The Ultimate Guide to Breastmilk Jewellery

We were one of the early breastmilk jewellery artists and over a decade later we're still helping mums to preserve their liquid gold forever. Whether you're a new parent looking for something for yourself or your partner, or you want a unique gift for a breastfeeding friend, we are the experts. You can order from anywhere in the world.

Breastfeeding Journey

Breastfeeding is one of the most special journeys you can take with your child and with just a teaspoon of milk we can help you keep hold of a physical connection to those moments long after your freezer has been destashed.

If you're anything like me, it wasn't always an easy ride. I once did a "breastfeeding bingo" sheet and embarassingly enough, ticked off well over half of them from breastfeeding after breast surgery to mastitis and tongue tie. But not for a second would I wish I hadn't. I genuinely had some unresolved breastfeeding trauma after my first stopped nursing abruptly and with the help of La Leche League I was healed and excited for the birth of my second. Breastfeeding or chestfeeding can be a rollercoaster and that's why so many of us want to mark it with a little token keepsake.

So What Is Breastmilk Jewellery

We professionally preserve a small amount of your breastmilk with natural preservatives and heat then dry it completely. We mix it with a high quality, yellowing-resistant resin from Japan and set it in your chosen jewellery. Just follow our resin jewellery care instructions to ensure it stays perfect for decades to come.

 

You can be nursing, pumping, or combi-feeding, so long as you can express a few ml and get it to us safely, we can make you breastmilk jewellery. You can use freezer stash milk too, we've worked with milk over ten years old. Breastmilk jewellery is a tiny piece of art to commemorate your breastfeeding journey. This guide will cover how it works, design options, and safety to keep it looking its best.

What is Breastmilk Jewellery & How is it Made?

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  Demystifying the Art: Raw breastmilk cannot just be poured into a setting. Even if it's mixed with resin first, it will quickly start to rot. It must be professionally preserved.

  
  


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  The Process: Breastmilk jewellery has been around since the 1990's but still isn't generally well-known. We neutralize the good and bad bacteria, dry it completely and grind it into a fine powder. We turn it back into a liquid with really high quality UV resin and it remains gem-like for decades without discoloring or spoiling.

  
  


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  The Expert Authority: I don't just make breastmilk jewellery; I teach the world how to do it. I literally wrote the curriculum for breastmilk preservation at Keepsaker Supplies and there's a book coming soon. We use the breastmilk preservation powder that we sell by the litre on our other website. If you're interested in DIY please scroll all the way down for one of my free YouTube tutorials.

  
  

The Tree of Opals Difference: Ethics & Safety

We are a mum-run business established in 2015, everything is handmade in our workshop in Bath, Somerset studio. Joanna has been helping me with admin from the very beginning and this amazing business has supported us to grow our families. My mum, Chrissie, helps me with all the packaging (even making the little wish bracelets we send with orders) and at the time of writing, we have Anna helping with sending orders, Sarah P works with inclusions as an artist, Marzena preserves the breastmilk and makes the silicone moulds and Sarah H keeps our accounts in order. I'm looking for an in-house jewellery production assistant and someone to help with digital art and engraving.

I've been honoured to appear in newspapers, magazines, radio interviews and even on TV! In 2017 I was on This Morning and Holly Willoughby said wished she still had some milk in the freezer. In two weeks I'll be teaching on At The Bench and I'm talking with The Argentium Guild about being on their podcast.

Ethics
I always use recycled precious metals such as Argentium silver and EcoGold. We're a Paper-Free certified business and proudly pay our staff a living wage. I blog about recycling and lowering waste in the workshop. I teach methods that conserve plastic and we don't use single-use plastic at all! We're always happy to help new artists and provide affordable options to anyone working to a budget.

The QR Code System
We use a foolproof QR tracking system, just follow the instructions. You don't need to be terrified of losing your milk; you'll be able to track it too and we get a notification the second it arrives, so we can collect it from the postroom and from there it is digitally logged and safely stored. Any unused frozen milk is safely retained for at least a couple of years and we keep the dried milk indefinitely.

Designing Your Keepsake: Endless Possibilities

Settings for Every Budget
We offer affordable black ceramic, high quality solid silver, durable gold filled and luxury hallmarked solid gold settings.

Styles
From rings to beads and dangle charms for Thomas Sabo and Pandora style bracelets, to necklaces, lockets, cufflinks and accessories. We are size inclusive from rings in a size C to Z+6 and beyond, necklace chains from 14"/35cm to 30"/75cm or more, all body types deserve beautiful jewellery.

Colours & Sparkle
Classic milk, left completely natural will always be our best seller but we have unlimited options for colour and shimmer inclusions. You can ask for a subtle pearlescent and/or tint all the way up to bold options like rainbows and our famous blue lagoon colourway. Bling options like precious metal leaf (like gold or platinum leaf), dried flowers, bello opal and glitters look amazing against a simple milky background and birthstone opals are included for free. Just ask for what you'd like in the comments or say "something blue and green, extra sparkly" to see what our artists come up with.

Maximum Personalisation: Engraving & Additional Inclusions

Free Engraving
We don't charge for engraving, we can engrave standard text/fonts, or deeply personal items like a baby's actual footprint, a scan photo, or your partner's handwriting. Every single piece is engravable but if it's not, we can provide a small matching accessory.

Mixing Inclusions
Breastmilk plays well with others! You can add an combination of:

• baby’s first curl (including vernix if you can save a piece from baby's first few days earthside)


• a piece of umbilical cord stump after it falls off around a week after baby's born


• preserved placenta powder


• dried petals and flowers


• baby's birthstone (we use bello opal in birthstone colours)

Boobie Awards
Breastfeeding milestone awards, nursiversaries or "boobie awards" are our speciality. From amethyst coloured bello opal to represent "we tried our best" to diamond powder for two years' breastfeeding and beyond. We have special awards that we developed here on Tree of Opals for things like "breastfeeding a disabled baby", "chestfeeding dad" and "tandem nursing".

Sending Your Milk

We will send you a kit around a week after you order with two tubes. Just fill the tubes to somewhere between the two lines (about 15ml, or half an ounce). You can run a bag of frozen breastmilk under a tap to defrost enough for the tubes then pop that back in the freezer and the rest can still be fed to your baby. If you have low supply then a single spoonful is enough. Please let us know and we'll give you special instructions. We can work with as little as 1ml but usually ask you to aim for 3ml then if possible, keep another 3ml back in the freezer at home, just in case.

Age of the Milk: Our #1 FAQ: "Can I use old milk?" Yes! Milk that is a decade old is perfectly fine, as long as it has been stored in the freezer and isn't moldy. Even if milk doesn't exactly smell the freshest when it reaches us, we can still use it, so long as there's no mould growth.

Every Drop Tells a Story

...of late nights and deep love.

The smell of your skin
Cuddling you into my chest
Let the Life Milk flow
—Melynda Petersen

When you're ready to turn your liquid gold into a forever heirloom, we can help you. Browse our breastmilk jewellery collection today and we can offer payment plan options and support to find the right piece. We take international orders and will help you with sending your milk. Let us create a baby keepsake you can cherish for a lifetime and hand down to your baby when they're all grown up.