In exchange for Frankie Stein, whose outfit she has wanted for quite some time, I received a package in the mail from Paulette of
Limbe Dolls. The contents included two pairs of lower arms and hands and a pair of hands that work well with the
armless and handless Monster High Dolls found recently at the thrift store.
Prior to adding the needed extremities, I washed and styled Clawdeen and Draculaura's hair. To cover Clawdeen's wolf ears, I lifted a small section of hair underneath the ears. The hair was twisted then wrapped around each ear providing adequate coverage. Clear rubber bands hold the twists in place reinforced by purple (to match her boots) ponytail holders. Cleo only needed a little mousse to hold a few lose strands in place. The same product was added to Draculaura's hair.
I used blackberry fingernail polish to mask Clawdeen's fangs. Rose Chiffon acrylic craft paint was almost a perfect match to cover Draculaura's fangs.
The Get Real Girls had their hair restyled as well. Nakia's hair required the most work. The top portion of her hair has multiple microbraids. The hair underneath the braids hangs loose. The braids and the loose hair had become entangled. I separated the braids from the loose hair and held these together on top of Nakia's head with a rubber band. The loose hair was washed and conditioned.
Gabi's hair required a little detangling. I added conditioner and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.
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| Clawdeen, Nakia, Draculaura, and Gabi sat on the edge of my desk overnight to allow their hair to dry. |
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| Cleo stood on the opposite side of the desk overnight before her makeover was completed. |
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The next day, two Ken Fashionistas sports fashions and the shoes for each were used to dress Get Real Girls Gabi and Nakia.
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| Get Real (GR) Girls Gabi has her hair pulled up into a ponytail and wears Ken Fashionistas sports fashion and high-top sneakers. |
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| Nakia also wears a Ken Fashionistas sports fashion and low-top Converse-style sneakers. Yellow and turquoise ponytail holders serve as her headband. |
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| Nakia is happy with her detangled hair. |
The fit of the clothing is perfect for the GR girls (too tight for any male doll here). The shoes are a little long, but they will not fall off, and they do not interfere with the girls' ability to stand unassisted.
Getting those Monster High arms and hands attached was the final task of this makeover session!
Draculaura was the first candidate after her lip paint dried.
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| No more fangs! |
Draculaura's lower right arm snapped into place without a problem. The tip of the stem of the left lower arm was too large.
Uh oh... what to do now? I
thought. First, I dipped the tip into boiled water thinking this would
soften it up enough to snap it into place. No such luck there. I used
the edge of a scissors blade to shave off thin layers of the knob.
That worked! Voila... she's all done!
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| The makeover for Draculaura was the easiest of the three Monster High dolls to complete. She strikes a pose above to show off her new pink arms and hands. |
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Clawdeen's new lower caramel colored arms would not remain inside her upper arms; the stems and knobs were too thin.
I wrapped a small piece of Scotch packaging tape around the end of each
stem. I avoided placing the tape near the top of the stem so it would
not show at the connection between the upper and lower arms.
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| Tape-wrapped stems of Clawdeen's arms |
The tape increased the circumference of the stems, allowing them to maintain the correct position and still allow movement. Clawdeen's makeover (hair-wrapped ears, painted fangs, new lower arms and hands) is now done, too.
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| Clawdeen poses to illustrate her hair-wrapped ears and painted-over fangs. |
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| Full-view of Ms. Wolf without her jacket. |
Cleo, Cleo, Cleo -- what shall I do about your still missing lower right arm. You now have two hands, but you only have one upper arm! After pondering what to do for Ms. de Nile, I remembered my initial plan had been to use a flexible straw to create arms for all, which is exactly what I did to replace Cleo's lower right arm.
The straw was cut about a half inch above the flexible area to provide enough room to insert Cleo's upper arm and for the flexible part of the straw to act as her elbow joint. Approximately two-eighths of an inch was left below the flexible area checking to ensure the arm lengths were symmetrical, right and left. Initially I was going to paint the straw to match her complexion. An easier fix, I thought, was to use the sleeve of her dress to cover the straw.
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| Cleo has two full arms now. The left lower arm is fabricated with a flexible straw. |
Cleo's dress has only one sleeve and the sleeve is designed for her left arm. The end of the sleeve has a loop of fabric that loops around Cleo's middle and ring fingers.
This would be perfect, I thought, to hold her new hand in place. Since the sleeve was needed for the right arm, I removed the sleeve from its original attachment to the neckline, flipped it over and reattached it with fabric glue to provide extension to the right arm.
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| Cleo's repositioned sleeve now covers her new lower right arm. Her left hand is attached to the left arm. |
Cleo's new left hand was a perfect fit. Since her lower right arm is actually "the straw," I had to devise a way for the stem of the hand to remain in place inside the straw. To do this, I wrapped the stem with a small piece of thin plastic (using a piece of a sandwich bag). On top of that, I wrapped several layers of transparent tape to stiffen and lengthen the plastic and to widen the stem circumference. The excess was cut away. The stem was then inserted inside the end of the straw that serves as Cleo's lower arm. With the stem inside the arm, a small amount of polyfill was packed around the extended stem to secure it in place.
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| The stem of Cleo's right hand has been extended using plastic and tape before inserting this into the end of her new lower right arm (the straw). |
Finally, with the sleeve covering the straw/arm, the finger loop of the sleeve was wrapped around Cleo's right middle and ring fingers. This is a temporary fix (which is the reason I did not cover the hand stem directly with tape). I "might" purchase one of the
Midnight Magic dolls and use one of the arms to provide a more permanent solution.
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| Cleo's new lower arm and hand are in place. The loop of her sleeve is wrapped around her middle and ring fingers. |
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| Cleo strikes a full-length pose with both extremities and hands attached. |
The three girls took one final photograph. They were so overjoyed with being "whole" they almost forgot their friend, Frankie Stein moved away.
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| Clawdeen Wolf, Draculaura, and Cleo deNile, post makeover. |
In addition to the limbs and hands, Paulette sent me something extra special that will be shared in a future post.
Thanks again, Paulette, you are a limb saver!
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