Just love apples or need some cute and easy ideas to make for teacher’s gifts this year? Cute apple crafts are some of my favorite, so cheerful and happy. I went and found 34 of my favorite ideas for you, complete with step by step tutorials and gorgeous photos from the best DIY blogs. I am definitely making the terra cotta apple pots and filling them with candy for my kid’s teachers this year. Check them out and choose a few to try this weekend. Happy crafting!
DIY Apple Crafts
1. Apple Yarn Garland
Making all things apple this weekend and I am so excited to try this yarn apple garland! The tutorial looks so easy and quick to make and I think this will make great decor in my kid’s bedroom. The yarn is inexpensive and it’s also a cute way for kids to help decorate.
2. Wine Cork Apple
This adorable and easy apple wine cork craft can be a cute kitchen decor item that can also be a cute teacher’s gift. All you have to do is lay them together, add some glue and paint away. Its so fun to make and a perfect use of those old wine corks.
3. Rustic Wood Apple Cart
Megan turned a basic Home Depot wheelbarrow workshop kit into this apple cart, and the white and red paint job makes it look like a farm stand piece instead of a garage project. She left the wood build alone and focused on the finish, adding a chalkboard panel where she wrote APPLE 50 cents in white chalk marker, plus a buffalo check liner so the apples don’t roll everywhere. It’s not just a fall piece either, since you can swap the message and fill it with ornaments for Christmas or flowers come spring. If you don’t want to build a wheelbarrow from scratch, the same paint and chalkboard trick works on any small wood crate you already own. The Homes I Have Made has the full paint list and build steps.
4. Apple Popcorn Pouches
Can’t watch a movie or binge watch Netflix series without munching on some popcorn? Give it a little twist by creating pouches for them like this Apple Popcorn Pouches. This fun craft can also be a great bonding activity for you and your kids.
5. Easy No Sew Fabric Apple Garland
Are you looking for some back-to-school craft ideas? Well, look no more! Positive Splendid has you covered with this Easy No Sew Fabric Apple Garland that would look great as a classroom or decoration for any other space. This super cute and easy apple craft uses some basic materials and a few fabric scraps that you might already have.
6. Green Apples From Dollar Tree Jars
Give new life to your dollar tree jars by making them into something cute and crafty. This adorable green apple jar is one way to do it. Fill it with treats and goodies and it now makes for a perfect gift to someone you love or appreciate. They are so versatile and functional, I can’t wait to make one for myself!
7. DIY Apple Treat Bags
This apple craft tutorial from Love the Day only takes about 10 minutes to make. They are so adorable it can make for a perfect back to school present or teacher appreciation gift. Check out the step by step instructions to learn how simple and easy it is to make with just some fold-able paper, twine and free printable.
8. DIY Apple Balloons
Flour and a balloon turn into a surprisingly good fidget toy, and my kids go through phases where these barely leave their hands. Blow up a red or green balloon, funnel in flour until it’s full, then tie it off and add a brown-painted knot for a stem and a green felt leaf glued on top. Stick to an 8-inch balloon or bigger, since anything smaller doesn’t give you enough to actually squeeze. Rice or water beads work too if you want a different texture than flour gives you. A few of these tucked in with a gift card makes a genuinely good teacher gift at the start of the school year. One Little Project walks you through the whole thing.
9. Printable Apple Boxes
Teacher gifts stop feeling generic the second they come in a box shaped like the thing itself. Cut and fold a cardstock apple gift box from the free SVG file, then tuck a gift card or a handful of small treats inside before sealing it shut. It comes together fast with a cutting machine, and even a plain kraft cardstock version still reads as thoughtful. Crafting Cheerfully has the free cut file and the full how-to.
10. Apple Craft DIY Stamped Tote Bag
I am loving the details on this stamped apple tote. With a little creativity, some apples and stamping techniques, you can make your own apple craft bag. It is roomy with large pockets perfect for holding your books and can even be a pool bag to hold your well, apples.
12. Apple Decor From Scrap Wood
I had a pile of reclaimed wood left over from another project and did not want it sitting in the garage forever. Build a simple two-sided crate box, then stencil one side with an apple design so it can flip between an apple-farm look and a flower look depending on the season. It is a genuinely useful piece once it is done, not just a decoration that sits still. Funky Junk Interiors has the full build.
15. 3D Paper Apple Craft
My kids always ask how you turn a flat rectangle into something round, and this apple is honestly the best answer I’ve found. Print the free template, cut your strips from colored card stock, then tape the smallest one into a ring and keep wrapping bigger strips around it until you run out. The longest strip wraps all the way around the outside and holds the whole thing together at the bottom, then a couple of taped-on paper leaves finish it off. It’s a genuinely good way to talk about 2D versus 3D shapes with younger kids while they’re making something, not just looking at a worksheet. Little Bins for Little Hands has the free template and the full how-to.
16. Homemade Apple Coasters
I designed my first apple coaster pattern as a fall project and kept coming back to it for gifts ever since. Cut the apple shape from felt, stitch the pieces together, and add a simple stem and leaf so each coaster actually looks like a tiny apple rather than just a round shape. A set of four or six makes an easy handmade Teacher Appreciation gift that does not feel rushed. Agnes Creates has the full pattern and tutorial.
20. 3D Printable Apple Basket Craft
Print this one out and you’ll get an apple basket that actually stands up off the page once you glue the arched sides together. The template comes in full color or black and white, so kids can color and cut their own pieces first if you want. Little hands can pull the paper apples out of the basket and tuck them back in, which keeps this one in play way past the first afternoon. There’s an individual pack and a classroom pack too, so it works whether you’re doing one or a whole room full of kids. Kids Craft Room built this for apple season, though it doubles nicely for an alphabet lesson on the letter A. Free template and full instructions at Kids Craft Room.
22. Make Apple Candles
This is the fastest fall centerpiece I have ever put together, and it uses nothing but real apples. Drill a hole in the top of each apple with a paddle bit, just deep enough to hold a tea light, about a quarter inch. Set a tea light in each hole, then arrange the apples on a cake stand or anything else that lifts them up a bit. Pick apples with flat bottoms so they actually sit still once they’re loaded up, and tuck some fresh herbs around the base if you want it to look more finished. It takes about ten minutes and ten dollars, and Designer Trapped has the full rundown.
24. Stamped Apple Wrapping Paper
Bubble wrap makes a surprisingly good apple stamp once you know the trick. Cut a piece down to a workable square, paint a simple apple shape lightly onto the bubble side so the paint sits on top rather than pooling in the crevices, then press it paint-side down onto plain kraft paper. Two colors layered gives it real depth, and the kids get just as much out of stamping as they would out of any store-bought wrapping paper. Crafts by Amanda has the full how-to.
25. DIY Gilded Apples
I love finding an excuse to use up a bag of ugly thrift-store fruit, and gold leafing is exactly that excuse. Clean the plastic apples first with a scuff sand, then brush on the adhesive glue and press gold leaf sheets over top once it’s tacky and see-through. It takes about two and a half sheets per apple since the sheets tear easily, but a torn patch just presses in and disappears once you’ve burnished it smooth. The faux gold sheets run under ten dollars for a pack of a hundred, so a whole bowl of gilded apples doesn’t cost much next to what real gilded decor sells for in a shop. Salvaged Inspirations has the full step-by-step.
31. Pool Noodle Apple Stamping Craft
Donella came up with this one after realizing the leftover pool noodles from summer weren’t doing much of anything, so she cut them into apple stamps instead. A ring cut from the noodle makes the apple shape, a thin sliver becomes the stem, and a small leaf shaped piece finishes the print, then you dip each one in red or green tempera and press it onto cardstock. It’s messy in the best way for little kids, and the apples look a little different every time depending on how much paint gets pressed on. The same trick works with pumpkin shaped pieces once October rolls around, so it’s worth keeping the noodle scraps around. Glue Sticks and Gumdrops has the full how-to.
34. DIY Glitter Apple Earrings
This apple earring design started as a free cut file, and the shape is simple enough that a Cricut or any vinyl cutter can turn it into a sturdy earring blank fast. Cut a solid backing from chipboard, basswood or leather depending on what you have, then layer glitter cardstock or adhesive vinyl on top for the color and the heart shaped cutout in the center. You’ll need to duplicate and mirror the design so you end up with a matching left and right earring instead of two of the same side. It’s a genuinely nice gift for a teacher who’d rather wear something handmade than another mug. Artsy-Fartsy Mama has the free file and the full cutting instructions.
