The Head
step 1Peel and core apple. (Four are suggested so you can choose the best for your figure. They will all dry differently.)
step 2Carve a face on one side of the apple with the tip of an X-Acto® knife by cutting recesses for the eyes, ears, and mouth, and for whatever extra wrinkles and scars you want the face to have.
step 3For the nose, cut a triangle that extends from between the eyes to the mouth.
step 4Place the carved apple on a drying rack and allow one to two weeks (depending on the humidity) to dry. (To speed the wrinkling process, you can use a vegetable dehydrator.)
step 5When the apple is dry, highlight the eye sockets, lips, and cheeks with water-based paints to bring out the features.
step 6Paint the toothpick white. When dry, cut the toothpick's ends to the appropriate size for the fangs and push into the corners of the figure's mouth.
step 7For the hair, take novelty yarn and place into the hole of the apple. Arrange with abandon!
The Body
step 1Consider the mouth of the cup to be the base of the figurine. To create the cloak, measure the cup's diameter and height dimensions and cut the right amount of black felt to slightly overlap the edges of the cup. Then glue into place. Carefully cut the excess from the top and bottom.
step 2To shape the collar, cut a 4" square of black felt, fold in half, and glue together. Then cut the edges diagonally so that the fold remains 4" and the opposite side is 2".
step 3Glue the 2" side onto the inside of what would normally be the bottom of the cup.
step 4For the figure's shirt, cut a 1 1/2" x 3" triangle from the white felt, and then glue it with the point down onto the black felt, opposite the collar. For the buttons, cut two very small circles from the black felt and glue onto the white triangle.
step 5Cut two 6" x 6" pieces of felt-one black, one red-and glue together. To shape the cape, make two diagonal cuts on the edges so that the top edge side will be 4" and the opposite bottom edge 6".
step 6Glue the 4" red side just around where the base of the collar is. The red is the lining of his cape.
step 7As you like, highlight the cape, shirt, and lining of the cape with the matching colors of glitter glue paint (use silver paint on the white felt).
step 8For the finishing touch, place the dried apple head onto the cup. Glue down, if desired.
step 9Place straw underneath him, if desired!
VOILA! Count Appula!
Elmer's® is a registered trademark of Elmer's Products, Inc.
X-Acto® is a registered trademark of Hunt Holdings, Inc.
Lurex® is a registered trademark of Lurex Company Limited.