Woman turns her old toenail into 'family heirloom' necklace for future grandkids – The Mirror
Paige Landau, 18, got her toenail removed in February after repeated issues with an ingrown nail – but rather than have it incinerated as medical waste, she decided to get turned into a necklace
A woman who got her toenail surgically removed after she got an ingrown nail has had it turned into a necklace.
Paige Landau, 18, got her toenail removed by medics in February after repeated issues with an ingrown nail. But rather than have the toenail incinerated as medical waste, Paige decided to have it preserved as a piece of wearable jewellery.
In order to immortalise her toenail she turned to Amanda Booth, 33, who is no stranger to making strange jewellery out of organic matter. Amanda runs a “jizzy jewellery” store, which specialises in turning semen into “pearls” mounted in accessories.
Amanda, from Ontario, Canada, was taken aback by the strange request, but she was undaunted and set about creating a one-of-a-kind pendant featuring the nail front and centre. She shared a TikTok video of the result, racking up 30,000 views and 16,000 likes.
“I wanted to do something special with the nail, since we have been together for 18 years and it felt wrong to just throw it away,” Paige said. "I decided on a necklace as it would be a good family heirloom to pass down to my kids and grandkids when I die.
“I contacted multiple resin artists but I never heard any responses back. A friend suggested Amanda after they saw her ‘jizzy jewellery’ pieces. I absolutely love the finished piece. It’s better than I could have imagined. I love the wiring along the sides and the top.
“It actually looks like a necklace you could find at a store, just with a toenail!” Amanda is no stranger to odd jewellery requests, and said she operates on a “judgement-free” basis.
She said: “It’s the first toenail I’ve worked with but I’m sure now it won’t be the last. “From the start, I’ve been inspired by custom requests from clients and I just never really said no to anything.
“It’s how I got into incorporating sentimental and personal materials and it snowballed from there. If a client wants something done, I usually find a way to make it happen for them.”
Amanda, who has previously shared her collection online, shared a clip of the process on TikTok. In the video, she can be seen encasing the toenail to “showcase the beauty of the nail” before creating a frame for the pendant and adding a chain.
One user, called Shea, commented: “You’re so much better than I. I HATE feet and anything that comes off of them. I simply could not.” Lindsay Davis joked: “Did you just make a murder keepsake like whatttttt.” [sic]
“I just hope your customer is super unique and not a serial killer,” said Heather. “Now that’s skill making a toenail look this beautiful,” said another fan.
“Well if someone spent that long growing a toe nail THAT LONG and it broke I would be sad… not saying I would keep it but…” another viewer commented. Lexi Hancock added: “It’s so beautiful, I’d never know it was a toenail.”
Amanda’s other creations feature semen, breast milk and remains. She said: “I started working with clay as a therapy for myself and through the support of my Facebook friends they kept throwing new requests at me so they have been my inspiration from the beginning, as well as doing something that brings me joy and that I’m passionate about.
“The shock factors didn’t really start until I started ‘jizzy jewellery’. I’ve gotten a lot of hate and some pretty nasty comments but it’s been absolutely brilliant because it has given clients the space to feel safe and comfortable coming to me with any requests no matter how odd because they know they won’t be judged.”
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