Apple head dolls | Botanical Anthology

I made these apple head dolls for the fall edition of Botanical Anthology magazine (releasing today!). This little cottage witch has been watching over my altar for a few months now. 🍂

Apple head dolls gained popularity hundreds of years ago in Appalachia as a simple way to make children’s toys. Early records indicate that a version was created and sold by the Seneca people, whose territory spanned a large area south of Lakes Ontario and Erie (many were eventually forcibly displaced from their ancestral homelands around eastern Ohio to areas west of the Mississippi, coinciding with the south’s Trail of Tears).

BA Autumn Cover @theolivetreesandthemoon.jpeg

The dolls are very easy to make and their faces will continue to age and wrinkle with time, taking on their own personalities (a citrus bath cures the apples and prevents them from rotting).

Full directions are included in the autumn 2023 edition of Bontanical Anthology, which publishes both a print and digital version. The article also includes simple directions for adorning your doll like my cottage witch, but you can fashion the body in hundreds of ways. I also made her a little partner for company.

Botanical Anthology is a plant-centered publication with over 50 articles on ways to bring herbs to your apothecary, kitchen, craft, harvest, and autumn celebrations. You can purchase the digital copy for $18 until 9/21 (which includes a bonus garlic booklet) or find the printed version on Amazon. 🖤

To learn more about me and my Appalachian folk practice, including info on folk witchcraft, mountain magic, and hearthcraft, please visit gritchenwitch.com or join my Patreon at patreon.com/gritchenwitch.

Apple head dolls | Botanical Anthology

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