Birthstone Wishing Balls, August

Your birthday is like a private New Year's celebration—a chance to reflect and look forward to the milestones you plan on reaching in the year to come. With this sentiment in mind, Jill Henrietta Davis created her birthstone wishing ball to capture a single wish, accomplishment, or meditation every week for the coming year.

People often ask Jill why the wishes can't come back out, and she explains: "When you blow out the candles on a birthday cake, you don't tell the wish you made, otherwise it won't come true. But more importantly, memories are always more beautiful than photographs, and the same is true of wishes. When you look at the little slips of paper accumulating in your Wishing Ball, I want you to think about the big picture those messages convey. Rereading the notes would be like looking backwards, or trying to step in the same river twice."

• Each shimmering ball of hand-blown glass comes with 52 tiny slips of paper for you to pause once a week throughout the year and record a message of hope or gratitude.
• Roll up your wishes, tuck them in the tiny opening near the base, and they become a permanent part of the display.
• Available in twelve brilliant hues that correspond to each month's birthstone.
• Handmade in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.