Vegas Hitching Posts

 Tons of places to get hitched in Vegas!

Wee Kirk o' the Heather, a classic.

Drive thru style in the Tunnel of Love!

Or just walk up...

Elvis! He could do it for you also!

at Graceland no less!

complete with the front grates of Graceland as a backdrop!

Elvis himself got hitched in Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel May 1, 1967. 

Pinball Hall of Fame

Our next stop.... The Pinball Hall of Fame Museum! 

206 functioning pinball and arcade games from the 1950 to 1980's.
The pinball machine art work alone is worth visiting this place but add in that you can play all of the games for a mere couple of quarters....I hear angels singing.

There aren't just pinball machines here ....There are a bunch of super awesome midway deals/activities/horror attractions to experience after your fingers are all pinballed out.

RELAX-A-LATOR

circa late 1950's

Step up to the Relax-A-Lator!  Sooth your tired feet and legs after a long bout of standing at the pinball machines.

THE GOLDEN ARM

Arm wrassle a mechanical arm!

PEPPY THE MUSICAL CLOWN

circa 1956

The tables are turned now!  No more will a scary creepy clown control you!  You control him!  Make him dance now!  Put in a quarter and push the four buttons in front of him that control his arms and legs while you make him hop around to the Jetson's theme song!  We really enjoyed this one.

Super fun, still looking out for an Elvis sighting though!

PB taking on the vintage 1960's Stock Car pinball machine.

The Neon Boneyard Park

And speaking of vintage neon signs, we had to take a tour of The Neon Boneyard Museum while in Las Vegas!  The Neon Boneyard is where all awesome neon signs go to retire.  Many vintage classic casino and motel signs from old Vegas!

 The Neon Boneyard visitor's center is housed in the La Concha Motel lobby (circa 1961) which was saved from demolition in 2005 and moved to it's current location.  Off to the right is the restored Silver Slipper from the Silver Slipper Gambling and Burlesque Hall circa 1950. The Neon Boneyard has restored several full sized vintage signs that line the highway leading up to the museum.

 YESCO!  The company that made so many Vintage (and modern) Vegas signs.

Original La Concha Lobby sign that still resides in the present museum lobby.

 The great thing about the tour is it's not just looking around at a bunch of old awesome signs,  The tour guide tells a detailed history about neon signs, styles and the places and people they represented as the tour moves around the outside museum. 

(Original Stardust, late 1950's)

The Boneyard has a lot of neat events throughout the year.  There is a night tour with special spotlighting and  lit up functioning neon signs, lectures about vintage neon, movie nights, special christmas holiday lighting of the signs....I also saw several free events that they do for kids, for example:

Saturday, May 24, 2 to 4 p.m. – Drawing History in 3D. Children will learn how to draw their own 3D/anaglyph sign based on historic signs in the Neon Museum’s collection and make their own 3D-viewing glasses. This event is recommended for kindergartners through sixth graders.

Wha...What!? That sounds like so much fun! 

Well, on to the next stop...

Where to next on this Vegas Vacation?

Viva Las Vegas!

We just got back from a vacation to Las Vegas!!
I will be putting up several posts covering all of our adventures, starting with vintage signs.

There are plenty of photos of Fremont Street neon signage floating about on the nets so I will refrain from posting Vegas Vic and the Glitter Gulch Gal. But around the corner from there, in the "lock your car doors" district,  I did find a few other awesome neon signs that are still doing their thing as actual functioning twinkling beacons enticing tourists to Color TV!

HOLIDAY MOTEL

This one is my favorite!  

The metronome-like lights on the top sway in a most mesmerizing pattern!


RUMMEL MOTEL

The Rummel does not look as "grand" at night as it does during the day.  I think it became "Rum...tel" during the night time hours.  I  suspect "newly remodeled rooms" just means a few fresh bars of soap are included and "No Smoking Rooms"  means none of them are on fire at this time.

MONTEREY MOTEL

Monterey did not light up at night, but I can imagine it in my mind and it's breathtaking...the little star would be twinkling Clark!

 EDEN'S HOTEL

DOWNTOWNER APTS AND MOTEL

FUN CITY MOTEL

Fun City! Located conveniently next door to a Wedding Chapel if you happen to have a little too much fun while in Vegas!

We looked up a few reviews of some of these establishments and found a hilarious one about Fun City on Murder Motels . The reviewer found a crack pipe in a dresser drawer... for reals.

We spent a good hunk of the trip seeking out and snapping shots of old signs,  looking for any resemblance of "old vegas" and of course, Elvis!

More Vegas to come!

X-Ray Vision Glasses

 A very classic comic book ad mail order item!

These were a bit more time consuming to make but well worth it.

You will need 3D movie glasses, the images below, a hole punch, clear plastic treat bags and a printer.

The sizing for printing is going to be dependent on the size of the glasses you get

 and clear plastic bags that you have. So print out a few samples to see what works.

I printed out the above image of the X-Ray Vision glasses lens. I cut them to fit on top of the 3D movie glasses lens. Leave the lens in the frames of the 3D glasses!  I used a pair of extra 3D glasses with the lens pushed out to trace the lens shape on the print out.  I hole punched the center of the printed image so the glasses can be somewhat functional.  I then hot glued the image to the front of the movie glasses lens. 

I used the above image to make the packaging header. 

I printed it out to the appropriate size on cardstock allowing enough cardstock for there to be a back flap.

Place the glasses in the treat bag and staple it to the inside of the header flap.

So there you have it...PB's Big Vintage Comic Book 10th Birthday Party.

I spend several months planning, making, constructing, and searching for stuff for his birthday parties.

I usually have to "hire a staff" (fam) to help keep everything running smoothly during the hullabaloo.

I have my suspicions that this may be his last party so I am glad we went out with a Bang! Pow! Bam!

Kryptonite Rock!!

 Kryptonite Rock was a classic item to be found in vintage comic books for kids to order.

To make these was very inexpensive.

I collected several granite rocks from the side of the road (free) and applied several coats of Martha Stewart glow in the dark paint (use 40% off coupon from Michael's).  I printed out the packaging image and attached it to silver gift boxes I got at Dollar Tree (6 for 1 buck!)  

Atomic Energy Lab Rings

A couple of months before PB's birthday we happened to be at this store in town called Dirt Cheap.  They sell new stuff that is not even suitable for Big Lots... broken, damaged, out of season, but generally pretty cheap.  We stumbled upon several plastic bins full of Halloween Target Dollar Spot items for only 10 cents a piece!!!

We picked up several packs of mini glow stick rings (four in a pack!) with the thought we could use them somehow for the party.

We decided to call them Atomic Energy Rings!

I made my own packaging from print outs, black construction paper, and mini clear treat bags.

On the left is the front of the pack and the right shows the back.

Detail of the back.

Construction on these is fairly simple.  Cut the black construction paper to the size you need for images and rings.  Glue images. Place ring in a mini treat plastic bag and staple it inside the flap.  Type up the instructions and glue them over the stapled flap area.

Images for the packaging can be found on my Pinterest Vintage Comic Book Party Board.

Boom! Pow! Vintage Comic Book B-Day Party Mail Order Goodies

Rounding out the end of PB's Vintage Comic Book 10th Birthday Party posts is the Mail Order Goodies/ Thank You parting gifts.

We decorated the shelf with images of vintage comic book order ads, a few DIY items, and goodie bags.

For the bags, I attached prints of comic book covers.

I reproduced three examples of vintage comic mail order items for the Super Heroes to have for "Thank You's".

Kryptonite Rocks

X-Ray Vision Glasses

Atomic Rings

Upcoming post with "How-To's " on the goodies.