3lb bag of deep red apples
Size depends on size of ropes you want to make
1 16oz bottle Real Lemon juice
1 to 2 rolls of paper towels
Lg cookie sheet
cinnamun/apple oil for scent
jute rope

get a large bowl and add the lemon juice and 1 cup of water wash and dry your apples for a clean shiny look carefully slice your apples as thinly as you can (don't try to slice them so thin you are just breaking them and getting frustrated) a good 1/16th in is thin enough as you slice them, cut out the little centers. the end pieces I kept too since they were round tiny and had a lot of the peeling on them and used them for end pieces of tying off the jute . place the slices in the water/lemon mixture as soon as you slice them so they will not start turning color.

get your cookie sheet and completely layer it with 1 layer of paper towels. add a second layer of paper towels on the bottom of the cookie sheet. make sure you get most of the juice off the apples to keep them from dripping and keep your paper towels from being soaked.


lay your first layer of apple slices then two layers of paper towels. then you can add another layer of apples... you can continue up to 5 layers. then place 2 layers of paper towels on top I only sliced as many as I could put on my cookie sheet I never put over 5 layers of apples either the more layers you place the longer it will take for them to process in the oven.

I turned my oven on to 200.
once preheated I place the apples in the oven you check every layer every half hour you will notice after 2 hours they will get a leathery type appearance Depending on how thick you sliced them will depend on h ow long this will take 2 to 2 1/2 hours per tray is how long it took me to get them dehydrated in the oven every half hour you will turn them and you can rotate your layers so they are all getting evenly heated

Practice is what makes these turn out perfect.
fortunately I never lost a batch and could clean house, etc while having the smell of apples in the home while they were warming in the oven.

once they are done and cooled, you can either put them in a large sealed container or a ziplock bag string and decorate as needed and you can add cinnamon or cinnamon/apple oil I liked the smell of the apples so I never added the oil 'til I was ready to decorate especially if the smell gets to you from it absorbing and setting to long in a sealed container that way if you were taking it to the craft shows your scent it fresh and new and people tend to buy them quicker if they smell the fresh scent if you have any questions feel free to ask.

It's a simple process and the apples do not turn brown as I have seen others...mine stayed pretty and the creamy ivory/yellow look of a real apple Hope you enjoy trying this...I sold MANY ropes when I did craft shows.
Love marie

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