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.
Jordy is very jealous of Burger’s mini-me. So cute!
Looks like a South Park character!
I love it. My own favorite pet-related decor is a “Warhol” my husband did of our cat. You know, the kind with the four squares of different colors on a stylized portrait? I love it, especially now that our kitty is no longer with us.
For Christine, who was looking for an artist that does smaller-scale pet portraits, check out http://gadorawilder.com/category/animal-prints/. Her portraits are beautiful, generally 5×7, and affordable. Highly recommend!
We had a ceramic cake topper made(though we didn’t use it for the cake topper, only as guest book table decor) with our dog Bella and us for our wedding; the cake topper now resides on the shelf of the entertainment center. We also have a framed picture of Bella on the front page of Washingtonian magazine (she wasn’t really on the magazine – it was a special a few years ago where you could have your pet’s image put on it, not sure if they still do it or not). We’re about as crazy about Bella as you guys are about Burger!
Who did the cute cartoony pic in the upper left of Burger?
PS: Congrats on your pregnancy!
Hey Barbara,
That was actually a drawing that my friend Heather did on “my graffiti wall” in Facebook. I loved her doodle so much I printed it out and framed it!
xo,
s
Love it! You are so clever John. I’m sure both Burger and your little Bean will love each other….kids naturally love dogs, so you are already 50% there!
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but everyone told us and we didn’t believe it ’til it happened: after the baby comes, Burger will probably lose his status as a “child” and be demoted to “just a dog”. :( We have a little blue merle Sheltie who was our BABY for 2 years until our daughter arrived. I swore up and down that my feelings for Duncan wouldn’t change and I even had a hard time imagining loving the baby as much as I loved our little dog… but then that little baby comes along and suddenly, the dog is just that — a dog. :( Of course we still love him dearly, and I felt so badly for him when I had to kick him off the bed when I was changing our daughter or playing with her, but she comes first no matter what, and that can be a hard adjustment to make.
Don’t mean to be a downer at all… just thought I’d give you the warning I failed to heed.
Congratulations on the pregnancy by the way. I’ve been following you guys for a while and love all of your great ideas, positive energy, and well-written posts. Your child is very lucky to be born with such parents and you’re going to absolutely love being parents. Nothing beats it. :)
Love this! Our chocolate lab is in lots of pictures, but not rendered in felt yet! Her only contribution to our decor is a pee stain on the rug.
I just added a new “roscoe original” to my art wall in the studio. My good freind Denise did it just for me. :) Click on over and take a look. He’s the cutest dog in the world (although I’m pretty sure you think Burger is too, huh?)
http://www.kellylautenbach.typepad.com
I wish I had friends that could draw!! That picture of Burger is my favorite of all of them. I think it captures his “fun” nature…
He looks so handsome next to his twin!!
We have two mixed breeds (aka mutts) so it’s hard to find anything pre-made that looks like them. We do have pictures of them in our sunroom though. That Burger pillow is too cute!
I love, love the felt burger! So cute.
Holy hell. I need one of these. I love my dog and even named my little blog after her…
Christine with Piper and Seamus: I commissioned a portrait by Jennifer Dunnett in the UK as a surprise for a friend a couple of years ago, and she did an amazing job! Her prices are very reasonable, and we did everything through email. No problems at all even though I’m in the US. I recommend her to everyone!
http://commissionworks4pets.com/index.php
The zoonie of Burger IS adorable, and congrats on your pregnancy.
As a mom of 3, now teenaged, children, it’s lovely to see all your enthusiasm and care. You’ll make wonderful parents.
I’m a mom, and I’m also a physician, so while I look at zoonie Burger and see cuteness, I also see a yellow “B” tag that’s a choking hazard.
You probably already knew that, and I don’t mean to be a downer. But I’ve been following your blog, which I love and has been massively helpful to me, for a while, and I can’t help feeling protective towards your new little one.
(Please feel free not to post this if you feel it’s inappropriate, with my apologies)
Hey Rebecca,
Great point! As hyper pet parents we did notice the tag is a choking hazard for little Burger (even though he’s not allowed to chew on Burger 2.0!) so we’re certainly aware that we can’t leave our Zoonie laying around for the baby to chew on. Instead we pictured Burger 2.0 sitting on a high shelf and once the baby gets old enough to actually interact with “him” then we’ll clip that little tag right off just to be safe (and put it in our little memory box for safe keeping). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
My mother surprised us with a painting of our pug (The Colonel Hoof Hearted) at our rehearsal dinner this past October. I happily call our little man our “love child” and the painting is our favorite wedding present. She had it painted from a photo I sent her to show off him (of course) and our new kitchen rug. I’ve been voting for it to go up in our kitchen, but my husband is worried that something may get on it while I try out my budding cooking skills.
This is me receiving it:
http://www5.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=681825027/PictureID=21714100027/a=654852027_654852027/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
I tried to make a heart with my fingers over his face, but that didn’t work out.
http://www5.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=681825027/PictureID=21720388027/a=654852027_654852027/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Other than this, we have two needlepoint pug throw pillows. I believe we may become “those people.”
The felt Burger is just too cute! I love it. I just posted on my blog today about my most recent dog portraits. :) http://www.mothballcharlie.com
Hi,
that is just soooooo cute!
We have no dogs or cats here, but used to have six guinea pigs (two died of old age this year), but I have not hung any pictures or other guinea pig related decor in the past. Maybe this post encourages me to do so in the future :) . Did you know there are guinea pigs looking like Siamese cats? White with brown ears, nose and feet? They are called himalayan and we own one of them. I imagine a photo of her in front of a white background, hung in a white or brown frame… maybe I’ll get my camera out this weekend :)
I LOVE it! Way to go John…you just set the bar VERY VERY high. But no worries, I’m totally sure you can live up to it. Y’all are so cute!
What a great gift!
My nursery is inspired by our poodle. I feel like it helps to really combine all the elements of our family, from human to furbaby.
Hi!
If you are looking for another way to immortalize not only Burger but your new little one, may I suggest http://www.customcanvases.com? They take photos of you, your pets or pretty much anything else and turn them into handpainted originals. We have commissioned several over the years and not only is Elyas great to work with, the end result is beautiful. I gave my husband a large portrait of us from our wedding and a good friend gave me a portrait of our cat which is one of my favorites. They have also been kind enough to donate gift certificates to one of the yearly fundraisers for the Fredericksburg SPCA.
Sorry for the double post…I forgot to include a link to our painting…http://farm1.static.flickr.com/40/101281685_0676d632c3_o.gif. The link is to the original proof and the final painting is even better. Enjoy!
I love it! Yes… our chocolate lab, Bailey, is also the favorite (and only at the moment) child in our family. For my husband’s birthday this year, I gave him a canvas with her face painted on it. It is now hanging in our office. Here is a pic:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lck5MhGIBm0/SbOo11IQ_NI/AAAAAAAAAn0/wqPgz4k42Ng/s1600-h/Picture+009.jpg
I soooo want one of our mutt Mo. I’ve already been to her website. I am going to custom order our Mo zoonie tonight! Will she contact me after I purchase a custom zoonie via paypal? There doesn’t really seem to be any other way to contact her. I’m hoping she’s easy to wok with!
That’s so exciting! She’s super nice and easy to work with so I’m sure if you leave a note about contacting you when you submit your order she’ll be in touch. Have fun!