What can you do with your ashes?

Of course, not everyone is cremated. The examples where ** is written are possible with ash as well as with a lock of hair.

An urn is the first thing that comes to mind when you choose cremation. This urn can be placed at home or in a nice spot in the garden. It can also be placed in an urn garden, urn gallery or even an urn grave.

A final resting place at sea is a great choice for people who love the sea. There are two options for this: the sea urn and a memorial reef.

The sea urn is a paper urn that can be launched at sea. The sea urn will float around for a while before sinking to the bottom. Another option is a memorial coral. Your ashes are mixed with special cement and poured into a mould. When the cement is dry, the cast is placed on the seabed and a new coral reef can be created.

Just as well-known as the classic urn is the scattering of the ashes. This can be done in a cemetery, on the grounds of the chosen crematorium, or on a special scattering field. But you can also choose your own location in nature or, for example, at sea. You can even be scattered from a hot air balloon or helium balloon. Ask the municipality where the ashes are scattered and what is and is not allowed. If you want to scatter the ashes on the territory of an owner other than the municipality, you must ask their permission.

You can also choose to scatter your ashes with a tolad. This is a type of walking stick with a reservoir, which leaves a small amount of material with each movement. For the bereaved who enjoy hiking, this is a wonderful way to take one last walk with you. It could be your favourite path or the walk or hike you would have liked to have taken.

Many people have fond memories of water, water sports or a location near the water. You also have urn boats for this, to allow the scattering of ashes to take place from almost every bank or during a boat trip. The urn boat floats on calm water for 10 to 15 minutes and then disappears underwater with dignity.

The urn boat is a bio-urn. It is made of 100% natural material without any artificial additives. Once at the bottom, the urn boat will fall apart and the material and ashes will return to nature.

There are a lot of possibilities when it comes to jewellery with a little ash (or hair) of a loved one in it. The most well-known of these are ash pendants that are filled with a small amount of ashes after the cremation. In addition to ash pendants, there are also bracelets and rings where this is possible. Ash pendants are often not so subtle. Due to the hollow space that these pieces of jewellery contain, they can feel a bit thick and large.

Fortunately, the technique of jewellers is so advanced nowadays that a small amount of ashes can also be concealed in a small 'hole' of an ordinary piece of jewellery. The ashes are then placed in the hole and covered so that the ashes chamber becomes one with the jewellery. In this way, a small amount of ash can be invisibly put into pendants, bracelets, charms, rings and even earrings. If you like to keep the ash particles visible, an ash ornament with epoxy is an option. These can be made in any colour and even glow-in-the-dark. In this way, each piece of ash is a small star in the jewellery.

Nowadays it is even possible to have a synthetic diamond made from your ashes. It has the same properties as a real diamond. The diamond is made by removing the carbon from the ash, which is then heated into graphite which goes into a special hot-pressure chamber. This pressure chamber mimics the depth at which real diamonds are formed (1500 meters). Due to the heat, the ash forms diamond in a few months, instead of thousands of years. Then you can have it incorporated into a new or existing piece of jewelry.

You can also store ashes and hair in memorial stones. This can be an ordinary stone, but also a special hand-painted stone. At the bottom of these memorial stones is a space for the ashes that can be enclosed. This way you have a small tangible memory that you can easily fit in your hand and even take with you.

In addition to memorial stones and ornate urns, you can also choose to place a photo frame with ashes in your home. Ash photo frames come in various shapes and sizes and the frame contains a small subtle ash holder that can hold a symbolic amount of ashes. Usually, the holder is a tube or a heart, but there are also photo frames made entirely of epoxy with ash.

Perhaps even more beautiful than an urn in the garden is a memorial tree. You can give these a nice spot in your own garden, but also at some cemeteries and crematoriums. You can choose from different types of trees, each with its own symbolism. The ashes can be added to the soil during planting, or placed in a special urn near the tree. This special urn is made of natural material and will eventually blend into the earth.

A little ash can actually be mixed into everything. It can be mixed into the paint for a painting, but also, for example, in hand-blown glass or a beautiful sculpture. One of the possibilities is to have a sculpture made while you are still there. For example, a porcelain sculpture of two interlocked hands in which ashes can be placed afterwards.

At various art and ceramics studios, you can find a beautiful work of art in memory. At some studios, it is even possible to help create a work of art. This, in turn, can also have a therapeutic effect and provide a lot of comfort.

It is possible to get a tattoo in which the ashes are incorporated into the ink. A nice thought, of course, but in reality, there are quite a few snags to this memory. Ash is not sterile and after this trend emerged a few years ago, there has been extensive research. This research found that adding ashes to tattoo ink contaminates the ink. Ash contains metals, dioxins, furans and other substances that you don't want in a wound. This can result in serious infections and permanent damage to the skin.

It is forbidden for a tattoo artist to tattoo with contaminated ink. It should only be diluted with sterile water or a special diluent. For this reason, most tattoo artists won’t provide a tattoo with ashes as it could cost them their permit. If you do come across an artist who is willing to create a tattoo with ashes, you will have to sign a contract that they are not liable. There is a chance that this artist tattoos without a license from the NVWA.

A good tattoo artist will therefore usually offer an alternative such as a memorial tattoo where a candle is burned for the deceased during the setting.