Apple Painting Tips & Tricks

It occurred to me a few days ago, with all this apple stuff going on, that my kids had never done apple painting. Gasp! Crafty ‘ole me had never done this with them! This required a special trip to the grocery store (because we didn’t have any apples), but it was totally worth it! The kids had a blast!

I know you probably know all about painting with apples and right now you’re saying “ho hum… this is old news…”

But, I have a few unique (at least I think so) things that we did, that I would like to share with you.

Tip #1

You don’t have to buy a big bottle of paint for this. If you are like me and your paint supply has sadly dwindled, you don’t have to buy anything special. IF you have a can of sweetened condensed milk in your cupboard, that is.

I divided one can of condensed milk into three styrofoam trays (good for reusing things before they go in the trash and super easy to clean up!). And a little bit extra onto a plate.

I added some gel food coloring. I absolutely love Wilton gel food coloring, so I definitely recommend buying some, but if you don’t have any you can use whatever food coloring you have on hand.

Swirl it together. Let the kids do this because it’s so fun to watch it change colors.

That’s it! You’re “paint” is ready for some action.

Tip #2

Stick a fork in it.

Really.

Stick a fork in the apple to use as a handle.

It is so much easier to hold than the apple itself, plus, since you’re using sweetened condensed milk, your hands won’t get as sticky if you use a fork to keep some distance between you and the paint.

Tip #3 You don’t only have to make apples, though those are fun.

You can use the apples as paintbrushes to make any kind of design your can think of.

My kids made roses, a ‘rose’ that looks more like a tulip, trees, and Emma made the letter ‘E’ by printing the apples into formation.

Emma decided that it would be fun to embellish her painting with some thumbprints.

Jaida decided she wanted to do it too, but I think it was more so that she could lick her finger afterward….

Rissa decided that she was hungry in the middle of painting a lovely rose, so she helped herself to one of the unpainted apples.

Jaida took an idea from that and after they were all finished with the painting, she decided that the apples & condensed milk made a pretty tasty treat. And she didn’t even have to get messy because (tip #2) they were already on forks!

I couldn’t resist sharing this picture of Jaida. Her ‘shocked’ face is so classic when it comes to dealing with her sisters!

Shiloh slept through most of it, but she did get in on the painting action after she woke up, but I was so busy trying to help her, that I didn’t have a free hand for the camera.

I hope you find these tips & tricks to be helpful when you do your apple painting this year!

Be sure to check out some of the other apple goodies we’ve been doing over the last week. And I promise there are more to come, so be sure to Pin this post and come back soon!