Shrunken Apple Heads
Looking for unique Halloween decorations? All you’ll need is a few apples, salt, lemon juice and some pumpkin carving tools.
With Halloween just around the corner, the kids might be clamoring to carve pumpkins. Dig out your pumpkin carving tools and let them have a go with an apple. The bonus? Some shrunken heads that can be hung as festive decorations.
Materials:
- Apples
- Lemons or lemon juice
- Salt
- Kid-friendly carving tools
Directions:
- Have an adult prepare the apples by peeling and coring them.
- Carve eyes, a nose, a mouth and perhaps some ears.
- Mix a ½ cup of lemon juice with a ½ tablespoon of salt. Spoon the mixture over the apples generously.
- Leave the apples in a dry, warm spot. If you have a food dehydrator, you can use it to dry the heads. If not, heat your oven on the lowest setting for a few minutes and then turn it off. Place the apples on a cookie sheet and put them in the warm oven. You will need to do this several times over many days.
- The apples need to be completely dried, so be patient!
- Once they are dried, you can string them up or place them as specimens in a big mason jar.
Tips:
- Tell the kids to spread the features apart and not to crowd them all in the middle. The features will “come together” as the apple dries. They can even draw the features with a sharpie before carving them out.
- We found the following video helpful:
http://www.marthastewart.com/243152/shrunken-apple-head-halloween-decoration
- We kept the apples on a cookie sheet on top of the oven and every time we finished baking or cooking, we put the cookie sheet in to ride out the remaining heat. Don’t forget to take them out before you bake again.
Follow me on Pinterest
Leprechaun Tricks 