Forever hair?

August 31, 2006 7:52 AM

I have a strand of hair in my possession that I'd like to keep with me always. What's the best way to go about it?

It belong to my father who's since passed away. I thought of casting it in acrylic and turning it into a keychain or something but I'd love to hear more ideas.

posted by mordecai to human relations (15 comments total)

Do the old traditional- put it in a locket.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:54 AM on August 31, 2006 [1 favorite]

Poison ring?
posted by electroboy at 7:57 AM on August 31, 2006

The Victorians did lots of interesting artistic things with hair. Try poking around the Hairwork Society's pages and see if anything strikes your fancy.

My favorite museum piece was a woven piece made of the husband's and wife's hair - different colors, so they really stood out. It was simply framed, with their names in copperplate beneath it.
posted by cobaltnine at 8:11 AM on August 31, 2006

amber....put it in amber
posted by killyb at 8:48 AM on August 31, 2006

If you just need a practical solution for keeping it near you then those small indetity tag capsules for dogs and cats work well for stuff like this and can be attached to a chain or bracelet. They have a rolled up slip of paper inside with name and address details, throw that away and you could put the hair in it. I bought quite an expensive small silver one that had a glass body so you could see the contents and it looked great on a chain. Variation on a glass locket I suppose and a jeweller would probably have something similar if you wanted something more showy and expensive.

Here are some examples.
posted by fire&wings at 8:51 AM on August 31, 2006

I wouldn't want to carry it around town with me for fear of losing it. I had did the same thing with a locket of hair once, and kept it in a small silver box on my dresser. I just liked knowing it was there if I ever wanted to reflect on my time with that person.
posted by missmobtown at 8:54 AM on August 31, 2006

How can you put something in amber?
posted by crabintheocean at 9:10 AM on August 31, 2006

when my friend's father passed away, her mom and her sisters all had hollow silver bracelets made with a lock of the dad's hair in one side, and his ashes on the other side.
posted by j at 9:39 AM on August 31, 2006

as the pinksuperhero says, the locket's a classic, I'd do that

and my condolescenses for your loss
posted by matteo at 9:56 AM on August 31, 2006

one more thing, maybe offtopic: I know it sounds kinda corny, but if you have a cellphone, try keeping a photo of him in it, maybe not as a screen image but in a folder. opening it every once in a while, when you really miss him, works for more than a few people, it's a bit comforting
posted by matteo at 10:00 AM on August 31, 2006

I wouldn't want to carry it around town with me for fear of losing it. I had did the same thing with a locket of hair once, and kept it in a small silver box on my dresser.

I would advise another place - that's the first place burglars go to looking for stuff to take. I lost a lot of sentimental jewelry I wish I had hidden a bit better.
posted by agregoli at 11:15 AM on August 31, 2006

The couple times I've wanted to do this I laminated a strand. The lamination was cut to the size of a credit card which is conveniently held in most wallets.
posted by Mitheral at 11:51 AM on August 31, 2006

I just watched "Underworld: Evolution". Victor had his locket surgically grafted onto his ribcage inside his body. :)

Does the lock need to stay together? Eg, could you put some in a locket, some in amber (and then mount the amber in a ring or keyring?). Not have all your eggs in one basket, so to speak?
Craft stores sell miniature glass bottles (less than an inch long) with tiny matching corks as keepsake bottles for this kind of thing. Mount it in a display along with your favourite photograph?
posted by -harlequin- at 3:12 PM on August 31, 2006

"How can you put something in amber?"

From the internet, this might be a way: "It is possible to melt amber pebbles and press them to bigger lumps. It then becomes harder, and less brilliant when cut. Any color can be added in this procedure. This pressed amber is still considered as natural amber by some producers."

But me, I just add an orange dye to resin or epoxy :-)
posted by -harlequin- at 3:17 PM on August 31, 2006

You could put it in a frame with a photo of your Dad. Choose a mat color that compliments the hair. The pressure of the frame backing against the mat and glass should hold it without damage in case you ever want to do something else with it.
posted by BoscosMom at 1:34 AM on September 3, 2006