Creative cremains

What is this, you ask? It is one of 8,000 sealed cans of unclaimed cremated human ashes that have accumulated since 1883 at the Oregon State Hospital. A photographer has found the corrosion on these copper containers - the cremains of psychiatric patients within - worthy of documentation in a book called Library of Dust. Most funeral homes have a closet full of unclaimed cremains, though probably not quite so many. But if you would like to ensure that your dust does not gather dust of its own, there is a growing number of creative options for your ashes:
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Incorporate them into a painting At Ash2Art, British artist Val Thompson will be happy to mix a vial of cremains with acrylic paint and fill a canvas with an image based on a photograph of a place that was special to you. "I know the idea of painting using someone's ashes may seem bizarre to some people," she says, "but everyone I have spoken to about it thinks it is a great idea." If you prefer an abstract oil painting by Mona, that too is available.
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Fashion them into a diamond LifeGem offers a service that will transform human ashes into a gem that can then be incorporated into one or more pieces of keepsake jewelry. The process involves subjecting the carbon captured from cremains to high heat and then high pressure. The resulting raw diamond is cut to your specifications by a gemologist. "Like the most precious and rare natural diamonds, the LifeGem process allows you to choose from a range of carats, cuts, and colors." Alternatively, many companies offer to enclose portions of the ashes in lockets that can be distributed among the mourners.
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Send them into space Celestis will launch a symbolic portion of human cremated remains into orbit, into deep space, or - soon - onto the surface of the moon. A memorial spaceflight that returns the cremains to earth is also available. "A mission of purpose, a commemoration of love, a dream fulfilled, a step into the universe."
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Embed them in a reef Eternal Reefs uses cremains in the casting of artificial reefs that are sunk along the East Coast in areas designated for fishing and diving recreation. Cremains may also become part of the Memorial Reef off the coast of Miami, which is maintained by the Neptune Society and has an interesting interactive component.
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Convert them into potting soil The Ancestral Tree marries the cremated remains to the soil used in the art of Bonsai, attaches an engraved plaque to the container, nurtures a 24" Memorial Bonsai tree for 30 days, and then ships it by overnight air.
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Scatter them from a plane Air Legacy is one of many companies that will release cremains into the air at 500-2,000' altitudes, "...lending dignity over simply just spreading the ashes on the ground."
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Send them up in a balloon The Eternal Ascent Society will place the cremains into a 5' biodegradable balloon, inflate it with helium, and release it. The balloon will ascend to 30,000' and burst, scattering the ashes to the four winds. "It's a fitting farewell."
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Explode them as fireworks Angels Flight will pack the cremains into fireworks and illuminate the sky with them. "Bursting over the ocean in exquisite patterns and colors, the cremains are scattered into the sea." Heaven Above Fireworks offers the service in the U.K. and will even modify such fireworks for self-firing.
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Fire them from a shotgun Many articles about cremains disposition mention the option of loading them into shotgun shells, but I could not find a company that offers this service for humans - just dogs - but I did find mention of a do-it-yourselfer.
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Make them into pencils Artist Nadine Jarvis has designed a unique memorial by fusing the cremains with graphite so that they can be made into 240 personalized pencils. The sharpenings go back into the special dispenser, which eventually becomes an urn for them. Jarvis has also blended cremains with birdseed to form a fully functional birdfeeder, from which they will be carried away bit by bit.
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Craft them into sculpture As just one example, Cremation Solutions will form a glass globe in which a portion of the cremation ashes will show as a white streak. They also offer personal urns that turn a photograph into a 3-dimensional portrait to hold the cremains and urns that double as clocks, music boxes, or birdhouses.
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Form them into Christmas ornaments In the Light Urns sells Christmas ornaments that incorporate a small amount of cremated remains. They also offer the largest collection of sports urns.
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Inter them beneath a putting green In a service called "Forever on the Green" at Catawba Memorial Park in Hickory, North Carolina, cremains can be poured down one of two practice holes leading to an ossuary beneath a putting green.
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Make them into a memorial tablet Relict Memorials will cast a slab that incorporates cremains and attach a memorial plaque, so that the result can be placed in a cemetery, in the garden, or on a wall as a permanent monument that can be relocated as necessary.
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Include them in a time capsule I can't find a website, but a Reno, Nevada, company called LegaSEA is said to make a bronze and glass combination memorial urn and time capsule that it deploys in international waters so that it rests for eternity on the sea floor - unless discovered by future archaeologists.
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If none of these ideas appeals to you, you can have your cremains scattered more traditionally on water or land, buried in an urn garden, or placed in a columbarium...or you can simply maintain your presence in the proverbial urn on the mantelpiece.