Ariel's free!

I just unboxed Ariel! I've been meaning to do it for a couple of days, but I kept putting it off. I know I've had her for nearly 4 months, but it was so easy to leave her in box (which was in pretty much perfect condition). It was only because I want to open all this year's Angelz by the end of the year that I thought I'd better get a move on.  Here's one last picture of her boxed, with Tara:

Actually, two pictures. I don't think either turned out that great (my phone camera isn't the best), but the first one does show Ariel quite well, and the second one, Tara. 

It's been such a long time since I unboxed one, I'd forgotten how hard they are to open. You have to fight through tape, one layer of cardboard, then a load of plastic tabs, then another layer of cardboard, before finally getting to the inner half of the plastic. I removed this layer from the other half completely, which is much easier than trying to pull the Angel and pets through the narrow gap between the two halves (which is what I always did previously!). 

After this, all I had to do was pull Ariel and her animals out. I took the pets out first, as I always do, and they were easy to remove: one tug, and they were free from the tie. Ariel was a little harder; there were more ties in her way, but a little bit of untangling did the job. 

It's so great to finally have Ariel free! I will take some pictures of her when the weather's a little better, now I can move her into different positions.