Artist Ashley Gilreath made this lovely portrait necklace, entitled, “I Am Who They Were,” featuring photos of various ancestors. There are several additional views in the Reliquaries section of her portfolio (scroll down toward the bottom).

This is a really striking piece and would be a great way to showcase photos of people who were important to you. A “family tree” one featuring notable ancestors would be a thoughtful gift for someone interested in genealogy, and a necklace with thumbnails of goth icons–anyone from Poe to Siouxsie Sioux–would be a very unique accessory.

Gilreath cast the silver and bronze frames herself, but similar small frames can be found at craft stores in the jewelry or scrapbooking section, at Amazon and Etsy, and at jewelry suppliers like Fire Mountain Gems. Most seem to only have a single place at the top to attach a chain, but if you wanted to achieve the same multi-strand chain effect of the original piece you could use a little solder. (A soldering iron isn’t difficult to use, just don’t put it down and then reach blindly behind you to pick it up again and grab the hot end. Like…nobody I know has ever done. Heh. Heh.)

If you’ve got photos languishing in a drawer, it’s time to dig them out and turn them into a conversation piece.