Monster High Cosplays (Ghoulia & Abbey)

I've started progress on my Ghoulia Yelps Fearleading outfit! I'm so excited! Hopefully this will be one of my cosplays for Wondercon 2015!!! Ever since I first found out about Monster High, I've been obsessed with Ghoulia and Abbey.
For those of you who are unsure of what exactly that means, here are some reference pictures.

The two projects I've completed are the giant Monster High foam finger, and the ghoul spirit flag.
I started the foam finger with zero clues on how to construct it. I've never had a sports foam finger before, so I was assuming that those were made out of shaped foam, of which I am incapable of creating a shaved foam version, because my carving skills are also zero.
My method was craft foam, glue, paint, and hope. A whooooole lot of hope.


Here is what happened: (I'm super proud of it)

Now, let's go over the steps involved. There aren't many, and I assumed it would be soooooo easy as the idea formed in my head of using sheets of craft foam glued to strips of craft foam to create the 3d finger.

You will need: 3 and a half big sheets of craft foam, hot glue, fabric puff paint in white, mod podge or elmer's glue, black, white, and hot pink paints. Oh and a pencil or marker. Probably a ruler, unless you can trace that Monster High logo reaaaaallly well.

 The first thing I did was make a fist, and lay it on one end of the craft foam sheet, right in the middle to give myself room to work with, and traced around it, down to my wrist for the opening/entryway for your hand. I couldn't manage to get a picture at that stage, so in the pictures below, you can see where some of the marker is and what I am referring to.

Then I sketched out the monster high hand based on that reference photo, about three times the size of your regular hand or pretty much as big as you want it. Cut along that line, and trace it onto a second sheet of foam so you have a front and a back piece. Cut the second one out as well.
Paint the front side of one black, and the back side of the other black.

Cut out 1-1.5 inch strips of the third foam sheet, my hands are very small so I only needed 1 inch pieces, but if you have wide hands, go ahead and make them 1 1/2 inches. These are going to be your bracers and also running along the perimeter of the whole hand to make it 3d.

Next step, hot glue, strips, and patience. Seriously, the more time you take on this step the better it will turn out.
Take those strips, and glue them down perpendicular to the monster high hand that will be your back piece, along the edges. Sounds too complicated? Here's a picture.

Try to get the strips as close to the edge as possible, and don't let the hot glue glob on the outside (visible in the final product edge). Work in SMALL sections. when you get to the end of a strip, fuse it together with the next piece using hot glue so you won't have any open cracks. The finger and pointed edges are the hardest parts, so try bending the strips into shape right before gluing them down.

When you have finished going around the perimeter, use strips to do the same along the perimeter of you fist outline. at this point if you feel like you need a few more pieces for support (so the top hand doesn't cave in in places) you can put more of these strips in there, branching from the top of your fist outline to the walls of the hand. Just keep that fist area clear for...your hand.

Now, glue that top hand on, I found it easiest to go from the top of the finger, and work my way to the bottom. It's tricky to get the hot glue along just the strip and press on the top hand before it drips down, so again, GO SLOW. After you have it glued together, use eagle eyes to search the perimeter for any cracks, seal and smooth them with hot glue. Paint the perimeter strips hot pink or black, your choice!

Print out 2 Monster high logos the size you want on your hand, or you can be slightly slow like me and sit there with a ruler, drawing it out and doing math for an hour. use one for the "back plate" and one for the letters. (See below) Paint them white and hot pink respectively.

It takes a few coats, and I found the hot pink paint works best on a white base.
Glue those together, and then glue them onto your hand.
Use a pencil to sketch nails and fingers onto your hand, again using the reference photo as a guide.
Paint the nails first using white base and then hot pink. Coast the whole thing in mod podge, and let dry.
Now trace your finger lines with the white puff paint, and let dry. Don't forget the little #1 up at the top.

The flag I used a dowel for the handle, canvas triangles sewn together for the flag, and polymer clay to make the Monster High skull. I traced on the school crest to both sides, and used fabric paints to paint them. One side is black and white and the other is the full color scheme.

Here it is in progress, you'll have to wait for the cosplay to be complete for the whole flag.

I still need to make their awesome lightening heeled cheer boots, and her wig. I hope to have more Monster High updates for Nerd Rendezvous soon!