Bee

The first Create a Monster set I bought only had one torso, so I decided to make one myself. I had already ordered a couple of the expansion sets, so I decided to make the torso for the bee and paint the upper arms and legs with the correct color. The grey head is here just for reference.

The armature is made of wood and the black and yellow torso is needle felted.

This photo shows the doll before painting and also in comparison to a normal Monster High doll.

I made the stand, in which the upper legs are attached, for painting doll shoes, but as the wooden posts are made of the same round strip as the part of the torso where the legs attach, the stand was perfect also for painting the upper legs.

I used FolkArt's acrylic paint "509 Sunny Yellow" and it was a bit too yellow compared to the lower leg. I painted several coats with it and then mixed the color for the final coat by mixing Sunny Yellow and "480 Titanium White." Finally, I applied a coat of matte sealer to prevent the paint from chipping.

This was just going to be a needle felted wig cap, but I liked how it looks, so I left it as it is and will make another wig using the original plan.

Here is Bee almost finished. I'm still thinking of giving her a stinger, but I'll need to figure out how to make one. I tried using wood, but the result wasn't satisfactory, so I'll continue experimenting.

Needle felted wig for a Monster High doll

I decided to try needle felting to make a wig for a Monster High Create A Monster doll. I started by making a wig cap that would be the basis for an updo. The photos below show it from different sides.

The wig cap kept slipping off or into wrong position, so a peg for keeping it in place was necessary. I used a strip from a 0.3 mm thick metal sheet.

As glue wouldn't have kept the metal strip in place, I cut a small piece of felt, made a hole in it and pushed the peg through.

Then I put the peg in place, spread glue to the felt, put the wig cap in place and pressed it down to the head to make the peg construction stick inside it.

Here is the inside of the finished wig cap.

Then I attached the actual hair inside the edges of the wig cap. I used coarser wool for the wig cap and mohair for the actual hair.

This looked funny and I can imagine all sorts of funny hairdos you could make this way.

However, this one was about to become a very formal updo. I collected the hair and attached it to the top of the head. Then I made the bun and attached its bottom to the top of the head as well. The hairline of this wig is maybe a bit too high, but it's good enough for a first try (and my second needle felting project ever).

Greyscale Ghoulia

I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I started removing the head from a Monster High Ghoulia doll. I did it with that small screwdriver you can see in the photo. The construction turned out to be similar to Barbie's. The only reason for that odd round knob seems to be that Monster High dolls have such a thin neck that the post could not be attached to it without making that part thicker.

Next, it was time for the hair to go. I cut the hair as short as possible and then used the wide tweezers to scrape the inside of the scalp to pull the hair in. When everything was inside the head, I used the other tweezers to pull it all out (those tweezers are easier to use as you press to open them, so their "default position" is closed).

After removing all original paint using acetone, it was time to apply some new. I used Folk Art's acrylic paints and mixed the different shades myself.





I had thought that I would do a reroot, but I came across the perfect yarn for her hair and it was too thick for rerooting (or at least I couldn't figure out how it could be done). So, I used a sewing machine to sew the strands together for easy gluing. It's fairly easy when you arrange the strands on top of baking paper and sew at least twice across them. When finished, you just need to rip off the paper (by this time, it will have so many holes in it that it will be easy to remove).

I used three strips: back, front, top. The top one is sewn from the middle to make a parting. I used PVA glue to glue the hair in place as it has worked with a smaller doll I customized earlier. If it won't hold, I'll use super glue to glue it back. Even if I have to resort to that, the first gluing won't be a waste of time as I expect super glue to work better when there will be a smooth surface (the PVA glue strip in the hair) against a smooth surface (the vinyl).

And here Ghoulia impersonates Cousin Itt as she waits for the glue to dry.

Finally, photos of the finished doll. She's wearing a business suit for now as I haven't yet made her outfit. The boots are the ones I made for Draculaura a while ago.

Easy wig for Miss Piggy

Miss Piggy's blonde wig, which has holes for ears and therefore stays in place very securely, gave me the idea of trying to make her a wig myself. This is just the first version and I'm sure I can improve it.

The basic structure is very simple, just a piece of fabric attached to a rubber band.


Measure the rubber band so that it goes around the ears snugly, sew it into a loop and sew the fabric strip to it. The fabric in this one was first sewn into a tube to prevent fraying and to make it a bit sturdier. If you use thick fabric, just one layer is probably better.


Finally, sew yarn into the fabric as shown in these pictures of the finished wig. You'll need quite a lot of it to get a wig that covers the entire head.