Mold-a-Rama Dreamland!

When we were in Detroit we went to the Henry Ford Museum. It was amazing and I have a whole post on it tomorrow! But first I've got to tell you about their Mold-A-Rama machines!

 Mold-A-Rama machines were introduced in the 1960's and are usually found in museums and zoos. They are free standing machines that mold a plastic figure that you can take home as a souvenir! The machines themselves aren't made anymore, so any that you see out and about are from the 1960s! How cool is that??They are nostalgic for me because I used to get one every time I went to the Sanford zoo near my grandparent's house. I even brought Travis one of a snake back when we first started dating. Then I had no idea how old and awesome these machines are! I was so excited when we realized the Henry Ford has 10 of the machines scattered around the museum!

 Here is the first machine I saw, right by the ticket booth! Woo-eee was I stoked!

After you put your dollars in, the mold goes together, you hear some machinery noises, and a little bit later a hot plastic figure is revealed!

 Look at the Weinermobile!

The little foot in the back scoots forward and pushes your new souvenir into a metal basket. You pull it out and hold it upside down until it cools down. They come out pretty hot!

 The Lincoln bust might have been the best one!

 Are you excited I took a picture of every single one? I love them so much!

 They aren't kidding! Travis loves cutting the excess plastic off.

 This full body Henry Ford is pretty cute too.

I love how the different pictures look on their little pedestals, lit up in the window of the machine.

 Cute!

 We ended up with all ten! I have a few more from the Knoxville Zoo, and the Sanford Zoo, and some actual vintage ones I got at an estate sale. I guess it really is a collection now!

If you are interested, here are a few places you can read more about Mold-A-Rama machines. Mold-A-Mania is a site where you can see lots of the molds from tons of different machines! Moldville is a sit with TONS of info and great vintage pictures of the machines. And here is a great post about the machines over at Retro Roadmap!

I am 28!

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, and almost stayed home but my best friend called me up and we went out to breakfast! It was fun. Here is a silly picture she took of me, and that cute golden retriever puppy!

 We went to Fido in Hillsboro village. I had pancakes, and a soy chai latte! It was awesome.

Crystal and I have been best friends for a long time. I'm so happy she was off on my birthday so we could hang out all day.

 After breakfast we went to my appointment at Flash City! My artist, Jason St. Clair was super sweet and came in to the shop early so I could get tattooed on my birthday.

We finished up my half sleeve with some clouds and lightening. He had hoped to start on my Audrey 2 piece, but we ran out of time! Oh well, I'll be back soon to work on it. It is nice to be done with that arm! I've been working on it for two years!

 By the time my appointment was done Travis was off work and we met up and went to the Nashville Zoo! His parents gift me a membership every year, I love it! It's really close to my house (like within 2 miles) and I really should go more!

 Sometimes I can hear these monkeys calling from my backyard!

 Zoo juice!

We have lots of pictures of us with these meerkats over the years. I need to put them all in one place sometime and see how much we've changed. Travis and I actually went on our first date to the Nashville zoo! And Crystal came! Ha!

 Can you believe there are so many pictures of me in this post? That never happens! And can you believe how bad I need a haircut!

 Cute green lizard.

 Sea horses are so weird. They seem like they are a mistake, the way the flop around!

 The tapirs were so cute! Look at that silly nose!

 My two bffs.

 The flamingos were so pretty.

Even when they were fighting.

After the zoo we drove south and grilled out at my parent's house. It was low key, but a really great birthday. 

Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum!

This might have been the coolest place we visited on our trip to Michigan. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is a little outside of Detroit in Farmington Hills in a shopping center. It isn't like a traditional museum, it is more like the most amazing arcade I've ever been too! It is the personal collection of Marvin himself, who has been collecting games since the 1960s!  This place is PACKED to the ceiling (literally!) with amazing coin operated machines from all eras. I tried really hard to narrow down the photos in this post, but there was just so much to show you! These photos show a TINY fraction of what there is to see. I'm sure it would take multiple trips back to see it all! And he adds new things all the time. It if free to get in, but bring a bucket of quarters!

I could have just looked up at the ceiling for hours!

This machine was basically a lit up flip book that flips when you turn the crank. It showed the Phantom of the Opera. I loved it! I've never seen anything like it.

Humpty presiding over the snack bar.

There is a whole wall of pin ball machines from all different eras. Travis says that the Addams Family machine has always been his favorite. We played it a few times. We would LOVE to have that machine for our house!

These marionettes play their instruments when you drop a quarter in.

One that I REALLY loved was Wally and Wanda the Polka Babies!

You drop the quarter in and the two little babies get jerked around on the string and seem to be dancing. It was so cute! The little sign said that it was made in the 1930's in Chicago.

I remember riding a little ferris wheel like this at Showbiz Pizza when I was a kid. I loved it! For that King Cobra machine you had to put your hand up and hold it there as long as you can. It freaks you out because when that cobra "strikes" it blows air on your hand!

There were a few fortune telling machines.

Travis testing the strength of his personality.

I love the options for the job you could have in this machine. I think I would like to be a love pirate. Or maybe a hot air artist.

There were lots of machines that were scenes like these. I wish I had put quarters in. I have no idea what they did!

Apparently this used to hang in a ladies room.

If you lift the fig leaf that big camera above it flashes and an alarm goes off! Ha! Poor Travis, I made him do it.

This was my favorite machine in the whole place! I put three quarters in it. The monkeys dance and great old music places! It is short, and it kind of reminds me of an old cigarette machine. I would LOVE to have this thing in my living room. Gorgeous! I took a video of it, but I'm not sure how to get it online. But trust me, it was a delight.

Travis' favorite was Time Crisis. He helped that little boy figure it out too. It was cute. 

We won some tickets! Mostly playing Fruit Ninja, which was awesome on a big touch screen! There are lots of modern games mixed in with the old ones so everyone would have a good time there.

There were tons of great prizes of course. If only we'd had enough for a switchblade comb.

That is Marvin in the photo booth pictures! He was actually there and asked us if we were having fun. Of course we were! What an amazing collection he has! And I LOVE that so much of it is on display  and out for anyone to enjoy (though I'm sure he has even more that doesn't fit in the shop). We had such a good time we actually talked about going back the next day but didn't end up having time.

This is the ceiling in the entrance. 

We used our tickets to get some really attractive vampire fangs!

After Marvin's we went back to our apartment and cooked dinner. Then we went to the drive in! We used to go to one in Tennessee all the time but we don't live close to one anymore. I love that they do double features for less than the price of one movie at a regular cinema.

There were almost no other cars there! I guess because it was cold. But we were cozy in our car with the heated seats. We drank cute sodas and ate popcorn and watched 42. I really enjoyed it. The costumes and sets are great, I'm easy to please if the movie takes place from the 20's through the 70's.