Faux Wicker Clay Technique for Polymer Clay

Faux wicker clay technique is one of my favorite ways to use polymer clay.  You can give it as many looks as real wicker.  I also happen to love the look of sunflowers.  They lend themselves fall decorating.  Personally I like flowers any time of the year and you will find a lot of my projects are flowers or have flowers in or on them.  So get our your clay and have fun making flowers to decorate your faux wicker project.

Materials for faux wicker technique:

• Polyform Premo! Sculpey Clay: Burnt Umber, Cadmium Yellow Hue
• cornstarch
• aluminum foil
• paintbrush
• recycled paper towel tube
• scissors
• paper towels

Tools for faux wicker technique:

• Polyform Sculpey Basic Shapes Mini Metal Cutters
• Polyform Sculpey Tools: Clay Extruder, 5 in 1 Tool Kit, Clay Conditioning Machine
• DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paints: Honey Brown, Spicy Mustard, Bright Orange, Cadmium Red, Light Cinnamon
• Parchment-lined baking sheet and oven
• Polyform Sculpey Bake & Bond

Directions for faux wicker technique:

1. Condition Burnt Umber clay and run through clay conditioning machine several times. Roll clay into tube and load into clay extruder. Extrude entire load of clay. Fold strand in half; twist clay around itself to 1/8″ width. Continue twisting until clay looks like rope.

2. Wrap aluminum foil around recycled paper tube; dust lightly with cornstarch. Wrap rope strand around foil tube four times, pressing pieces together lightly. Apply tiny dots of Bake & Bond; press together. Use chisel tip on tool to blend ends into rope. Follow manufacturer’s instructions to bake on parchment-lined baking sheet in oven for 10 minutes. Let cool.

3. While faux wicker pieces are baking and cooling, condition Cadmium Yellow Hue clay. On last pass through clay conditioning machine, set thickness to third thickest on machine. Place clay flat on work surface. Use leaf shape cutter to cut eight petals for each napkin ring. See Photo 1. Cut out center circle for each napkin ring. 

4. Pinch petal ends into points to shape. Squeeze ring of Bake & Bond on circle; press eight petals evenly spaced around circle. See Photo 2 and Photo 3. 

5. Cut Burnt Umber circle for flower center. Use detail tool to add random seed dots and create texture. Press flower center on center of each flower and spot glue with Bake & Bond if needed.

6. Apply Bake & Bond on top of cooled faux wicker napkin ring. Press flower on to napkin ring and return to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool. 

7. On covered work surface, lightly paint wicker Honey Brown and wipe off excess paint. Lightly paint petals Spicy Mustard and wipe off excess paint.  Dry brush Bright Orange on center of petals and Cadmium Red on area close to flower center. Use tip of chisel tool dipped in Light Cinnamon to add tiny dots on petals. Paint flower center Light Cinnamon and wipe off excess with paper towel. Let dry and remove napkin ring from paper tube.

Tip

1. The softer the clay, the easier it is to extrude, so run clay several times through clay conditioning machine before beginning.