How to Make a Dried Apple Santa Christmas Ornament

Make a charming Old World looking Christmas ornament--a dried apple core Santa head. Each apple core dries differently so no two Santa heads and faces will be alike. The dried apple Santa ornaments can also vary with the hair and facial details so each will be different. This is a good project for a craft group or a classroom. Just make sure the apples cores are dried ahead of time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Apple
• Cotton balls or white doll hair
• Red felt or red fabric
• Beads or googly eyes
• Small jingle bell (optional)
• White craft glue
• Red ink pad, crayon or water color pencil
• Shellac (optional)

1. Eat an apple and save the core to air dry. Set it in a well ventilated and warmer area of a room. It dries well in the kitchen. Keep it away from steamy or wet areas, otherwise it will just mold or rot. An alternative is to place it on a tray or in a pie pan inside the oven, where it is dry and warm. Don't forget to remove them if you are turning the oven on to bake something. Turn them once every couple days on the sheet or pie pan. Leave them for at least a week or more. After it is dry, it will feel firm to the touch and be browned, aged and wrinkly looking, like a piece of carved wood.

2. Turn the core around and around to find the part that looks most like a face. This is kind of like looking for shapes in the clouds.

3. Glue the hair and beard on once you have chosen the side that will be the Santa face. Use something simple like pulled apart cotton balls, white doll hair from the craft store or even white paper cut into hair strands. Don't cover the face area up too much.

4. Make the eyes, nose and mouth with whatever fits the face. Beads, googly craft eyes or markers and paints can make the details of the eyes, nose and mouth. The folds and crannies of the dried apple itself may have formed the perfect nose, mouth or eye area. Every apple face Santa will have a different look since the dried apple cores are not uniform shapes or sizes. Add eyebrows after the face is done. They can be made with the cotton ball or doll hair too.Take the red ink pad, crayon or water color and put some on a fingertip. Smear it on Santa's cheeks and nose like rouge to make his face red and rosy.

5. Create Santa's hat by cutting a small circle of red felt or red fabric. Then roll the circle into a cone shape with one end pointed. Glue the back pieces together, overlapping the fabric. Bend the tip of the hat down and glue it in place. Add a small ball of cotton at the tip of the hat and a cotton trim around the part that goes around the head. Put a small jingle bell at the end of the hat. Glue the hat on Santa's head. Bend the end if the fabric is too stiff and make the end of the hat go to the side of Santa's face and glue it against the side of his head so it looks like it is hanging down.

Tips & Warnings

• Preserve the apple more with a shellac finish if you like, but this is optional. Make a number of them and add them to a pine or fabric wreath to give it an old-fashioned handcrafted look.