Lissie came to visit!

Last time on Felicity Goes Meta........

Photo used with permission

If you click that link up there is will take you to my bff/sister's blog where she did a little post about sending her Lissie to me for new hair. I got her about a week ago but then immediately ended up with all sorts of sinus/eye issues so her treatments had to wait. Today I'm finally feeling halfway human so we got started!

Now before I go into everything I've done and plan to do for poor Lissie I want to give you a little bit of history! Let's go back in time ~~~

About three years ago I was digging through this huge annual rummage sale. I had been hoping I would find something American Girl related but I had been there for several hours and come up with squat. Then I happened to glance up and across this HUGE room I spotted what looked like a doll with red hair and a classic face laying down on a table. So walked quickly over there (read almost ran) and snatched up these two:

This is also, coincidentally, the story of how I got my Kirsten.

And my mother-in-law paid 8 bucks for the both! I already had a Felicity, of course, so this one was marked for my bestie and Kirsten stayed with me.

Except for their hair and some ridiculously loose limbs they were both in great shape!

Pardon the crappy 3 year old pictures. They were never meant for the public!

No damage to their limbs, no holes or stains on their bodies. Basically it was a find of a lifetime!

But man that hair:

Now I was still fairly new to the restoration game. Lissie was my first restringing and I did okay. At least she was able to stand on her own again for a while.

I did my best with her hair. It was washed and conditioned, but no matter what I did it melted if I used even the barest heat. Even if the hair was soaking wet. So eventually I just curled it.

3 years later and my desk is no cleaner

It didn't look too bad and Goose took excellent care of her, but eventually that hair just needed to be replaced.

And here is Lissie at my house today:

She not only going to get a new wig, but we are also going to clean and restring all her limbs and give her some new face paint!

Lissie and Goose picked out (and sent) this wig:

This is the Wavy Dark Auburn Parting Wig from Ruby Red Galleria.

It's a really pretty wig:

Smooth fiber, lots of loose curls. I like Ruby Red Galleria wigs!

It is a lot darker than the original one:

But it reminds me a lot of the newer Felicity wigs. I won't be trying to make pin curls. Lissie's person is going to do that I think but I don't want to cut the brand new wig!

Here are my usual tools:

I couldn't find my good glass eyedropper so I had to use this :(

I know I have done wig removals a lot in the past. But just a quick explanation! You just squirt the nail polish remover around the edge of the wig, wait a few minutes, pry with the spoon. Then you squirt more polish remover and then keep prying.

I will link you to a couple of videos here and here if there is anyone who needs some real instructions! It's not a difficult processes but it can be VERY hard. And this was one of the hardest wigs I've ever taken off. For some reason that glue just did not want to let go. Eventually I just took pliers and yanked the darn thing off. Good thing I wasn't planning on saving that wig!

Also, in deference to my sister's feels about her doll, that is the only process picture you will see. She doesn't want to see her babies taken apart and I can't blame her :) Here is Lissie after everything:

The famous pink beanie returns!

So far she has had her limbs restrung and cleaned, her wig removed and a new neck string put into place. That really doesn't sound like a lot of work typed out like that, but I worked on her for a good two hours today! Surprisingly my least favorite part about the whole restringing process is the re-stuffing after you're done. I never feel like I get the stuffing in the right places and I usually end up doing it twice before I feel it's okay.

I was going to put her wig on too but as I was yanking on her old wig I noticed some pink spots on her cheek:

After a panicked moment and a quick text I found out that they have always been there. I kind of remember them now! But we are going to try and lighten them before I give her new paint.

So here is Lissie now:

I'm going to let her sit for a few days and then I'll check on her face and go from there.

Hopefully in another week I'll have her on her way home. I know she's being missed but while she's here she and Kirsten are catching up. I'm really excited to get to work on Lissie again after all this time and I hope Goose likes her new look! Till next time!