Apple Crafts

Easy Dried Apple Crafts

By Brandie Valenzuela
Do you remember the last time you were in someone's home that had an apple pie baking in the oven? Ahhh, the aromas of a fresh baked pie --it is simply irresistible! Well, now you can recreate this delicious scent in your own home, or in the homes of your loved ones, by making dried cinnamon scented apple crafts. None of them are hard to make and results are wonderful! Hang one of these on your wall and you will surely impress all of your guests.
For each apple craft, you will need:
•Juice of approximately 8-10 lemons
•2 teaspoons salt
•8 - 10 large firm apples
•8 teaspoons cinnamon
•2 teaspoons allspice
•1 teaspoon cloves
•8" - 10" sturdy, heavy gauge wire (for a wreath)
•Jute (for garland or apple stacker)
•1 - 1 1/2 yards of ribbon or fabric scraps
To prepare and dry your apples:

1) Place lemon juice in a large bowl, and stir in salt.
2) Peel, core, and slice apples horizontally into 1/4" thick circles. Soak slices in lemon juice bowl for approximately 6-10 minutes, making sure each side of the slices has a chance to absorb some of the lemon juice.
3) Meanwhile, mix spices in a bowl and blend well.
4) Remove the slices from the bowl and place them on paper towels. Pat tops of apple slices with paper towels.
5) Dust apples slices with spice mixture. Turn slices over
and repeat on opposite side.
6) Place apples slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 150-200 degrees F for 6 hours or until completely dried. Apple slices should be slightly pliable.
To Create An Apple Wreath:
1) Fold each apple slice in half, and then into quarters and thread the apples slices onto the wire. Continue to pack on the folded apples until the wire is completely filled.
2) When the wire is completely covered, use pliers to bend ends into hooks so that they can connect and close. Carefully shape wire into desired shape. I recommend either a circle or heart shape.
3) Using your ribbon or fabric scraps, create a hanger for your wreath.
4) Hang on your wall, or package as a gift for someone special.
To Create An Apple Garland:
1) Cut of enough jute for your desired length of garland - remember, your apple garland shouldn't be too long, but approximately 2-4 works well. Also, it is always better to have too much, than not enough.
2) Start stringing on apple slices. Push one end of jute through the middle of each apple slice.
3) Consider alternating several apple slices and then a piece of tied on fabric strip.
4) Hang on your wall!

To Create An Apple Stacker:
1) Using an approximate 12" piece of jute, tie one end to about three cinnamon sticks that are laid in a a bundle.
2) Being to string on apple slices by pushing jute through the center of each slice. Consider alternating several slices with a piece of fabric tied on.
3) When apple stacker is the desired length, end with three more cinnamon sticks in a bundle and tie a loop so that you can hang your apple stacker proudly!

Bowling Balls Garden Style

This is a fun way to reuse that old ball.
I found this while surfing the web and may put this out in my own yeard.
Next to the ball bugs.
Tutorial found HERE

Sping Soda Flower

I have to say this is really a cleaver idea.

I can see the kids making and using this .

Tutorial found HERE

Garden Yum ?

My Mother Loved these.I could not eat this until I was way into my thirtys and found out what I was missing.
You will also find how to kill snails listed at the bottom of this recipe.
How to prepare garden Snails Yum ?

Instructions.Things You'll Need:
•2 shallow saucers (about one half inch deep)
•Cornmeal
•Oatmeal
•Wheat bran
•Shredded lettuce
•Water
•Chopped fresh herbs (optional)
•Red wine (optional)
•Small fish tank, about 5 gallons (or equivalent container)
•Screened lid
•3 bricks
•1 board that will fit into cage
How to Prepare Garden Snails for Eating

Step1
Start by placing two of your bricks in a sheltered area of your garden where snails hang out. Place the board across them. Check in the early morning and you should have snails clinging to the underside of your board. Decide how many snails you will need, generally about a dozen per person. Gather them carefully to avoid damaging them or their shells. Keep gathering until you have enough.
Step 2
Place your two bricks in the tank, then put the board on top of the bricks. Place the saucers on top of the board. Fill one saucer with clean water, the other with a mixture of your grains. Place shredded lettuce in the bottom of the cage. Supplement the lettuce with fresh herbs to add additional flavor. You can also use wine for part of the water. Mist all very lightly with water, then place your snails inside. Place the cover on top and weight it down with the third brick.
Step 3
Change the water, grains and lettuce daily. Mist the inside of the cage lightly every day. The snails will "excrete" a lot every day, and you want them living in a clean cage. Continue this process for two weeks. Remove any dead snails as soon as you find them.
Step 4
Remove the lettuce and grain, but keep the water clean. CAREFULLY remove the snails and wash them gently in clean water. Replace in the cleaned cage. Leave the snails with water only for two days.
Step 5
Bring two gallons of water to a boil. Put your snails into the boiling water and stir them very gently for five minutes. Drain them, then remove the snails from their shells. Wash the snail meats several times in vinegar and water (one cup of vinegar to two gallons of water) to eliminate remaining mucus. Drain, then cook for a half hour in water with garlic and your choice of herbs, salt and pepper.
Step 6
If saving the shells, cook them for an hour in one gallon of water and a cup of baking soda. Allow to drain and dry overnight.
Step 7
Proceed with any recipe, either chopping the meats or leaving them whole. The French usually retain the shells for presentation, but other cultures serve them sauced in small baking dishes. They are a popular Spanish tapas dish.Make sure you serve with plenty of good bread for sopping up the butter and juices.

 
How to Kill Garden Snails. Just in Case

The Folded Paper Flower

These beautiful paper flowers

Can be found over on the Folding Tree Site.

She has a tutorial on how to make them

HERE

Scrunchie Flower Card Tutorial Link

Tutorial for this card found HERE

Make Mine Black

Here are some suggestions for using composted grounds in the yard and garden from the OSU Extension compost specialists:
• Mix grounds into soil as an amendment. Make sure to keep them damp. Add some nitrogen fertilizer if you do this, as coffee grounds encourage the growth of microbes in the soil, which use up nitrogen. While microbes are breaking down the grounds, the nitrogen will provide a source of nutrients for your plants.
• Spread grounds on the soil surface, then cover them with leaves or bark mulch.
• Add grounds to your compost pile, layering one part leaves to one part fresh grass clippings to one part coffee grounds, by volume. Turn once a week. This will be ready in three to six months.
• Or, put them in an existing unturned pile. Just make sure to add a high carbon source, such as leaves to balance it.
• Grounds may be stored for future use. They may develop molds but these appear to be consumed during the composting process. Or a large plastic bag works for storage as well.
• Paper coffee filters may be composted with the grounds.
Keep in mind that uncomposted coffee grounds are NOT a nitrogen fertilizer. Coffee grounds have a carbon-to-nitrogen ration of about 20 to 1, in the same range as animal manure. Germination tests in Eugene showed that uncomposted coffee grounds, added to soil as about one-fourth the volume, showed poor germination and stunted growth in lettuce seed. Therefore, they need to be composted before using near plants.
Wise and her composting protégés have been conducting informal research on composting coffee grounds. So far, they have observed that coffee grounds help to sustain high temperatures in compost piles. High temperatures reduce potentially dangerous pathogens and kill seeds from weeds and vegetables that were added to the piles. They have noticed that coffee grounds seem to improve soil structure, plus attract earthworms.
When coffee grounds made up 25 percent of the volume of their compost piles, temperatures in the piles stayed between 135 degrees and 155 degrees for at least two weeks, enough time to have killed a "significant portion" of the pathogens and seeds. In contrast, the manure in the trials didn't sustain the heat as long.

"We were amazed at the results we got with coffee grounds when we did the trial," said Wise.
Jack Hannigan, an Extension-trained compost specialist, is pleased with the results he gets from the coffee grounds he collects from the Fast Lane Coffee Company in Springfield to use on his farm in Pleasant Hill.
"I make hotbeds that run about 150 degrees," Hannigan said. "It kills the weeds. I can get the piles hotter and break down the compost better with coffee grounds than I can with manure. It works great."
Coffee grounds also can be added directly to soil but the grounds need a few months to break down, Wise said. "We're not certain about how coffee grounds act with the soil, but anecdotally people say they do dig it into the soil," she said.
An additional benefit of diverting coffee grounds from the landfill is that it helps cut greenhouse gas emissions, said Dan Hurley, waste management engineer for Lane County's Short Mountain Landfill.
"To keep organics out of the landfill is a good thing for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because organics decompose and produce methane. Methane is about 25 times as bad as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas," said Hurley.