How to Make an Apple Head Doll

A Shriveled Apple Makes a Wizened Face for a Dolly

Mar 20, 2008 Melissa Howard

Use a dried apple to make a wizened face for a grandma doll. This is a creative and satisfying craft project for children.

Suggested Age

3 years to 99 years (adult assistance or supervision is necessary since a knife and scissors are used)

Supplies

• one large apple with no blemishes or defects
• an apple peeler or a sharp knife
• a butter knife or plastic knife
• a pen or other pointed tool
• a bowl deep enough to contain the entire apple
• lemon juice
• salt
• pipe cleaners
• Polyfil or cotton balls
• beads
• pink marker or water paint
• adhesive
• scrap fabric

Instructions for Making Apple Head

1. Peel the apple.
2. With apple stem pointing up; carve the shape of the nose using a dull knife. Carve away excess material from around the location of the nose.
3. Use the pen to poke holes or slits for the apple’s eyes.
4. Use the pen or dull knife to carve the shape of the mouth.
5. Use the dull knife to hollow out areas for the cheeks.
6. Dissolve a tablespoon of salt in hot water.
7. Put the apple in a bowl and completely cover with lemon juice. Add salt water.
8. Cover the bowl or weight down the apple in some way so that the entire apple is submerged.
9. Let the apple soak in the liquid for an hour.

Instructions for Drying Apple Head

1. There are several ways to dry the apple head. The easiest way is to leave the apple in a warm airy spot, such as a windowsill, a car dashboard, or on top of a radiator. If you dry it this way, it might be good to hang the apple from a string or support it on a stick so that air moves around your apple.
2. You can use an oven to dry the apple. Put the apple in the oven on a greased cookie sheet. Make a tent of tinfoil to cover the apple’s nose so it won’t burn. Turn the oven to 200ºF for thirty minutes. Reduce the temperature to WARM and let your apple dry in the oven for three days (always turn the oven off at night then turn it onto WARM again in the morning).
3. The easiest method to dry the apple head is to use a food dehydrator to dry the apple. Simply remove all the trays from the dehydrator except for the bottom one (if possible cover with the dehydrator lid; if the lid won’t fit, cover the tray with a colander) and turn on the dehydrator. Check your apple and turn it occasionally so that it dries evenly. It will take 2-3 days to dry this way.
4. The apple will shrink, wrinkle, and turn tan as it dries.
5. When the apple is leathery to the touch, it is finished.

Simple Apple Doll Bodies (for smaller children)

1. Use a thin pointed tool (such as a corn skewer) to poke a hole through the apple’s head from top to bottom.
2. Fold a pipe cleaner in half and poke it through the apple so that the looped end remains at the top of the head.
3. Leave a small loop at the top and use it to anchor the hair. To make hair, poke some cotton ball or Polyfil through the anchor then pull the anchor tight.
4. Style the doll’s hair.
5. Dab some adhesive in the eye sockets and add beads for eyes.
6. Use pink marker or water paint to outline the lips.
7. The remaining pipe cleaner will become the doll’s body.
8. Twist a few pieces of pipe cleaner around the body to make it sturdier and give it some size.
9. Use two more pipe cleaners to make the doll’s arms and legs.
10. Use scraps of cloth to make clothing. A simple dress can be made by cutting out a square of fabric. Cut a hole in the middle of the fabric and slip over the doll’s body. Extend the doll’s arms and tie the dress on with a ribbon around the waist.

About the Sample Project

A granny smith apple was used to make the heads. The younger children did as well as the older children with this project.

The copyright of the article How to Make an Apple Head Doll in Kids Crafts is owned by Melissa Howard. Permission to republish How to Make an Apple Head Doll in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Apple Doll with its Creator

Two Children Display Apple Dolls

Detail of Doll's Face

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