Fixing Monster High dolls with no arms

A while back, I joined a Monster High / Ever After High group on Facebook but for some reason I got kicked out and blocked. I don't know what I did wrong. I'm guessing it's because I mentioned a non-MH or -EAH doll in one of my posts, but my goodness, there was no warning issued to me. I just got blocked right away. I don't even know how I could make amends or whatever. Oh well. It's no big deal. I still get my doll news on Tumblr.

Anyway, I just want to share the tip I posted on that Facebook group. I thrift Monster High dolls and usually find them with no arms. I don't have the money to buy Create-A-Monster packs to get extra arms, and buying extra arms off of the Mattel website or from online sellers is quite a hassle for me. So I thought of a solution. Behold:

These are plastic coffee stirrers with a hand design on each end. I thought of hacking these and turning them into replacement arms for my Monster High dolls.

Note that the following pics I'm posting were taken back in April, when I was just starting to build up my doll collection.

A pack of 5 stirrers can cost from P40 to P65. I can find these at Landmark department store or Office Warehouse. So far I've bought four packs on two different occasions.

I had to cut off the hands, then the thin part of the stirrer (which is in the middle) so that the width of the hand and that thin part would match when I glue them together.

I used tape at first to put them together and see how they'd look like on a Monster High doll.

Not bad. This was my first try on my first Monster High doll ever, Operetta, and the length of the arms I made for her was quite long. I have to shorten the hands a bit. Since then, I thought of making better replacement arms and using better tools.

I figured that I needed a hand saw for the job because using a craft knife was just time-consuming, so I bought one at Daiso for P88. My sister also gave me a few rolls of wire she used back in her college days so I also used those for this project.

I asked for my brother to buy me a good quality glue gun in America, then I forgot that the voltage in America and in the Philippines differ, so I have to use a transformer to operate the glue gun. It's all right because when we cleared out my late grandfather's and aunt's estate from their house, my dad found a transformer. Yay! I used the hot glue and it worked for a while until some of the hands I stuck together started to fall off. It seems that I should use super glue for this project instead. I'll think about it.

The wire really did come in handy because I can pose the new arms of my dolls much better.

Here's a naked Clawdeen modelling her new arms. Too bad her wrist is not articulated but I can deal with it. This is one of the pics I shared in the MH-EAH Facebook group.

And for fun, here's Frankie wearing a Daiso school uniform, a jelly bag, and CDR-King shoes. Her chair is by Mattel. This is the other photo I shared in the FB group before I got kicked out. BOO.