How A Dog Collection Came Together

 "Mickey" painted by Olive Cullivan in 1955

 Have you ever admired mass groupings of things?

 They are called collections~ it sounds so important.

All it really is though, is putting all of the same types of things together 

so you can look at them in one spot.

Sounds pretty simple and it is...

but even I didn't realize that I had the

 makings of a dog collection right underneath my nose. 

Above on my bookcase you can see a collection of small containers and boxes, 

and then you can see a pair of labrador retriever statues that belong to my husband. 

He used to have a yellow lab and these bring Buster to mind. 

Mr. MD also had a bunch of other dog figurines laying about here and there,

 some still next doors in his childhood bedroom.

 After visiting with designer Betsy Speert, 

I became enchanted with her dog collections,

 which were totally amazing!

  Shortly there after I saw this little

 bronze terrier at an antique co-op and I snatched him up.

  Betsy's collection had inspired me to want my own~

and then I realized we had quite a few dog figurines ourselves,

so I started assembling them and it was so much fun!

 The two labs sit in front of a ribbon Buster won long ago.

 That grumpy looking bronze dog is hubs too.

This french bulldog came from an Etsy seller

 and hubs had the larger bronze terrier in his collection.

At an auction I bid on this bamboo style shelf for $10 because no one else wanted it~

I am glad I did, because it ended up being a great place to set up the dogs.

 The big chalkware figure is very old and belongs to my mother in law.

 It was her mother's and it is the spitting image of her childhood dog, Tiny. 

Not all of the dogs have a nice pedigree, just like in real life. 

I tucked in a squirrel that my grandfather carved.

Dogs love to chase squirrels.

 This is a small oil painting my grammy did of her family dog, Mickey.

 She painted it in 1955.

I have loved this painting forever and finally

 asked my dad if I could have it. 

I credit my grammy for a lot of my artistic abilities, 

and I am thrilled I can have one of her paintings.

Inspired by a post on croquet by Alison at The Polo House blog, 

I decided to add some pieces from our old croquet set.

The bronze boxers were from Dave's childhood too.

 A charming little dog collection might be my husband's favorite thing I have done.

It brings his childhood things together so that he can enjoy them on a daily basis.

My grammy's painting makes me smile each time I see it~

Do you have a collection just waiting for you to assemble?
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