If your loved one had a deep passion for the outdoors, choosing a cremation urn that reflects their connection to nature is a beautiful way to honor their memory. Whether you plan to display your urn at home or scatter their ashes at their favorite beach, trail, or sunset view, Stardust Memorials offers a lot of options. Choose from natural materials like solid wood, genuine stone marble, and hand-thrown ceramic or opt for eco-friendly biodegradable paper for scattering and water burials. Customize your urn with nature-inspired engravings or opt for laser-cut inlays of picturesque landscapes, cloisonné butterflies and leaves, and printed images like sunsets, flowers, cardinals, or camouflage patterns.
Selecting the right urn is not just about aesthetics; it's about finding the piece that embodies the essence of your loved one’s spirit while standing the test of time. Here is a helpful guide to choosing the best tribute for the hiker, hunter, or adventurer you love.
Wooden Cremation Urns: Warm, Classic, and Natural
Perfect for those who love nature, wooden urns are a timeless, tasteful, and versatile choice blending beautifully into any home.
TYPES OF WOOD
Each type of wood urn brings its own unique qualities. Mahogany, cherry, and walnut offers the durability of dense woodgrains. Prized for its gorgeous reddish-brown hue and ribboning grain patterns, mahogany’s heaviness makes it one of the most enduring and luxurious options. Walnut urns make a bold statement with dark richness and interesting, often wavy grain patterns. Cherry’s smooth, closed grain and rich, red tones offer timeless and universal elegance. It is worth it to note that cherry’s color changes by deepening over time. All three woods require regular dusting, oiling, and scratch repair to maintain the urn’s appearance.
On the other end of the spectrum, both oak and maple urns are scratch- and fade- resistant and require less maintenance. A versatile choice, maple’s warm, inviting color and smooth surface make it perfect for engraving. The bright, golden hue of oak paired with its strength and durability make it a classic choice that fits with any home décor.
DURABILITY AND PRESERVATION
While all woods have some level of susceptibility to moisture, every wooden urn at Stardust Memorials is properly sealed to ensure its integrity over time. Because our wooden urns are designed for indoor use only, we recommend placing them out of direct sunlight and in an area with low humidity. Some good examples for wooden urn placement are mantelpieces, bookshelves, display cabinets, and architectural alcoves in your home.
MINIMALIST WOOD URNS
For those who prefer natural beauty in its most simplistic and elegant form, the Briton Mahogany Wooden Urn and the Arden Walnut Wooden Urn are both excellent choices. Made in the U.S.A., each urn features a classic, traditional box shape. Crafted to the highest standards by experienced woodworkers, both feature a natural finish to bring out the beauty of the wood grain.
If you're looking for something with a more modern edge, the Radius Curly Maple Urn offers a stylish, minimalist design with sleek wood and clean lines. It's a lovely choice for someone who has a more contemporary taste in décor.
3D INLAY DESIGNS
For those who admire the beauty of craftsmanship, our 3D inlay wooden urns feature intricately layered, laser-cut designs made from several types of complementary wood. Our Lighthouse Inlay Urn symbolizes guidance, hope, and safe harbor and is a fitting tribute for any loved one passionate about nature—from land to water.The Soaring Eagle Inlay Wood Cremation Urn features a majestic eagle inlay symbolizing strength and freedom, a great choice to honor hunters and veterans.
WOODEN URNS WITH HANDMADE CERAMIC TILES
For an added embellishment to a classic wood design, Stardust Memorials offers handcrafted ceramic tiles with nature themes. From trees, deer, flowers, and more, each tile adds a personal touch to your wooden urn. The Trillium Wooden Urn with Handmade Tile is a popular choice for nature lovers of all types.
Nature-themed Photo Print Urns
With hydro-printing—a process involving hand-dipping an object into a water bath with a floating image—we are able to apply curated photography and artwork to metal and marble urns. We have several outdoor-themed photo prints to choose from. Our Sunset Panoramic Cremation Urn is a popular choice because of its universal appeal. Combining the beauty of a scenic evening view with the durability of cultured marble, this urn is a lasting tribute to those who were in awe of the natural world. For the hunter, the Classic Camouflage Cremation Urn offers a more rustic option. This aluminum urn is a perfect tribute to the loved one known for lifelong adventures in the wilderness.
Personalized Urn Engraving
Engraving on wood, metal, and marble is a great way to add a nature theme. Stardust Memorials offers personalized urn engraving with templated artwork to choose from, including natural elements like trees and animals to religious or military symbols. Custom urn engraving is an excellent way to create a truly personalized memorial for someone special. We offer same-day engraving, too! Learn more here.
Biodegradable Urns: For the Eco-Conscious
For families wanting an eco-friendly sendoff, biodegradable urns offer a natural return to the earth. These urns are crafted from organic, earth-friendly materials like paper, clay, or Himalayan salt, designed to decompose naturally over time in soil or water. Before choosing a biodegradable urn, consider where and how you are returning the remains—whether scattering over a cliffside, releasing into the roots of a tree, or sending off into a lake or ocean for a water burial.
The Ocean Sunset Scattering Tube is designed specifically for easy scattering and is especially fitting for someone who loved the water and spent their weekends fishing or boating. If you are considering a water burial, the
Journey Earthurn is a tasteful choice. Designed to be set adrift at sea, the urn will float, sink gracefully, and then break down over time. Also designed for water burial, our Paper Turtle Biodegradable Urn is a fitting tribute for those adventurers who embraced travel and exploration in their lives (the turtle is a symbol of journey and transformation).
Cremation Jewelry: Joyful Keepsakes
Cremation jewelry offers a beautiful way to keep the memory of your loved one close. Both the Hummingbird Gemstone Cremation Jewelry and Red Cardinal Cremation Jewelry capture a vibrant reminder of life's fleeting beauty in their delicate designs. Our Tree of Life Pendant and Necklace for Ashes is a universal symbol of continuity, connecting the wearer to the enduring spirit of their loved one. For a touch of elegance, the Butterfly Mother of Pearl Pendant embodies transformation and grace, making it a stunning tribute to those who appreciated the wonders of the natural world.
More in Natural Materials: Ceramic, Cloisonné, and Marble
Hand-shaped from clay and fired at high temperatures, ceramic urns add a personal, organic, and artistic touch to memorial spaces. Most have secure lids—some permanently sealed, others allowing easy access. When cared for properly, handmade ceramic urns are durable and stable. However, they can chip or break, so it’s essential to handle them carefully and keep them in a stable environment with controlled temperature and moisture levels. For those wishing to express the pure beauty of nature, consider the Morning Skies Ceramic Urn. A beautiful blue urn, its graduated glaze is a tasteful choice reflecting artistic simplicity.
An ancient decorative art technique, the exquisiteness of cloisonné cannot be paralleled. Crafted by applying vibrant enamel to a metal surface, each piece is a decorative, durable and original work of art. The Azure Blue Cloisonne Urn offers a gorgeous tribute in several shades of blue garden foliage and blooms. We also offer cloisonné urns with organic designs such as butterflies and pear blossoms.
Formed over centuries, marble is a stone that comes directly from the earth, with unique patterns and colors reflecting the beauty of the natural world. The durability of a genuine marble urn ensures that a loved one's ashes will be preserved with grace and permanence. The Alpha Ingot Soft White Genuine Marble Urn, in elegant white with gray and cream veining, is a natural stone cremation urn suitable for burial or respectful home display.
Selecting an urn for a cherished individual is a profound opportunity to honor their unique spirit. Whether you are drawn to the comforting warmth of a wooden urn, the sustainability of a biodegradable urn, or to the unique personalization of our nature-inspired urns, Stardust Memorials offers a wide range of options to honor those who lived in harmony with the natural world.