Most christening gift ideas fall into two groups: things the baby will outgrow within a year, and silver. There is a reason silver has held its place for so long. It survives being put in a box for two decades, it does not date, and it can be handed on again later.
Christening gift ideas that are still there in twenty years
The test for any christening gift is simple: will it mean something when the child is old enough to understand it? That rules out a surprising amount.
- A small pendant with the date. Kept by the parents, given over at sixteen or eighteen.
- A first charm to start a bracelet that gets added to on later birthdays.
- A named keepsake disc. Not to be worn, just kept in the memory box with the certificate.
- A stone-set piece in the birth month colour, specific to that one child.
- A textured piece using a pressed impression of lace from the gown or a blanket.
What tends not to last: anything sized to fit now, and anything with a first name spelled in a style that will look of its decade.
Why handmade silver works for this
Silver clay is fine silver particles held in an organic binder. You shape it like modelling clay, let it dry, then fire it, and the binder burns away to leave 99.9% fine silver behind. The piece shrinks by roughly 8-10% as it fires, which only really matters if you are making something that has to fit. It is fired with a handheld torch on a heatproof surface, so there is no kiln involved.
That suits a christening gift well, because the pieces are small, they do not need to be sized, and the detail that matters is added while the clay is still soft. It is exactly the kind of work silver clay is good at.
Making the piece
Roll the clay to an even thickness and cut your shape. A disc, an oval or a simple heart all work. Press in the texture or stamp the initial and date while the clay is soft, keeping the stamps upright so the depth stays even. Make the hanging hole at this stage rather than after drying. Leave it to dry all the way through, then file the edges smooth. Fire it, quench it, and brush and burnish it up.
If you have not done this before, read how to use silver clay first, and the complete silver clay guide if you want to understand the material properly before you start.
The silver clay starter kit contains the clay, torch, tools, a cubic zirconia and instructions, and we ship worldwide with import duties covered.
A note on safety and storage
Nothing made this way should go anywhere near a baby. Small silver pieces are a choking hazard, and a christening gift is a gift for the future rather than for now. Give it to the parents in a box, with the date written down somewhere, and let it wait.
Fine silver tarnishes more slowly than sterling, which helps when a piece is going to sit in a drawer for years. Even so, a soft pouch or a closed box is worth the effort.
If you are giving it, say why
The thing that turns a small silver disc into an heirloom is not the metal. It is the note that goes with it explaining who made it, when, and what the marks on it mean. Write it now, while you remember.
