After a bit of tinkering around we made this discovery: Dying apples is a remarkably easy thing to do! It was a very happy discovery indeed! You do not need a dehydrator or a mandolin for this project however it certainly makes the job of cutting and cooking less laborious. Read on for the full DIY!
Gather:
3 pounds of apples or 1 bag
Mandolin or knife
Dehydrator*
Medium sized bowls for water
Food color of choice
String or
Gold jump rings (I think this would provide a cleaner look and would really be less work! You'll also need pliers if you go this route.)
Stick (We used an old piece of decorative bamboo)
Needle
*If you do not have a dehydrator you can use the oven. You will need two 1/2 size cookie sheets and parchment paper.
Create:
1. Slice apples to 3/8th - 1/4th inch thick using the mandolin or a knife.
2. Fill bowls to about halfway with water. Add food coloring.
3. Dunk each slice into the bowl and place on the dehydrator sheet or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
4. Do multiple colors! Dunk one slice into multiple bowls! This was my daughter's idea and it looked awesome!
5. Place the apples into the dehydrator or oven at 180 degrees F.
Dehydrate for about 4 hours or longer, depending on the feel of the apple. You want the apples to be hard but not crispy. If you are doing this in your house, it will smell absolutely divine!
6. Once the apples are adequately dehydrated, lay them out to your desired pattern.
7. Begin to tie each apple together with a needle and thread.
8. Continue tying each apple together until you have a string of apples to your desired length. Our apple art is 4 apple slices in length and 7 apple slices in width.
9. Now that you have made your apple strings to your desired length, make loops at the top to slide over your stick (or bamboo in our case.)
And now...the exciting part!
Slip your loops over your stick and hang your stick! VIOLA!
We have also made this fun piece! What do you think?
For this piece we used twine, wooden beads and a foraged stick. We tried using hot glue to attach the apples this time. It worked really well! Let me know if you have any questions! I love chatting with new people!