Pinkies and Piggies Keepsake Review

A few weeks ago, I shared how Daryl and I had made a mold of Evie's hand print for Pinkies and Piggies. You can refresh your memory here. Pinkies and Piggies is a local company started by Rachel, an artist who wanted to capture and preserve memories of her child's beautiful baby hands and feet. Rachel found a way to create glass replica's of her daughter's delightful digits. After having requests from other parents also wishing to preserve each tiny palm wrinkle, she created Pinkies and Piggies out of a studio in Whitehouse Ohio.

I really wanted to do this review because I was struck not only by the amazing product, but also by the story of the company. This was a mother in my area who wanted to freeze a memory of her child, like so many other mothers out there. She understands the importance of each tiny hand that she casts. It's a product made with love and respect, and that makes it even more precious.

Yesterday in the mail, we had a surprise waiting for us. It was Evie's glass keepsake! I was so eager to see how it turned out. I opened the box with Daryl and my mother in law. The three of us were amazed at how well the glass picked up the texture of Evie's delicate baby skin. In my previous post, I wrote that I was impressed with the detail of the hand print in the modeling compound, but I think that the glass shows even more detail that wasn't visible in the compound. Not only is each dominant wrinkle present, but so are the minute ripples and lines. The more we looked at the keepsake, the more details we noticed. It really feels like we are looking at Evie's actual hand.

It is difficult to take pictures of the details, especially since my Nikon is being repaired and all I have is our point and shoot camera, but I did my best to share with you the beauty of this hand print (okay, I might be a little biased towards "the beauty" of it, since it is my daughter's hand we're talking about!)
I really like the type of ribbon that was used to make the keepsake a hanging ornament. I was a little concerned that it would be strange to have a ribbon going through the palm, but because it is somewhat transparent, it is hardly noticeable. It is also placed at a point in the hand that gives it a very nice angle when it is hung.

The texture of the skin is amazingly detailed in the glass. Not only is each crease there, but other nuances of the hand print are made very clear. Not a tiny wrinkle is missed


Upon first glance, I was disappointed that the hand had not been engraved with Evie's name and the date that we took the hand print. However when we took a much closer look, we found the engraving. The light has to hit it at just the right angle. I didn't like this at first, and wished that the engraving were a little more clear. But the more that I looked at it, the more I realized what a distraction that would have been from the details of the actual hand print. Because it's glass, obviously you can see through it. So a deep engraving on the back would have shown through to the front. Although it was suggested to have the baby's birth date engraved, we thought it would be better to have the date of the hand print. Afterall, we know the day she was born, but I wanted something to document exactly how old her little fingers were when this was made.

We will certainly be making a mold for Jonah's hand, to commemorate both his second birthday as well as his becoming a big brother. We will be hanging the glass hands side by side. Although if you are planning on creating one for an older child, you need to keep in mind that the size of the tray for the modeling compound is five inches in diameter, and the hand/foot needs to fit into the tray flat without touching the edges.

We will also be getting duplicates of each keepsake as Christmas presents for both my parents and Daryl's parents. With Evie's keepsake, came an order form. Pinkies and Piggies will create other glass keepsakes from the same mold, for $40 each. At first this seemed a little pricey, but when I added up the cost of frames and portraits, we actually spent more money for grandparents' Christmas gifts last year by giving them professional portraits of the kids.

Typically when I write a review, I have at least a few negative things to say about the product. But I honestly could not find a single thing to criticize on this. I could not be happier with this keepsake.The detail of the hand could not be any clearer. It is such a unique idea to create a keepsake out of glass to treasure your child's hands and feet. And that it is an item handmade with love and care by a fellow mother local to me, is just icing on the cake. I will, without a doubt, be using Pinkies and Piggies as special gifts for new moms or moms-to-be, and I will always, always treasure this beautiful ornament.

*for the purpose of writing this review, Pinkies And Piggies provided me with a take-home impression kit and keepsake free of charge.