Shiny spheres made by hand, out of simple soil

Weird Crafts: Dorodango

"Dorodango" is a Japanese word that translates to "Happy Mud Balls." And that's a surprisingly accurate description.

Making dorodango has traditionally been a pastime of Japanese schoolchildren. This craft has yet to make it to America in a big way, which is a real shame. To make a dorodango all you need is time, patience, some dirt, and your own two hands.

A dorodango looks like a highly polished marble, billiard ball, or one of those decorative spheres of marble that were an item of fashionable home décor in the 1990s. To make one, all you do is make a ball of mud and keep polishing it.

This description trivializes the process, but it's also accurate. A dorodango is nothing more than a ball of mud which has been carefully, painstakingly crafted by hand. You add layer after layer of fine dust or silt, polishing the ball by hand, shaping it carefully. The results vary, as you might imagine, by the type of soil that you use.

Any soil will work to make a dorodango. It does not require a clay-ey soil, as you might expect from looking at them. Plain old potting soil would work in a pinch, if you live in an area that has no soil. (Or in a city, where soil is not readily available and/or may be heavily contaminated.)

Begin by sifting the soil into homogenous particles, then adding water to make a paste. You form it into a ball, and as you roll it between your hands, this dries out the ball by bringing out all the moisture. Once the ball dries you can begin the process of adding layers of dry soil to form a crust or shell. Once the shell is thick enough and dry enough, you can polish it with more layers of fine soil, ending with a cloth. And the result is a gorgeous sphere, as well as a meditative process of play. Beautiful!

Image courtesy Flickr/Rev P J