Halloween Craft: Shrunken Apple Heads
October 11th 2010 11:49
As my kids get older, I have found that making Shrunken Apple Heads with a few of their finds is as exciting as carving a Jack O'Lantern.
The frighteningly fantastic little heads are a marvel and look great amongst the Halloween decorations. My daughter wants to attempt turning one of hers into a doll this year. She'll use strong wire to make a body and design a dress out of fabric scraps.
These take a few days to fully dry, so now is the time to prepare them for Halloween.
You'll need;
1 (or more) large-size, fairly round apple(s)
Bowl of water
2 tbsp. salt
2 lemon wedges
Vegetable peeler
Small knife for carving
Whole cloves
Dried rice grains
Start by filling a bowl with 4 cups of cool water. Pour in the salt, and squeeze the lemons right over the bowl. Mix until the salt dissolves.
Select a large fairly round apple. Apples shrink significantly in size when they dry, so start with a nice big apple.
Peel with your vegetable peeler. If you want a long, more drawn out face, core your apple. If a roundish or square head is fine, leave the core.
Now carve a face into the apple. Carve out eye sockets, a nose, mouth and ears. Exaggerate whatever features you'd like to stand out on your finished project. If you want to create deep set eyes, make sure the eyebrow ridge stands out.
You can use whole cloves for eyes and raw rice grains for teeth, we usually leave them plain though and they turn out fine.
Soak your apple in the prepared water. Allow the apple to sit in the water for 20 minutes. The salt will draw moisture from the apple and the lemon helps keep the color of the shrunken head light and
uniform.
Set your apples on a wire rack in a warm, dry place for about 2 weeks. A vegetable dehydrator would work well for these little heads. Or hang them from a string, this makes for an interesting effect.
Now, decorate. Glue some fake hair to the top, tie a little babushka on or stick dried rice in at weird angles for teeth. Press some dark beady eyes in and place the whole thing on a wooden skewer so you can add the little head to a plant or flower arrangement. Or hang them in front of the kitchen window. Whatever you do, they are sure to bring comments from visitors.
The frighteningly fantastic little heads are a marvel and look great amongst the Halloween decorations. My daughter wants to attempt turning one of hers into a doll this year. She'll use strong wire to make a body and design a dress out of fabric scraps.
These take a few days to fully dry, so now is the time to prepare them for Halloween.
You'll need;
1 (or more) large-size, fairly round apple(s)
Bowl of water
2 tbsp. salt
2 lemon wedges
Vegetable peeler
Small knife for carving
Whole cloves
Dried rice grains
Start by filling a bowl with 4 cups of cool water. Pour in the salt, and squeeze the lemons right over the bowl. Mix until the salt dissolves.
Select a large fairly round apple. Apples shrink significantly in size when they dry, so start with a nice big apple.
Peel with your vegetable peeler. If you want a long, more drawn out face, core your apple. If a roundish or square head is fine, leave the core.
Now carve a face into the apple. Carve out eye sockets, a nose, mouth and ears. Exaggerate whatever features you'd like to stand out on your finished project. If you want to create deep set eyes, make sure the eyebrow ridge stands out.
You can use whole cloves for eyes and raw rice grains for teeth, we usually leave them plain though and they turn out fine.
Soak your apple in the prepared water. Allow the apple to sit in the water for 20 minutes. The salt will draw moisture from the apple and the lemon helps keep the color of the shrunken head light and
uniform.
Set your apples on a wire rack in a warm, dry place for about 2 weeks. A vegetable dehydrator would work well for these little heads. Or hang them from a string, this makes for an interesting effect.
Now, decorate. Glue some fake hair to the top, tie a little babushka on or stick dried rice in at weird angles for teeth. Press some dark beady eyes in and place the whole thing on a wooden skewer so you can add the little head to a plant or flower arrangement. Or hang them in front of the kitchen window. Whatever you do, they are sure to bring comments from visitors.
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