Apple Head Witch Dolls

We have a cool apple tree in our backyard. And every Halloween I pick a few dozen apples so my students can make dried apple head witches! Here is one from last year's class.  This year's heads are still drying out. 

Dried Apple Head Witch Craft

Here is the FIRST INSTALLMENT of my TUTORIAL ON APPLE HEAD WITCH DOLLS. My 2nd graders are making them this week. The trick is to peel your apples and then dip them in lemon juice, or else they will grow mold before they dry out!

Dried Apples peeled and dipped in lemon juice

I always get a lovely parent to peel the apples. This year Morgan's mom Mrs. Kenner did them for us on a little apple peeler. I'm sure it was time consuming. Thank you SO MUCH Mrs. Kenner!

I got all of these apples from my tree, which is abounding in apples this year! I get like 3 peaches and 5 apricots and 6 nectarines, but I get a gazillion apples! So it's a fun thing to do for Halloween, dried apple witches!

You can see they are already starting to pucker and dry out!

The body is made from a popsicle stick pushed into the apple. The dress is just a 1 square foot of material rolled around the popsicle stick in a cone, or you could put a small slit in the middle of the square and slide the popsicle stick through the slit. Then I use an orange chennille stem wrapped around the "neck" of the popsicle stick OVER the material and the ends are curled into small loops for hands. Wrap the broom around one of the hands.

 Sometimes I put a plastic "ring" on one of the hands. I have found spider or skeleton rings at the dollar store. The necklace is made from a candy corn shaped foam bead. I got a mega set from Oriental Trading LINK HERE that has lasted for like 5 years worth of my classes.  Every year everybody makes a Halloween necklace with the beads.

Fly Fly Witchy Witchy Fly!  Freaky dried apple witch.  

 I usually make the witch's broom out of raffia and a 1/3rd piece of a wooden skewer (I got a package from the dollar store). This year I made black ones out of black crepe paper cut into 3 inch squares layered into 3 squares, and I used scissors to cut the broom "fringe". Then I wrapped black yarn around the top and tied the 3 inch squares with a piece of skewer inside for the broom handle.

 You can gouge out a 3 little impressions in the face before it hardens for 2 eyes and a mouth.  But this year we didn't and they still look good. They eyes can be made with  cloves or glue gun some wiggly eyes like we did this year. The mouth has a few pieces of rice glue gunned on after using a red marker for a smile, and the nose is the pointy end of a skewer piece or you could use toothpicks....just break off an inch piece and push it it. Have the kids use green and make a "wart" on the nose from a marker. The mouth and eyebrows the kids do out of red and black marker.

I'll GET you my pretty and your little dog too! 

Here's a close up of my witch sample from last year.  The hat we made with black felt using just a circle cut out and then the pointy part was just a cone shape. We glue gunned the 2 pieces together and then used a wacky green yarn I found at the craft store for the hair. This year I bought purple and yellow yard for hair too. I'll post more pictures when we actually put together our witches next week.  Those shrunken heads should be ready soon. :O