Introducing the All-New Harriet (aka: Bunty)

Customizing dolls and creating personalities for each doll character is a lot of fun. Somtimes you hit it right on the head from the start! That's what happened with Benny. I bought a wigless Nanea doll, unpacked it, tried on about ten different wigs and knew the minute that dark brown "Johnny" wig went on that I had a perfect little boy sitting there. And it didn't take more than three minutes to come up with his name, because he looks just like my Dad's really cool cousin, Benny!

But sometimes it can be a very long journey with a lot of stops along the way. Such has been the case with one of my very favorite dolls, Harriet. Any of you who have been following this blog probably remember a previous entry about her and know that she's undergone quite a change since arriving last Summer. Well, here is a final change (yeah, I know . . . it's been final a couple of times, but I have now bonded with her and really enhanced her character) that took quite a while to come about.

This shows Harriet #4 with some of the paintings that inspired me to make this doll and character.

One of my very favorite American Girl dolls is Rebecca. The doll only, that is. I can't stand her clothes, but she's a really beautiful doll. For a year, I tried to buy one, but it was one failure after another. You never knew that so many bad things could happen in the mail to a doll! Finally, I gave up and decided that Rebecca was not for me. Months went by, and we ended up with a TLC Rebecca in a lot of dolls. Her wig was bad, but she cleaned up very nicely and has the dark hazel eyes that I love. I decided that I'd try to re-wig her and make some kind of addition to my collection.

Some time ago, we had been able to buy a variety of AG CYO wigs in a variety of styles and colours. They are great wigs, and the "red, short, curly" wig was particularly appealing. It is the same type of curly hair that you get on Rebecca (in red), but instead of being the longer length, the hair comes just to the shoulder. So cute! So, I put that on the Rebecca doll and decided that Harriet could have a cousin called "Bunty". The doll was adorable, and making a character for her fell into place almost immediately. She likes wool, knitting, felting and sheep. She particularly likes rare breeds of sheep that have been place on the Conservation lists and enjoys fund-raising to help with the protection of these rare breeds. Everything was falling into place, and I was bonding with Bunty way more than Harriet. In fact, she was heading right up to the level of Nanea, Benny and Eliot --- my three super-special dolls! But there was one hitch . . .

The red hair caused the vinyl tone on the Rebecca doll to look very green. This can happen when putting red wigs on AG dolls, and it was very obvious in this case. Her vinyl doesn't look green at all when wearing a brown wig, but the red really didn't suit her -- plus, she looked very similar to Harriet (one just being a Marie Grace face mold and the other a Josefina mold). The green tone hampered the doll, because she looked pretty bad in almost any coloured clothes I tried. We dug around through the wigs some more, and there was a beautiful "brown, medium, curly" wig in there. Basically, that's just a Rebecca replacement style (without the thin areas common on the character doll wig). She looked great and the green effect disappeared. 

You can see the original "green" Bunty at the far right.

By now, I was really bonding with Bunty, and Harriet was fading away a bit. But Harriet is a key character for some of the story and pieces that are my favorite parts of the doll collection, so dropping her character was out of consideration. Mom and Elizabeth came up with the great idea to combine the characters! One doll named Harriet but called Bunty. She could like the family history, dressing up and sheep, all together. She could organize little fund-raising bazaars and would make a great sister for Eliot. Bunty is very outgoing and energetic, which is the total opposite of Eliot! They make a good team. The idea of combining the characters was so great that it only took me a couple of hours to do just that. 

While we were talking about all of this (I think we were washing dishes, actually . . .), Elizabeth throws out a passing comment that she thought Harriet (being the Marie Grace with a "red, natural, curly" wig) was the most gorgeous doll in the house. It so shocked me that I didn't even say anything. Right then, though, I knew I would just give her the doll. While I liked it and thought it was beautiful, it certainly wasn't my favorite. And if something appeals that strongly to someone else, then it's my pleasure to gift them with it. 

That left me with the Rebecca-style Bunty, now wearing the Rebecca-style wig. She's an adorable doll, but I couldn't get away from the fact that Harriet/Bunty needs red hair. The girl she's named for had the brightest red hair you could imagine, and it was a family characteristic. To be truly Harriet, she needed red hair. Boy, it's hard to try and get a doll with the exact personality and colouring you want.

Everybody reading here knows that GOTY 2019 Blaire was a disappointment to me. I'd been hoping for a much more unique doll and theme. Luciana seemed like a really unique package, but Blaire is rather run-of-the-mill. That said, I really liked the doll and think it would have been a great addition to the regular Truly Me line-up than a Girl of the Year. But as far as a doll goes, she's lovely. Her wig is quality, her skin tone is the new shade of pale vinyl, and her eyes are a grey-green. The problem with her (in my mind) was that she looks like a red-headed Rebecca, which makes her too similar to another named doll in the AG stores and current collection. But it hit me, after giving my red-headed Marie Grace to Elizabeth, that what I needed was a red-headed Rebecca! And Blaire was made with a special vinyl tone that handles red hair without looking green.

The two photos above show Bunty when she arrived (left) and dressed but still wearing her original wig (right).

Mom and I went to the AG store in January and spent a while looking at Blaire. I didn't want to buy another doll that I just wouldn't bond with. Harriet/Bunty needed to be perfect, because I already knew she'd be one of my very favorite dolls. We held up all kinds of outfits to the various display Blaire dolls, and she never looked green. Perfect! I decided to wait and order her with my Rewards certificate this month (having since been through the miserable AG Customer Service experience outlined in the previous blog entries, I'm so glad I didn't wait --- because I would probably not have purchased her). Waiting seemed irritating, but it would make her a better price. Then, we found out that the Navy Exchange had a great coupon that applied to AG dolls! My Gramma was willing to order her for me on her NEX account, and the total price was $84.00 shipped! 

Bunty arrived on one of the coldest days of the year, but she looked beautiful! In fact, it was really thrilling to get a doll that looked so cute right out of the box. I really wanted her to wear the CYO "short, red, curly" wig, but the idea of taking a wig off of a brand-new doll seemed scary. I dressed her up and let her sit around for a week, but she really needed shorter hair for her personality. So, just this past Sunday afternoon, I decided to go for it. I got out a spoon, disposable gloves, non-acetone nail polish remover and some cotton balls. Quite amazingly, her wig was one of the easiest that I've ever removed! They did not use much glue at all, and there was already an area at the bottom back edge that was coming up. The wig came off in less than twenty minutes -- without a tear or stretch on it! Bunty put on her new hair-do, and she's just great!

So, Harriet has undergone a final change here, and she's very happy. She has a lot of personality and all kinds of accessories. She wants a pet lamb, so I am in the process of needle-felting a lamb for her. One of the conservation breeds that she loves is Leicester Longwool. With some serious looking and e-mailing, I was able to purchase Leicester Longwool locks, so her little pet lamb will be made of the authentic wool!

Check back in the coming weeks for more photos and fact about Bunty!