From Broken Toy to Fun Play With Mom

My oldest daughter has a Barbie that she got from her aunt. Her name is Summer. She is a fully jointed, made-to-move doll that my daughter has carried around and used in scenes ever since she got her. However, Summer had an accident. One that broke her hand at the wrist. Despite her Dad and I trying to fix it, we had to admit defeat and tell our girl that she would have to just bear with the broken hand. So for many months now, she has been taping and re-taping the wrist to keep the hand from falling off. She has since purchased another made-to-move doll, but Summer is still one of her main characters in play. So she doesn't want to give her up. But Dad finally told her that re-taping the hand is getting old and burning through the tape. So what to do? 

Mom has an idea!

I decided that Summer wasn't out the picture yet. She had an accident, but aside from losing a hand, she is still functional. So I started a new story line for the girls to follow and continue with the imaginative play! I told them to pick an accident. They can work it into their ongoing story during play time. And Summer would now become an amputee doll. We have done this before. Or I should say, my little sister did this before. She had an 18" doll that lost an arm. We turned her in Bethany Hamilton! 

Creating the new story with pictures! 

We have enjoyed setting up photo scenes with the dolls for about a year or so now. I make accessories and clothes that fit the needs. The girls give me ideas and help me set everything up. Since Summer "lost" her hand in an accident, we decided to set up the hospital scene!

We started with the initial hospital room. Family is gathered around the patient. Pink haired Avery is the "Mom" to Summer. She brought the hand in a jar in the hopes that the doctor would be able to reattach it. We made this room more realistic by adding printed posters that you might see in a doctors office. Resizing was simple in a Linux version of Word.

These are Grandpa and Grandma. Here for emotional support. Grandma kept her figure well, don't you think? I love her pearls!

Summer's husband is comforting her and keeping her calm through this. I think I need to make some of the posters a little bigger. They were a mix of scale sizes.

The doctor is studying her notes while Avery asks her about the hands viability.

Time for the doctor to examine the hand while they wait for the x-ray to come through. To make this realistic, I used a tiny jar from the Dollar Tree store. I cut a small piece of gauze, put a drop of red food coloring in the middle, and put the hand on top. Amazingly enough, the hand fit perfectly!

The lid even closes on top. We talked about adding the hand to my future science lab scene. Just a little yellow water after removing the gauze and it will look just like it is in formaldehyde! That or make it a Thingette? (Addams family anyone?)

Well, the x-ray came back. Bad news. Can't reattach the hand after all. Sorry Summer, but you will have to learn to live without it. We wrapped her nub with gauze and a strip of light pink washi tape. Looked just like a surgical bandage. The x-ray was printed after resizing.

The big reveal! Summer now has a nub. I had a very light pink colored play dough. Scars in the beginning are typically a brighter pink. But after adding a sealant to keep it in place, I'm hoping it will darken slightly. In the future, we may make Summer a hook attachment for fun. Or maybe even look into 3D printing a sort of prosthetic? I have some ideas. For now, the girls have been enjoying creating her new story. Shark bite? Industrial accident? Who knows what they will decide. But Summer has a new life now.