It's Great to be Eight - Baptism Gifts


You are bursting with pride and happiness, your eight year old daughter, niece, or granddaughter has just been baptised in her beautiful white dress that your grandmother made all those years ago for you. As her father lifts her up out of the water her face is beaming as she searches the crowd of family and friends for your face.

You are so pleased she has chosen to take this step to commit to choose from now on to follow God and do the best she can in life to help others.

Later on you give her a hug, her hair is still wet and she is still smiling. You hand her a carefully hand wrapped package that you hope will remind her of this day and how she feels in this moment.
Olivia's pearl and heart necklace

Last year a few of my friend's granddaughters, niece, and grandson turned eight and they requested special jewellery pieces to give as gifts to mark the occasion of their baptisms.  

Why is it a special occasion?

Baptism shows our willingness to follow Jesus Christ’s example and commit to dedicating our lives to the service of God.  It symbolises rebirth into a spiritual life; a clean slate and fresh start. 

In my religion at age eight or older children can choose to be baptised. We believe that young children are not accountable for their actions until the age of eight by which time they will have learnt to recognise the difference between right and wrong. We celebrate in a reverent way this special time when a child decides to follow Jesus Christ and be more meaningful in their actions and thoughts. 
Jessica's double heart friendship bracelet

These treasured keepsakes needed to be meaningful and heart felt so I took the design features into special consideration whilst making them:

They will last and look good for longer because they are made from precious materials. Sterling silver and freshwater pearls are precious and can be treasured.

Pearls symbolise purity and are perfect to remember the washing clean in the baptismal ceremony and to keep clean thoughts and actions. Pearls are also classic, they never go out of fashion and can be worn with any colour.

CTR is the primary children's moto, it stands for "Choose the Right”. Each time your child touches or sees their jewellery they will remember to make good choices and remember how they felt on this special day.

A personalised name or initial helps each child know that they are unique and special; they personally matter to you, their family, friends, and to God. This pieces is personal to them.

Each piece is adjustable so the jewellery will last into early adulthood (apart from the leather cuff which Logan’s grandad made so he will be able to make a larger one when needed). The bracelet has a sliding knot which I made sure fits over my own adult sized hand but is adjusted down to child size. And the necklace is 16 inches long which fits both adults and children nicely.

Hearts are the symbol of love :-) but you already knew that!
Logan's silver and leather cuff

Logan’s gift was a little different; I made the silver plaque but not the leather cuff. When his grandparents approached me for a gift I took some time to think of ideas for boy's jewellery. I remembered his Grandpa made leather crafts and suggested we collaborate and make a cuff. I felt it would be extra special if Grandpa also had a hand in the making the piece. They were thrilled with this idea and it turned out really well!

I really enjoy making jewellery for special occasions; from that moment on there is a lot of heart and excitement tied to the piece, that you remember every time you touch or see it. A lot of my personal jewellery pieces come with poignant memories. In fact I have my own silver baptism necklace preciously stored in my jewellery box from a treasured family friend. 

What memories does your jewellery box hold? Comment below and let me know.

Or contact me and let's make some new memory treasures. 




Natasha x


Natasha Fraser Handcrafted Jewellery
www.natashafraser.com 

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