Apple Stamped Jack-O-Lantern Cards

Autumn has arrived!!  This year, in honor of our favorite season, we decided to combine two quintessential fall festivities and create one playful greeting card.  We bring you…our Apple Stamped Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Cards.  This card only requires a few materials (and you probably have them in your house already).  Plus, we purposely use food coloring so it’s a great art project to make during snack time.

Materials:

Apple

Sharp Knife

Food Coloring

Paint Brush

Card Stock & Envelope

Crayons

First thing first: select your apple.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve already gone apple picking or if you simply run to your local grocery store.  We picked ours up at the farmer’s market.  Look for a shorter, fatter apple because it better resembles a pumpkin.  We used Paula Red Apples, but honestly any apple will do.

Cut one-third of the apple off.  You do not want to cut close to the seeds.

Use your knife to carve out a face for your Jack-O-Lantern.  We found that doing two triangles for the eyes and a mouth with one tooth stamped the best.  When scooping out the eyes and mouth remember this is an apple and not a pumpkin, so it is soft.  Be sure to be extra gentle.

The “ink” for this card is simply food coloring.  Apples are the perfect snack time food, so we wanted to avoid having to tell our child she couldn’t take a bite.  To create orange use 5 drops of yellow food coloring and 1 drop of red.  Using a clean paintbrush mix them together and paint the face of the apple. 

Now simply position the apple where you would like it on the card and press firmly.  Lift the apple and voila! instant Halloween happiness.  Tip: after several applications you can revive your ink by dipping your paintbrush in water and brushing the apple.

For a little embellishment use crayons to add a stem, words, and any other details you would like.  Don’t forget to decorate your envelope!  It will put a smile on your friend's face as soon as they open the mailbox!

TIPS FOR MAKING CARDS WITH YOUR CHILD

Like we said above, this makes the perfect snack time project.  Here are 7 tips for making this card with your little one.

1. Cover your work space with kraft paper.  This way they can express themselves on more than just the card and you won’t have to worry about them ruining the table.  Georgia literally said “ooohh, look, I can stamp on here too.”

2. Set up the card making station during naptime.  Carving the apple and gathering the materials is a lot easier when you don’t have a little one running around.

3. Cut up extra slices of apple ahead of time.  We even included some peanut butter for dunking.  When your child wakes up from their nap, you’ll be ready to snack and make a card!

Georgia was really excited when she saw this waiting for her when she woke up!

4. Mixing the food coloring is a fun learning moment.  Let them count out the 5 drops of yellow and the 1 drop of red.  Note: this doesn’t have to be exact. If they squeeze out too many of either color it will be fine.  This is also the perfect opportunity to show them how red and yellow make orange!

5. For a better outcome, be ready to remove the card after your child has stamped it so you get one clean stamp.  However, don’t stress if they do a couple…it will still be cute.  We made one “ghost-looking” jack-o-lantern and on another one I outlined the eyes and mouth with a crayon so you could see them better.

6. Once you are done with the stamping, give your child a couple crayons and let them draw.  Using colors in shades of greens, browns, and oranges helps keep the autumnal theme.

7. When writing the card be a stenographer and let your child do the talking.  Ask your child who they want to send the card to and what they would like to say.  Write it down word for word.  This is one of our favorite things to do with Georgia.  It’s very insightful and most always hilarious.

We hope everyone is enjoying this time of year as much as we are!!  Celebrate by making a card with your family and sending some Halloween happiness to all your friends!!