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Apple Head Dolls

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

 

Show off Granny!  

You'll need:

• One green or red medium sized, firm apple, peeled leaving the stem on if possible (mine fell off)

• Sharp paring knife

• Lemon Juice

• Water

• Two 10 to 12" long wooden skewers for torso/legs

• Doll hair or yarn or small strips of rags for hair

• Glue

• Blush for cheeks

• Flexible wire or coat hanger for arms

• Aluminum foil for body

• Scrap fabric and trim for clothes

• Pinking sheers for dress (optional) or scissors (needed if optional hands are made)

• Needle and coordinating thread or embroidery floss

• Doll stand or heavy or marble filled glass for standing up the completed doll

• Wire to form glasses (optional)

• Transparent glue

Optional hands may be made from slices of a second apple.  Cut these slices (make extras) and dry them on a cookie sheet where the air can circulate.

 

Click on the photo to enlarge it.  Make the cuts illustrated here according to the directions below.

Cutting the face - If your knife slips and cuts off a part you didn't want removed, just eat that apple and try again.

With the stem end of the apple at the top, carefully cut a V or U shape about 1/4 " to 1/2" into the front of the peeled apple for the nose.  On either side of the nose, cut away a bit of the apple so the nose projects.

Cut two slits or horizontal Vs for eyes about 1/2" deep with the wide part of the V on the outside of each side of the face. 

Cut three radiating lines from the outside corners of the eyes for laugh lines/wrinkles.

Cut V wedges under the cheekbones and in the center of the chin, if you want your doll to have a dimpled chin.

Cut out a mouth by carving a horizontal slice about 1/2" deep.  You can turn the corners of her mouth up as if she's smiling. 

You can cut holes for ears, with a wedge taken out behind where the hole is to form an ear.  However, the hair may cover the ear, so you may not want to bother.

Run some unevenly spaced and different length horizontal cut lines across the forehead for wrinkles.

Soak your peeled apple for 1/2 hour in 11/2 cups of water with 1/2 cup of lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.  Make sure you have sufficient water to cover the apple completely.

Remove the apple from the water and insert two wooden skewers into the bottom of the apple about 1/4 inch apart for torso and legs. 

Place the apple head with skewers in a glass.  Weight the glass with marbles if necessary to keep it from tipping over.  The apple should be above the lip of the glass so air can circulate to prevent mold/mildew. 

Place the apple in a bright room near a ceiling fan in summer or near a furnace vent during the colder months when the furnace is on.  Should mold occur, toss the head outside for the birds to nibble on, and peel another apple. 

Give your apple four to six weeks to dry.  Enjoy watching your apple doll's face turn to wrinkles, but be patient.  You don't want to rush the process or the apple might be damaged by premature handling.

Dress Your Doll - When dry, take some flexible wire doubled over or a coat hanger and secure it horizontally across the torso for arms.  Attach the arms to the body/legs by winding yarn over and over again in an X pattern until the arms feel securely attached.

Very carefully cut the eyes or slit for the mouth a tish deeper if need be.   Until your doll has dried completely you won't know if your original carving was sufficiently deep since each apple will shrivel differently.

Wrap/bunch foil around the arms, legs and torso to fill in the body.  You don't have to be too careful about this process because the dress will hide the foil.   

Lay the doll's body down on newspaper to make a dress pattern.  Trace 1 1/4" out from the top and bottom of the arms and sides of the body, making sure your pattern is wide enough to cover the arms and torso once the dress is sewn on.  Flair the pattern out for a full skirt and 1" to 1 1/2" longer than the legs. 

Pin the pattern to two layers of fabric, right sides together.

Cut out the dress pieces with pinking sheers if you have them to prevent raveling.  This isn't necessary because your doll is decorative and not meant to be played with. 

Lay the doll body between the two dress pieces, right sides of the dress out.  The pinked edges are meant to show.  Pin the dress in place.  With a needle and double thread or embroidery floss, make visible running stitches around the doll, gathering the dress at the neck.  Be sure and leave the bottom of the skirt open.  Trim the dress with buttons, tie the sleeves with ribbon at the cuffs, glue on lace around the bottom of the skirt, make an apron, etc.

Glue on hair.  Form a bun if you like and tie with a ribbon.  If the apple stem is still in place, you can just tie a ribbon around that.

Place your apple head doll in a doll stand or insert the legs inside a short, but heavy or marble-filled glass or vase with the skirt outside to cover it.

Carefully add a dab of pale blush on the doll's cheeks (optional).

Hands - Cut out the shape of a mitten from a dried apple slice with about 1" length of apple that will be glued to foil at the end of the arm and hidden under the cuff of the dress.  Cut fingers into the mitten (optional).

Bend wire to form two circles for glasses if desired.  Secure with transparent glue.