Every child's handwriting disappears.

My favorite orders almost always start the same way: a photo of a piece of paper.

Sometimes it's the back of a spelling test. Sometimes it's a birthday card. I've even had people send me a corner torn from a grocery list because that's where their child happened to write their name that day. The paper itself doesn't matter. It's what's on it.

I've made children's handwriting jewelry for years, and every time I open one of those photos I catch myself thinking the same thing: this handwriting isn't going to last.

Not because it'll disappear overnight. It changes so gradually that you don't notice it's happening. One day the giant capital letters are gone. The backward "S" disappears. The little hook on the end of the "y" straightens out because a teacher showed them the "right" way to do it. It all happens quietly, while you're busy paying attention to bigger things.

When I make one of these necklaces, I don't clean anything up. If the letters don't sit on a straight line, neither does the necklace. If one letter is twice the size of the rest, it stays that way. The little quirks are the whole point. They're the part you'll miss later. That's why every kids handwriting necklace I make looks a little different. The goal isn't perfect lettering - it's preserving the way that child actually wrote their name.

Over the years I've noticed something else. Parents almost never say, "I want to remember their handwriting." They tell me they found an old drawing while cleaning out a closet, or their child signed a birthday card and they suddenly realized how different their name looks now. The handwriting sneaks up on them. It's only when they see an old piece of paper that they realize that version of their child is already gone.

I think that's why these necklaces mean what they do. They're not really about preserving handwriting. They're about holding onto something that changes before you think to save it. It's a way to hold onto a fleeting moment in your child's life and the best kind of personalized handwriting necklace for a mom.

That's why I love making them so much.