Japanese Basket Rocks (with Clay!)

Have you ever seen Japanese Basket Rocks? Traditionally you use basketry cane, leather or even rope to make these rocks but I decided to try using polymer clay instead! These decorative stones are a nice little addition to your office or home decor and make great gifts too! Let me show you how to make one.

While I experimented making a lot of different designs, I'll show you how to make the stone with the stick attached with the ombre rope. To make this rock I needed:

• a rock
• clay extruder
• Sculpey polymer clay (white and blue)
• a stick
• oven for baking

I found this particular rock at a landscaping store and sourced the stick from our backyard. Look for a dried out stick that is interesting looking. Little knobs and different color patches are great for this kind of project, it gives each piece a little character. Don't feel you need to limit yourself to perfectly round rocks either, different shapes can yield some beautiful results!

The main piece of equipment you will need for this project is a clay extruder. Extruders are readily available on Amazon and most come with disks that allow you to extrude different shapes of clay.

I picked the multi-dot disk and conditioned the clay to soften it a little. I loaded the clay into the extruder and then cranked out about 12 inches of "rope." Be careful as you extrude the clay, you don't want it to stick together. A gentle hand is needed with this project, you don't want to leave fingerprints all over the clay and you don't want it sticking together either.

For the ombre effect, I mixed white and blue clay together. I started with white clay, then mixed white with 1/4 the amount of blue, 1/2 white with 1/2 blue, 1/4 white and 3/4 blue and then full blue. Mix each combination until a solid color is achieved and then extrude the length required for your rock. Be sure to clean the extruder well between colors.

Once the clay is extruded, lay out several lengths of "rope." The length of rope you will need will depend on the size of your rock. I ended up needing about six inches of rope per piece. When making this style of basket rock with leather or cane, you would use one long piece of material, but for clay we just need pieces that are long enough to wrap around to the back of the rock.

In total I used 10 pieces of rope, two of each color. Take each piece of rope and wrap around the stick, one by one. Make sure to wrap them the same direction each time. Scooch the pieces of clay gently together and drape the ends of the rope over the edges of the rock.

Tighten each piece of rope by gently pulling on either side of the stick. Hold the stick as you go and don't pull too hard on the rope or you may distort the clay. Pick up the rock with one hand and use the other hand to smoosh the clay onto the back of the rock, one end of rope at a time. I found the clay did not readily stick to the rock, but a little squish and smoothing action made it stick enough to stay in place. Shorten the ropes of clay as you go so there isn't a bunch of excess clay on the bottom of the rock. The back is a little messy, but this didn't bother me as you don't see it anyway.

Once the rock is ready, it's time to bake. Baking times and temperature will be determined by the type of clay you use and how much you use. I baked this rock at 275 degrees F for 30 minutes. When the time is up, carefully remove the baking tray from the oven and let the rock cool on the tray completely before touching it.

If you are using a stick in your project, I would recommend checking on it as it's baking to ensure it doesn't start a fire in the oven (!). From all the ones I made with sticks, I didn't see any indication that they were actually going to start on fire, but it is best to keep an eye on it just in case!

TIP: Don't use your best bakeware for baking clay. And don't bake food in your oven before airing it out completely. If you don't have a dedicated baking sheet to use just for clay, you can put a piece of aluminum foil down so the clay doesn't touch your bakeware.

Troubleshooting: If you are new to working with polymer clay, you may run into some issues when doing this project. I am by no means an expert, but here are a few tips...

1) Make sure to fully mix your clay. You do not want streaks.

2) If your clay seems extra sticky, it is probably too warm. If you had to mix your clay, let it sit for a little bit before working with it further. If you have naturally hot hands, you may want to find a way to cool them down a little bit to make working with the clay easier, or try wearing latex gloves.

3) If your clay is dry looking, you can add some clay conditioner to reconstitute it.

4) If your clay is brittle after baking, it hasn't properly cured. It may need to be baked longer or at a different temperature. Double check the directions on the package of clay. You can always bake clay again if you need to.

5) If you are leaving a lot of fingerprints behind, you are being too rough with your clay. You really want to handle the clay as gently as possible. If you need to, you can wear latex gloves to help prevent fingerprints.

6) Use a thin piece of metal to help scooch the pieces of clay around. I used a metal file but a butter knife would work well too. This helps prevent leaving marks in the clay or distorting the edges.

7) If you knick the clay or have parts you want to smooth down, do so gently before baking.

There are a lot of possible designs to try with this technique! Some traditional techniques are actually trickier to do with clay. The clay tends to stick to itself or it's not strong enough to allow for pieces to be woven in and out like cane or leather. I made up the braided end of the rocks which was challenging, but I loved the end result!

I hope you enjoyed this fresh take on a traditional craft! Which one is your favorite?