The complete guide
What to do with cremation ashes
Give their ashes the home they deserve.
Beyond the urn on the mantelpiece — memorial trees, hand-blown glass, scatter ceremonies, and a few extraordinary options you’ve probably never heard of. Explore them all below.
Keepsakes & jewelry
Ashes pendant or necklace
A small portion of ashes sealed inside a wearable piece of jewelry. Worn close to the heart, every day.
Keepsake urn necklace
A pendant or locket with a small screw-top chamber you fill yourself with a pinch of ashes. Worn close, opened only when you choose. Often sold in sets so several family members can each carry a portion.
Cremation Ring
A ring with a small chamber for ashes, or with ashes set into resin or glass as the stone.
Cremation Bracelet
A discreet wearable with a small ashes chamber or engraved memorial details.
Rear-view mirror keepsake
A small charm that hangs from a car mirror, holding a pinch of ashes. For someone who loved driving.
Display & home
Traditional Cremation Urn
A ceramic, brass, or hardwood urn for the mantelpiece. The most common and time-honoured choice.
A handmade wooden urn
Hand-turned or carved by a craftsperson rather than mass-produced. Each one carries the grain and warmth of natural wood.
A biodegradable urn
Made from salt, paper, sand, or plant fibers — designed to dissolve in water or break down in soil. A natural vessel for burial, tree planting, or a gentle release into the sea.
A vase or candle urn
A vase with a hidden compartment for ashes; the top holds flowers or a candle. Easy to live with day-to-day.
An hourglass urn
A working hourglass with ashes flowing as sand. A quiet reminder to live fully.
A meaningful vessel from their life
A vintage whiskey bottle, cigar humidor, fishing tackle box, or guitar case. Whatever spoke to who they were.
Scattering & releasing
Scatter at sea
A boat charter takes the family offshore. Water-soluble urns dissolve gently in the water.
Scatter at a national park
A free permit is usually required. Worth the paperwork for the setting.
Aerial scattering from a plane
A specialist pilot scatters from a small aircraft over land or sea. Many providers offer memorial videos.
Released with a balloon
A silver helium balloon, written with a message, carries the ashes or accompanies their scattering.
Released in paper lanterns over water
Biodegradable lanterns, lit and released over a beach, lake, or river.
Living memorials
Plant a memorial tree
A biodegradable urn holds ashes with a seed or sapling. Grows into a living memorial.
Memorial coral reef
Ashes mixed into a reef ball, placed on the ocean floor as marine habitat. Coordinates given to the family.
A memorial garden or rose bush
Plant ashes mixed with soil beneath a rose, fruit tree, or garden corner.
Use Ashes For Fertilizer
Specialist soil amendments neutralise the high pH of cremation ashes and turn them into a slow-release fertiliser. Used on a lawn, vegetable patch, or specific tree that mattered to them.
Art & transformation
Hand-blown glass art with ashes
A glass artist incorporates ashes into a paperweight, ornament, or sculpture.
A cremation sun catcher
A small hand-blown glass disc or teardrop with ashes fused into the glass, hung in a window so morning light passes through it. A quiet daily ritual.
A memorial glass orb
A larger blown-glass sphere with ashes incorporated as colored swirls. Displayed on a stand or shelf as a centerpiece of remembrance — the swirls catch light from every angle.
Glass memorial marbles
A teaspoon of ashes makes one marble. Ideal for dividing among children or grandchildren.
A portrait painted with ashes
An artist mixes a small amount of ashes into the paint used to create their portrait.
Pressed into a vinyl record
Specialist studios press ashes into a playable record with music or a voice recording.
Memorial diamond
Carbon extracted from ashes grown into a real lab-cultivated diamond, set into jewelry.
Pencils from cremation carbon
Around 240 pencils made from a body's carbon. The box of shavings becomes the urn.
Spiritual & ceremonial
Interment at a cemetery
Burial of the urn in a family plot. A permanent place to visit.
A columbarium niche
An architectural alcove inside a cemetery, church, or memorial garden.
Launched into space
Memorial spaceflights that orbit Earth, reach the moon, or travel into deep space.
Memorial tattoo with ashes
A small amount of ashes mixed into tattoo ink. Permanent, intimate, worn quietly.
Bold & unconventional
Memorial fireworks display
Ashes incorporated into fireworks that light up the sky in colour as the family watches.
Ashes in ammunition
For a hunter — ashes loaded into cartridges for a final shoot or kept as a tribute.
Scattered over a vineyard
Ashes scattered over vineyard land with the owner's permission. For someone who loved wine.
Pressed into frisbees or sports gear
Ashes mixed into the plastic of frisbees, golf balls, fishing lures, or pool cues.
