C.C. Boyce’s friend requested she create an urn for her recently deceased father after failing to find anything memorable or unique. Unfortunately, the cremation vessel market had nothing available with a bespoke touch.
So, Boyce took matters into her own hands and designed the Planturn; half cremation urn, half planter. It’s a gorgeously designed object made to represent life, love, and everything in between. While traditional urns can be painful reminders of a loved one’s passing, the Planturn is a living heartfelt remembrance – a celebration of life instead of a metaphor for death.
Each Planturn is handmade at Boyce Studio and designed to complement the space it’s in as it honors the memory of the deceased. It’s a decorative planter that embodies life after death. So naturally, when Boyce shared a picture of the cremation vessel she made for her friend, it was hit. She was flooded with requests, sparking the birth of the Planturn.
The Planturn consists of two parts that snap together magnetically. The magnets are powerful, so the contents would never spill even if the urn gets knocked over. They come in two finishes, a sycamore and walnut wood and speckled maple wood that’s white and pristine.
The lower half holds the ashes within a hand waxed muslin bag (chosen to echo traditional burial shrouds), and the upper half serves as a planter. The upper half is separate from the ashes. The plant sits in a glass or ceramic holder embedded in the upper half. You can put a bonsai, succulent, or shrub of any kind there.
Planturns come in various sizes – small, medium, and large – with bases able to hold ranging volumes of ashes. To calculate what size you need, the general rule is; one pound of body weight requires one cubic inch of urn space. Therefore, small would be for a pet; medium to large for people.
Boyce meticulously crafts each Planturn in her Downtown Los Angeles woodshop to be heirlooms that last a lifetime or longer.
The studio has also kept sustainability in mind. It sources the wood from two local businesses, and the urns are finished with a low VOC, natural matte finish. Plus, they’re packaged using boxes and tape made of recycled material that is recyclable.
Furthermore, cremation is also better for the environment because it eliminates the need to embalm, which uses highly toxic chemicals. And a vault and casket are unnecessary, lowering the overall carbon footprint.
