Jewelry Keepsakes

About two weeks ago I received a surprising e-mail. Hallie from Jewelry Keepsakes asked me to do a critique on a product of my choice. Jewelry Keepsakes offers a variety of jewelry items, specializing in cremation keepsakes, to remember loved ones that have passed away. They have a variety of items to choose from with prices ranging from $39.95 all the way to $305.95 for a keepsake made of titanium.

For a while now I've wondered what to do with Noah's ashes. The thought of sprinkling them someplace special appealed to me, but I hated the thought of not having him with us where ever we go. What if we moved? I never thought that there was an item, specifically jewelry, that I could put some of his ashes in and sprinkle the rest somewhere else. That way, no matter where we live, a little part of him would be with me.

I chose the delicate sterling silver bracelet with the dewy butterfly pendant. Butterflies remind me of my sweet little Noah. When it arrived in the mail, the kids, of course, begged to open it and I acquiesced (they had helped me choose the pendant and were as excited as I was that it had come.) It is a beautiful keepsake - much prettier in person than what the website picture shows! The silver links are strong and yet hang very gracefully.



I knew I would need some time, quiet time, uninterrupted by the little ones, to fill the pendant. Tom and I had talked. Gently he reminded me that Noah was not here anymore; his spirit does not live in that little box of ashes. It is just the remains of the flesh. I was thankful for the reminder. But opening up Noah's memory box, retrieving his ashes from the plain brown box that I bought, and holding again the plastic bag that contains the tiny amount of ash that was Noah's body was hard.

The bracelet came with a funnel, adhesive, and instructions on how to fill and seal the keepsake. I held the pendant and the funnel while Tom spooned in some of the finer ash. Though we did need two pairs of hands, didn't get the bail set in correctly the first time and had to scrap the glue off and try again, we did manage to get it filled, closed and glued fairly easily.


I highly recommend gluing the bail/screw in once you've filled it - the first time I wore it (before filling it) the pendant came off (it's quite possible that I hadn't screwed the bail in all the way.)  I had just dropped Danner off in the nursery at church, started back to the main auditorium, and realized it was gone - my heart sank. I retraced my steps and thankfully located it in Danner's carseat!


Also, before gluing it, screw the bail in all the way to make sure that all the ashes get pushed down and not in the way of the threads, and/or that you haven't over-filled it. Then back the bail out slightly, apply the glue, and screw it back down. We failed to do this and, we think, cross-threaded the bail after we had applied the glue. We weren't able to get the bail screwed in all the way, but you really can't tell unless you look at it very closely. The website says that you can use nail polish to help loosen the glue if you happen to set it improperly the first time. I'm pretty sure ours is in their good and tight, so I'm just going to leave it as is.

I plan on adding other charms to the bracelet to represent my other five kiddos, maybe something with their birth stones. We shall see. It'll be sweet to have them all together. I look forward to wearing it for years to come and having a little piece of Noah with me.

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