About a month ago, Roy and I discovered we had a few apples which were all bruised and soft - not really good for eating at all. Never one to like wasting food, Roy wanted to know if there was anything we could make with them. I remembered when I was very small that my Mother and I used to make dolls out of apples, so Roy and I consulted his Grandma so that she could refresh my memory on apple doll making. Now, Roy and I are ready to teach you!
You Will Need:
- Most importantly, you will need time and patience. You need to dry your apples after you carve their faces and this takes a few weeks.
- Apples. It doesn't particularly matter what sort you use, but the bigger the better because as they dry they shrink.
- A peeler.
- A small, sharp knife.
- A bowl and plate to work on and hold the scraps.
- A flower pot with some soil in it.
- Skewers.
Method:
- Peel your apples. If you don't peel the apple before starting, it will rot instead of drying. Roy and I had a go and it went smelly and mouldy, just like Grandma said!
- Push a skewer into each apple. You will later use this to hold your apple in the flower pot while it dries.
- Lightly outline the features you want on your apple with the knife.
- Start to carve out your face with the knife. You can carve away cheeks, and carve around ears so that they will stand out if you like. Remember, that your finished apple face will probably look very different! Roy and I carved cheeks and a big smile on one of our apples, thinking he would be very cheerful, but after he dried he looked a bit like a famous painting by Edvard Munch called 'The Scream'. You can see a picture of this painting by clicking here.
- When you are happy with your faces, push the skewers holding them into your flower pot of soil so that they are surrounded by air while they dry.
- Put your apples out in a sunny spot to dry each day, but make sure you bring them inside at night. Roy left his first attempts outside one night and the possum ate them!
- After a few weeks your apples will have dried, shrunk and be ready to make into apple people.
Come back in two weeks to find out how to make your apple heads into people with bodies and clothes! Your apples may not have dried by then, it all depends on the weather!