Today I have a different post for you. It's tips and tricks for eye swapping American Girl dolls. But please note - this post contains a eyeless and hairless doll, along with other doll parts. If you do not like those sort of things I would say you probably wouldn't want to continue reading.
I almost said I hope you enjoy the post, but then I realized that that probably wouldn't be the best.
ALWAYS have parents' permission first when eye swapping. I am not responsible for an injures or the doll getting damaged.
Now, I do not have pictures on taking out the eyes, but I can tell you the basics, but you still might want to Google it for taking the eyes out.
With taking out the eyes you must put the head in a container so it won't roll around, and then boil some water. Once the water is boiled, you will pour it into the hole on the dolls head. (You have to do that with putting the eyes in, so the picture will be with that part.) Then you leave the water in the head for about 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes, you will pour out the water. CAUTION! The head will be very hot! Then you will take a long handled spoon (check with your parents again because spoon might accidentally break) and use that to pop the eyes out. There are "pockets" in the doll's head which hold the eyes. You are going to take the spoon, and push it against those pockets to pop the eyes out. That is all my knowledge on taking the eyes out so for more information please Google or YouTube it. :)
Now for the part with pictures!
There are three pieces to an American Girl doll eye.
The part of the eye which you see, has a weight on the back of the eye which allows it to open and close when laying down.
This is the front of the eye
The eye then clips onto the black piece which is the back of the eye. (Some newer eyes have a white back piece and not black)
Then the third piece (which is metal) goes over the eye and black piece.
Both eyes put together and completed
The whole eye is bigger than the eye socket, which makes eye swapping a little difficult
BEFORE YOU EYE SWAP - always get your parents permission and maybe even help. Putting the eyes in are very hard. My dad was the one who put the eyes in. (Again I am not responsible for injuries or damages.)
To start eye swapping you must pour the boiling water into the head
You must then let it sit for about 3-5 minutes. (I can't remember the exact time)
Then you will need to dump the water out.
CAUTION! The head will be very hot!!
There are two different ways to eye swap. One way (not pictured) is to push the eye straight into the socket so it's the way you want it to be. My dad and I tried this without success.
The other way (which is pictured) is to just push the eye in any way you can get it in and then position it the way you want it.
You must put the eyes in one at a time. (You might have to put hot water in the head another time if the head has cooled down.)
I know this looks bad, but you have to push and shove that eye in, which is hard work even with the vinyl warmed up.
So here is one eye in now, and the way to turn it is to take a strong (but not sharp!!) straight metal thing to turn it. My dad is using his pocketknife, but it's NOT a blade or a knife. A knife will scratch and damage the eye!
What you have to do is get in the side of the eye, and very carefully turn it.
One eye in and straight
You have to get in between the eye and black part, but you must be careful not to scratch the dolls eyes.
You must keep moving it to get the position you want the doll's eyes to be in.
Both eyes are in!
The finished product!
I hope that this helps you if you ever want to eye swap! Even though my dad and I were very careful the doll did get a few scratches. (Can anyone guess who this doll is? You've seen a lot of her....)
Comment below if this helped you or if you learned any new information today!
P.S Don't forget to vote on Fabulous? or Fail?
