda says
Love the Zoonie of Burger- and “Zoonie” is a really funny name for them, so cute!
I have a blog post ready to go soon on this exact topic but these are my current favorite ways to “capture” your pet but still keep it classy enough for home decor: Gemini Art Studio’s Cat & Dog Collection (in addition to their awesome city collection too), http://www.etsy.com/shop/geministudio.
Sarah @ Dream In Domestic says
Oh my goodness, that is the cutest stuffed animal ever!! Burger looks so cute with his stuffed animal self! I have a little Scottish Terrier and I am always wanting to buy anything that has a reference to a Scottie. I ended up buying these salt and pepper shakers (http://www.dreamindomestic.com/2009/10/26/incredible-weekend-finds/) the second I saw them. Too cute! I notice that around this time of year there are Scottish Terriers on everything (wrapping paper, pajamas, slippers, Christmas cards, etc.) but they hardly get any recognition any other time of the year. It’s a shame, really.
Jamie Wright, REALTOR says
Adorable! I wonder if I could get a lifesize one of my 130 lb. newfoundland?! I also love the silhouette picture of Burger that is hanging on your wall collage…did you make that?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jamie,
Here’s the story of the Burger silhouette (which I actually got for Sherry on etsy.com). Hope it helps!
-John
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jamie,
Don’t know about the lifesize Zoonie, but can tell you we snagged the silhouette at http://cutarts.com/ a couple of years ago. Process was easy and it was pretty affordable, only about $30 if I remember correctly!
-John
annelise says
there’s a dutch artist making stuffed animals after people’s cats – they look great! here’s her website http://www.ploesiepoesie.nl/
Vic says
OK so we are just as obsessed with our fur babies in my house as you two are with Burger! We have several portraits around our house of our cats and dog done by the fabulous Kathy Weller (http://www.kathyweller.com/portraituregalle.html). Life isn’t truly complete without a little animal loving!
Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog says
That’s such a creative gift! I can imagine why Sherry went nuts over it :).
Ang says
Our babies have quite a few places in our house. In addition to the tons of photos, we had some artwork commissioned (more coming), as well as custom magnets.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Exception2Rules/bibbles_12.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Exception2Rules/CIMG1771.jpg
micaela@hishouse;herhelp. says
I dont know… i think that would scare me if i was a lil’ baby! those big eyes and ears! it looks so big buy maybe burger is just really small…?
Christine says
I had a small portrait painted of my little guy, Seamus McDog, based on some photos I emailed to the artist. The painting has a prominent spot in the living room. Now I need to have one made of his little sister, Piper. Any suggestions of artists doing smaller-scale paintings that aren’t terribly expensive (and preferably in the DC area or email accessible)??
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Christine,
We would definitely check out etsy.com for plenty of amazing portrait and pet artists out there who are affordable and extremely talented. You could just send over a picture and get something back in a week or two. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Danielle@Newlyweds Paradise says
I couldn’t tell which one was burger and which one was the toy! hehe…
angela says
that gift is too cute! looks exactly like burger!!
Liz says
So cute! I have a Christmas ornament that we hang on the tree that looks just like our pooch. In fact his very first Christmas, he snatched only one ornament off the tree as his own personal chew toy, and wouldn’t you know it, he took the one that looks like him. Fortunately I was able to save it before it was destroyed!
rachel says
Oh my gosh that is TOO cute! I love it! Good work, John!
Amanda says
When I bought my house, it had a trashy “Beware of Dog” sign on the fence. Plus, the whole house smelled like nasty dog (I’m convinced this is the single biggest reason I got the house for the amazing price I did) so as soon as I could, I ripped that sign off and threw it away.
Fast forward a couple months, the dog smell is gone, and I’m now foster mothering a sweet little dog who had been living in a kennel. I finally got around to dumping my little trash can out back into the big one, and at the bottom of it I saw the sign. It just struck me as funny for some reason, and now I have it propped up behind Misty’s food and water bowl. It’s like a silly reminder of the trashiness of my house when I first bought it and how far it’s come, plus it even looks kinda cute there.
Melissa says
Sweet! Bear tends to play with anything that resembles his toys, so I have to supervise his early interactions with other fuzzy things, like giving him a toy instead when he picked up the edge of a sheepskin rug. (And yesterday he started chewing on a piece of firewood, all excited to find a “stick” inside the house.)
My bathroom wall is going to have a photo arrangement of Bear in the James River to go with a river-inspired look (bright blue towels, light gray walls, some rocks and driftwood, looking for a river rock type bath rug).
Congrats on the baby news!
Amanda says
And by the way I love the mobile!
Katie says
I love it! We have WAY too many dog things around our house of our dog, Cooper. We even have one of those picture frames with his paw print in clay! We’re a little over the top… :)
Christina says
Love it!
We have a 9 year old bulldog and a 2 year old son, obvs one came way before the other. Bruno is still our first kid, and he knows it. We have a framed photo of him in our living room right in front of a family shot and Nate has two framed shots of Bruno in his room. They are like best friends! I hope your little bean and burger love each other as much- such a treat!!
Amy says
So cute!
We had been tossing around ideas for what color to paint our living room. We have a “blue” (gray) Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and we also happened to be looking into purplish/gray hues for the walls. We picked three colors to get samples of, and painted portions of the wall to see how it worked in the room, and made our final choice. When my mother-in-law visited and saw the color, she pointed out that we will be painting our walls almost the exact same color as our dog- and we had no idea. We joke now that as soon as we are done painting, Bo can complete some secret ops in the living room as long as he remains close to the wall!
Jessica M says
Very cute!
We have 2 black and white photos hanging up in our sunroom of our dog, Dancer, who we lost to lymphoma in February of this year. She was such a special part of our lives, and I love remembering her in her prime.
We adopted a yellow lab mix just a few months ago, and right now we just have photos on the fridge. But I will definitely be looking for a Christmas ornament in his likeness this year!
Rebecca Myers says
Does having getting your pet their own facebook count? My sister and I each have a cat. They have their own facebooks and are in a “relationship” together. Similar to Burger’s Blog!
YoungHouseLove says
That totally counts Rebecca! Love that they’re “in a relationship”- too funny.
xo,
s
Tiffany S. says
Ridiculously cute!
We have a mutt so it’s hard to find anything that looks like her. We have TONS of photos, of course (I even have one on my desk at work).
We have a Maine Coon cat and one mix and don’t really have them memorialized in anything. I feel like a bit of a slacker that way. I did try to do one of those portraits where the cat’s head was on a military uniformed, old-fashioned body but they just couldn’t do it right. I could probably Photoshop it myself if I had the time!
I’m sure the Bean will love both Burgers! Those felt ears are just made for nomming on!
Melissa Arlena says
Our dogs are our kids and we adore them, someday we will start on the human variety but for now we are content with our 4 legged mutts! As a photographer I have tons of pictures of our puppies. The ones I’ve used for decorating include a 20×30 gallery wrap over our couch of them on a dock at the lake(can be seen on my website too). Also across the room I have a portrait of each of them from our honeymoon matted and framed in silver 12×16 Ikea frames. When we redo our bedroom I have a plan to do a collage of each of them and hang them right over their beds.
To break away from the photo thing I took some leftover scrapbooking paper in the accent colors of the room and created small 5×5 pieces with their initials and again matted and framed them with Ikea frames. I’ve found scrapbooking paper is a great way to add some pops of color to a room. To balance out the large wrap of the dogs on the opposite wall I framed two 12×12 floral papers in orange hues (my accent color). I used 20×20 silver Ikea frames with cream matting and hung them flanking our tv. No one can believe they are just pieces of scrapbook paper! Best part is if I change my mind on colors I have a whole slew of new papers to choose from.
Joshua says
I just love the “burger 2.0” it is adorable…..it makes burger look so big and in charge :)
We have pictures all over the house of our two children( our dogs) we have that same “undescribable” relationship with our dogs just like u two :D Seems if there is an opportunity to click the camera with them being cute and adorable….we click away.
Leigh says
To commemorate our furbaby, we had a canvas custom-designed by Stephen Fowler of Gemini Studio Art in Chicago. http://www.geministudioart.com/
I came across his work and fell in love with his technique – his canvases have so much texture from the layering technique he uses. Everyone that I have told about his shop falls in love – great holiday gifts too. I just bought a gift card for someone. He also generously donated a piece to an SPCA charity auction I helped organize. LOVE HIM!
Check out his Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/geministudio John and Sherry, he has even done a chihuahua!!http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_1&listing_id=32610972&ga_search_query=chihuahua&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5577650
Carmen says
Insanely adorable!
Our basement (my husband’s man-cave)has a rustic theme complete with paintings of chocolate labs hunting.
I also did some sillhouettes of my girls a few months back and added one of our dog to the grouping. At a recent get together my mother-in-law told us to sit down for a family photo and Boone plopped himself right next to my daughter and looked directly at the camera the whole time (never happens when we want to take his picture). Seems only fitting that his likeness should be with our other children’s:)
Amanda says
Leigh, I love that you also love GSA in Chicago! I posted about it above too. I haven’t seen his work in person but just from on-line it seems amazing! I’m hoping when we head to Chicago after Christmas I’ll get the chance to see some in person.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for all the artist suggestions and fun links guys! We’ll definitely be checking them out and most likely drooling over more possible Burger paraphernalia for our house!
xo,
s
Laura@JourneyChic says
Oh my, that is too cute! I so want one modeled after my cat. :)
Meredith says
I for sure have a few framed pictures of my yorkie Oliver. I refer to him as my assistant although I rarely see him in my office during the day! We LOVE to take pictures of him doing funny things. I can’t imagine what it will be like when we have a baby!!! It might just be THE most pghotographed baby ever!! But my little Oliver will always have a special place in my heart!!
paintergal says
Seriously adorable!
And hey, congrats on the upcoming addition to the family!
Ashley M. [at] (never home)maker says
Aww. That really is super cute! We don’t decorate much with images of our cats — but I take enough photos of them both. Maybe I’ll make some prints and surprise my husband . . . :) Burger is certainly one of the most loved dogs around!
Erin says
I created a website just for him to share his adventures to our family members (because I’d write emails once a week updating them…)
http://www.pugglywuggly.blogspot.com
Ann says
Keeyute! Burger looks adorable sitting next to Burger 2.0!
I received a decorative artist plate of an English Springer Spaniel for Christmas one year, but it’s not displayed anywhere. We do have photos of our best friend Daisy around the house. Our first Springer, Casey, used to pull the boys (one at a time) when they were little in a sled during the winter. They would hang on to her leash while sitting on the saucer and she would go! She loved it as much as they did! Gosh, I miss her!
ChristineMarie says
John, you are super sweet! You and Sherry are going to make wonderful parents.