Supplies Needed:

• Apple (the smaller the better)
• Knife
• Rice
• Toothpicks
• Wooden dowel
• Something for hair
• A bit of fabric

So I remember making these when I was really young. I used to go to the Boy’s and Girl’s club after school and I remember them always having the greatest crafts. There are a lot of things you can do with a mushy banana, but have you ever thought what you could make with a mushy apple?  This time of year is great because it’s all about icky, mushy, scary things. I’m going to walk you through how to have your kids make some great dried apple witches just in time for Halloween!  These are great in the pumpkins out on the porch, or in planters. You could even make a great table arrangement. The longer you let these dry the cooler they will look. Once the air gets to them they start to turn brown and shrivel up. Making them look more and more like a witch.

The first thing your going to do is take the peels off the apple. If you have older kids you can let them do this with a butter knife. I however like to just do it for all the kids. If you have a apple peeler you can use that, although all the jagged edges make for more winkles for your witch. You can use any apple you want. Mine here is a medium size red apple, but it really doesn’t matter. For little hands though the perfect apple I’ve found are the little lunch box size. You know the ones they give out in the schools for lunch. They make very cute little witches!

The next thing to do is cut a mouth and eyes. Make sure you save the mouth piece to make into a witches nose. The bigger the mouth the bigger the nose. If you don’t like a HUGE nose you can cut a smaller mouth, or cut the mouth down to size. You can carve your witch any way you like. If you are better with a carving tool you can carve the face right into the apple. I’m pretty good at art, however carving is not one of my skills. So I went simple!

Next is teeth and eyes! I used toothpicks and raisins for the eyes. You can use this method or if you have doll eyes from the craft store or googley eyes. I like the raisins because if the witches are outside they are that much more natural. The teeth are made from rice. I remember that part being so much easier when my hands were smaller! Just poke a rice grain into the mouth area. You can use as little or as much as you would like. I think it looks fabulous with a lot of rice. As the apple shrivels and turns brown it will winkle around the rice making jagged and crooked witch teeth. Make sure your little ones get that rice in there pretty good though. Long grain rice works best just because you can get it farther into the apple. Now you can cut the mouth piece to the size nose you want and attach it with another tooth pick.

Now put your witch on a wood dowel (I used a pencil) and add hair. You can use yarn or cotton. I used Cheese cloth because I had it around the house. The great thing about these witches is they are supposed to be ugly so using what you have on hand isn’t a crime!  Now you can wait until after your apple has dried to add the hair. I put it on for the picture but it is really up to you. Put your witch some place safe to dry. Make sure its some place that won’t get bumped or knocked over. Like I said before the longer your witch sits the better she will look! Once your witch is dry you can put a hat on her and cloths for a cape around the dowel.

Now you have your dried apple witch! It will keep the kiddos busy for a little while at least and is great family fun!

(I’ll update with a “dried” witch photo in a couple days)

Day One, I love the nose so far!!                                                        Day Two, Added more hair and cloths.                                        Day 4

All finished!