MAKE APPLEHEAD DOLLS

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You'll need very few supplies to make your own "appleheads" . . . in fact, you probably have most of the necessary materials on hand. To get your craftwork underway, gather some apples (the larger they are, the better, because the fruit shrinks quite a bit as it dries). You'll also need a sharp paring knife, several shallow bowls, a bottle of pure lemon juice, a box of non-iodized salt, a few lightgauge coat hangers, a pair of pliers, clean strips of old bedsheets (or other rags), a supply of small cotton balls, and some scraps of cloth.

To start an apple "noggin", carefully peel the fruit . . . and then carve out the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Try not to whittle too deeply or too shallowly, since an evenly balanced carving will dry into a more lifelike face than will an excessively jagged form. (At this point, you might also like to cut tiny smile lines around the doll's mouth or crow's-feet beside its eyes . . . by making small creases with the point of your knife.)

Don't worry if the applehead's face still looks like a bland man-in-the-moon . . . at this stage, it reveals none of the character it will acquire during the drying process. And be sure to carve more apples than you think you may need (or want), since you'll find that some of the faces shrink into unrecognizable-and useless-shapes as they dry.

After sculpting the facial features, dip the fruit in a bowl filled with lemon juice. The citrus "bath" ( which should last about one minute) is followed by a generous sprinkling of salt ( the two natural preservatives help to cure the apple and keep it from rotting). Finally to make the doll's eyes-press two whole apple seeds into the carved sockets.

A SPEEDY AGING PROCESS

Now your doll's head is ready to be "strung up" for a drying period of two to four weeks. Unbend a big paper clip (or use a length of wire) and push it straight through the apple's core. Bend the wire at the bottom-so the fruit won't slide off -and fashion a hook at the top. Then simply hang the newcomer in a northfacing window . . . away from direct sunlight.

It's fun to watch the doll faces slowly change and develop personalities as their soft, babylike roundness "ages" into the craggy countenances of backwoods oldsters. It's really impossible to predict just what kind of expression will emerge from each apple . . . sometimes the most intricately cut features shrivel into oblivion, while a lackluster carving will often blossom into a funny face etched with crotchety character lines. (You may occasionally even see a dried apple face that resembles a friend or relative!)

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