Halloween - Shrunken Skulls

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INTRO . SKIN COLOUR . BRAINS . GLUES

This is an idea I have taken from Martha Stewart's Halloween handbook. She has a fantastic Halloween section on her website, which includes other ways to decorate your house, costumes, and even some rather brilliant spooky food creations!

INVOLVING:

:bulletorange: APPLES
:bulletorange: 250ML OF LEMON JUICE
:bulletorange: 2 TABLESPOONS OF SALT
:bulletorange: KNIFE, VEGETABLE PEELER, APPLE CORER(optional)


You'll want to allow 2 to 3 days before you wear/decorate with these. The apples will shrink (unsurprisingly), but try to think about what kind of size you want in relation to those you choose to cut - the larger apples will take longer to 'dry'.

First I make my curing mixture - this is important! I put my lemon juice in a mixing jug, added the salt, and sat it next to me ready for some dunking.

You'll want to peel and cut the apples ONE AT A TIME to avoid the apples going brown! For the record, I had never crafted anything out of fruit/veg/other before (apart from crude pumpkins!) - actually I don't even think I've sculpted before. So you don't need to be amazing at sculpting to do this!

First Made Dunked"

Peel away the skin on your apple, and then start crafting a face. I experimented a little and went from 'pumpkin-like' to 'hey-that's-a-face!' with a little practice. Once you have created a face, put the apple on a spoon and dunk it in the curing mixture for 30 seconds. I used the spoon to hold it under, as apples float, and the whole thing needs to be coated!


This is how I created my faces (NOTE: I am not very good at this, I just made it up as I went along)

Two Slits Half Moons

Create two vertical slits, and remove half-moon shape slices from either side, using each slit as the straight line to your half-moon. You should now have a raised strip of apple.

Eye Cuts Wonky Eyes

Now cut two horizontal lines - one either side of the raised strip. These will be the bottom of the eyes. Cut an eye-shaped chunk from these lines - note - you can have these any shape you like! Mine ended up being different shapes, but as an IRL different eye-shaped person, I won't judge this little fella.

Brow Slits Brow Bone

Next create a slit above both eyes, and then remove thin strips or triangles of apple to create a brow bone.

Cheek Bones Cheeks

Then cut a horizontal line on each side, and again take a thin slice out from here to create the cheek bone. I also cut across the nose here to remove a small amount so that I could create the end of the nose and the upper lip.

Mouth Slit Mouth

It is time to add the mouth! Create a slit where you'd like the mouth to be. Then cut into that slit to remove a slice of apple, creating a mouth. If you start out small, then you can remove more later and avoid mistakes!

Face Shaping

I also removed a small chunk just below the lip - leaving a gap of raised apple. This made the mouth lippier. If your lines are too harsh, try using the apple peeler to gently shave off the corners.

Faces

Here are my faces. I tried a range of different sizes and expressions, including a screaming skull! I even experimented with leaving some of the skin on to create hair. If you want to stick your apples on sticks, you need to core them before leaving them to dry otherwise they'll mush and break.

I placed my apples on a drying rack as I wanted the bottoms to dry too! I left mine for 3 days on the window sill - I didn't put them in the airing cupboard because I felt this would make them brown much faster.

Finished

The apples will be a bit sticky, so careful where you put them. You could create a necklace, or stick them to your hat, or put them in the plants/on sticks to decorate the house! (maybe a nice centre piece for the dinner table!) If you wanted to continue the bones theme, why don't you save some chicken bones to go with them? (Tip: Boil your chicken bones for half an hour to make them clean and white!)

:la:

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LabyrinthCreations's avatar
more fantastic stuff!