Making a witch apple doll with your kids is a fun creative outlet for their Halloween excitement!
With Halloween just around the corner, kids are bubbling with excitement. Making a witch apple doll with your help is a great way to give that excess energy a fun creative outlet.
Plan to complete your doll a few weeks before Halloween so the kids can watch its face wrinkle before their eyes. By the time Halloween arrives, your witch will be a crone, ready to greet the creatures of the night.
This project is a ghoulish twist on traditional apple dolls, which have been delighting kids for hundreds of years. These dolls were often made using materials from nature, but your kids can create this witch apple doll using everyday items such as a toilet paper roll and some simple craft supplies.
Your child’s witch apple doll will last and delight for years to come!
Supplies
- 1 medium or large apple
- small plastic knife
- vegetable peeler
- small bowl
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 cup of lemon juice
- 1 toilet paper roll
- 2 popsicle sticks, 4 1/2 inches long
- Halloween fabric, 2 pieces 6″ x 6″; 1 piece 2″ x 5″
- 5 pipe cleaners
- wool – green, white and brown
- 2 small beads
- 5″ orange ribbon
- black bristol board, 8″ x 8″
- metal coat hanger
- white glue
- hot glue gun
Instructions
- Prepare applea) Choose a medium or large green or red apple for the head of the doll. The apple should be firm. Don’t use apples that are bruised. Red delicious apples are ideal.b) Peel apple with the vegetable peeler, leaving a little bit of peel on the top and bottom.c) Pour warm water into a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 cup of lemon juice. Stir the ingredients together. Allow the apple to soak in the bowl for about 30-45 minutes. Make sure the entire apple is covered with liquid. Add more warm water if necessary. The acid in this mixture will help the apple last longer and prevent browning.
- Add featuresa) Use a plastic knife to cut a U-shaped line in the centre of the apple to make a nose. Carve out flesh around line to make the nose more prominent.b) Cut small holes in the apple where eyes will be and a smile or frown for the doll’s mouth.c) Cut light slits around the eyes, cheeks, and mouth to make wrinkles in the doll’s face.d) Re-soak the apple for 10-15 minutes in the bowl of lemon juice and salt to ensure the newly carved areas are exposed to the solution.
- Dry apple
a) Dry out your apple face in the oven. To ensure the apple is dried on all sides, you need to place it on a coat hanger. Straighten the hook end of the coat hanger and then bend it up so it is perpendicular to the rest of the hanger. Skewer apple onto this piece.
b) Place hanger on a baking sheet in 200 F oven with the door ajar for 4-5 hours. Remove from oven and let stand for a couple of days until the apple is spongy. - Add eyes, colour & frame
a) Place a small drop of craft glue in the hollow of each eye. Top with a small bead.
b) Add colour to the witch’s face (green or purple are best) using acrylic or watercolour paint or markers. (Optional).
c) Insert 1/2 inch of one popsicle stick into the bottom of the witch’s head (through the core) for support when attaching it to the body. - Make dress
a) Wrap a toilet paper roll in a 6″ x 6″ piece of Halloween fabric to create a witch’s dress. Glue fabric to roll. Glue any overlapping fabric together at the back of the toilet roll.
b) Make a belt by twisting a pipe cleaner around the middle of the toilet paper roll. - Attach arms
a) Take a piece of pipe cleaner and make two small loops on either end for hands. Wrap the 2″ x 5″ piece of dress fabric around the pipe cleaner to create a sleeve and glue the bottom edges together. Attach the pipe cleaner (at the middle) to the centre back of the toilet roll using the hot glue gun, then bend the arms towards the front of the body. - Make cape
a) Attach the other piece of 6″ x 6″ Halloween fabric (at the middle) to the top back side of the toilet roll. - Construct hat
a) Cut a circle and the front of hat out of black bristol board using the template on our website. Make a one-inch vertical slit in the centre of the hat at the bottom. Fold at the one-inch mark and bend right and left sides in opposite directions. Glue both sides to the centre of the circle. You now have your witch’s hat.
b) Trim the hat with a 5″ piece of ribbon, using glue to attach. - Make hair
a) To make the hair, spread the fingers of one hand to a width of approx. 5 inches, and wind green wool around 15-20 times. Carefully slide the wool off your hand. Take a small piece of pipe cleaner and wrap it around the centre of the loops to secure the hair. With scissors, cut the ends of the loops to create long strings of hair.
b) For an added touch, cut a few pieces of white wool the same length as the green hair. Attach strands of white to the front portion of the hair and secure with the centre pipe cleaner.
c) Hot glue the hair to the bottom of your hat. - Build a broom
a) Take brown wool and loop it 12 times around two or three fingers (an approximate width of 2 inches). Use a pipe cleaner to tie off the wool in the middle of the loops. Snip the ends of the loops. Fold wool in half. At the top of the folded yarn, wrap a 2-3 inch piece of pipe cleaner around to make it look like a straw broom.
b) Glue the top part of wool to the end of a popsicle stick.
c) Bend the witch’s hands over the broom handle as shown on the opposite page. - Attach head to body
Place the popsicle stick with head attached into the toilet paper roll. - Top with hat
Place hat on apple head, arrange hair around witch’s face, and voila, your witch apple doll is ready.
