Making a mini Monkey

I told Monkey in a moment of over-confidence I would make her a doll that looked just like her. She has a lovely tan - think like your typical Californian blonde - so I'm using Howleen Wolf as the base for this doll.

I re-rooted her hair with blonde nylon. It was my first time using nylon hair and I went far too thick to start with, so I had to pull out a considerable number of plugs to thin them out before I was finished. I patched over where I'd cut off her ears with fabric, then managed to make a large hole in one piece when I stabbed in a plug too enthusiastically. Once I'd finally got the thickness right I used far too much glue inside the head and it took a good week to dry. *sigh* Lessons learned, I'm glad that's all done!

Once that faff was all over I curled her hair using pipe cleaners and foil, and dipped in hot ad cold water to set the curls. I cut her hair once the curls were in and styled it a bit more. Monkey has quite short curly hair and that's not easy to recreate with a doll, so mini Monkey has longer hair than the real deal.

I made a pretty yellow spotty dress for the doll which is similar to one which was Monkey's favourite before she grew out of it. I'm planning to make a jacket for her as well and probably a pair of blue shoes, which are her current favourites.

More on mini Monkey when I've finished her...

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What do I do with a green doll?

The first Monster High dolls I bought for customisation were a set of two from eBay - Clawdeen Wolf and Venus McFlytrap. As I mentioned in another post, I don't have any pastels or airbrushing kit, and I don't really want to invest in them at the moment. So what was I to make of a green doll like Venus? I had two ideas - something to do with plants or something to do with the sea. I did a few sketches and decided to go along a plant-based theme and make her into a dryad. Her hair was in good condition but I wasn't sure I wanted that colour, so I cut it off and kept it for a future project. After the usual prep (sanding down any lines in the plastic, clean face with acetone, take out hair roots, etc) I repainted her scalp in a dark brown and also painted the ends of her arms and legs in brown acrylic paint. I had the idea that she would have the same colouring as a tree, so I used a brush to get lines in the paint like bark. I fully expect the paint to chip off a littl...

Making skirts

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First attempt at boots

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Pam's Dollhouse - a doll customisation journey

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