Vegas Wedding Chapel: Here's a link to the Wedding Chapel we used:
http://www.heritagechapel.com/

However, if you type in the keywords "Vegas Wedding Chapels", you'll get TONS!

Dollladie

Vegas Wedding Chapel: I got married in Vegas at the Little White Chapel, which is what your chapel to be sounds like. Michael Jordan got married there and they have a drive-thru wedding window. There is a web cam for the chapel that shows the inside of it.
http://www.alittlewhitechapel.com/html/opening_page.html

When I got married 10 years ago there, there were pews (seen on web cam), the minister did not have a podium, there was a long dresser like thing at the front of the chapel and the music was provided via a boom box. There was a video camera set up on a tripod.

Carolyn in MI

Vegas Wedding Chapel: Start by visiting the chapel in any major hospital. Imagine it redecorated with any and all religious icons removed, lots of white paint, hearts, flowers, lace, and a tired wino in an Elvis suit. Position video cameras around the room and put price tags on everything as "added extras". Appropriate exaggerations in the "reception room" would be a price list which offers Frequent Nuptial discounts, a show case with rings for rent, and a recycling bin for little black books. If you "doll" your settings and include a preacher, hide racing form inside his "Good Book".

Mel K.

Vegas Wedding Chapel in a bag: My husband and I privately renewed our vows in downtown Vegas last Thanksgiving. I can tell you it was a real hoot! We plan to do it again next year for #10! There are millions of chapels; some are extremely elegant and tasteful; some are hilariously gaudy. We were at The Plaza. The chapel was nice; mostly white furnishings w/green carpet and a gazebo/garden-like theme. About 4 chairs on each side - we had no guests; a white baby grand piano (we paid the musician $40.00 to play our chosen songs - from a list of about 1000 tunes.
After he left, the photographer posed us for pictures at the piano, which we discovered was a PLAYER piano .. no pun intended. Lots of silk calla lilies, roses and orange blossoms in huge baskets; mirrors, big stained glass windows, doves, both living and dead, Elvis waiting in the wings for an additional $250 - no, we didn't use him; nosegays in various sizes and prices - they had EVERYTHING!!! Cakes, knives, glasses, tons of photographs we ended up buying in addition to the package we thought we had purchased .. limos, gowns to rent, coordinator. We only wanted a simple, quiet private ceremony, just the two of us. Our $90 special ended up costing us well over $400 w/n 20 minutes. Fortunately, I had "hit" that a.m. (lol). We have pictures, which are even funnier, because I wore jeans and DH wore a camel haired jacket, chewing gum throughout the video.
I think you can have a ball w/this project - because it was so funny it was unreal. For all it's comic relief, we plan to do it again next year - but go all out; maybe with a few Elvis AND Liberace!

Connie Sauve

TV scene: This is in regards to an old posting about gutting out an old TV and putting a scene in it. I was looking through some old mini mags and came across some room boxes of I Love Lucy, All in the Family (by our own Pearl, I believe), Gilligan's Island, The Waltons and MASH. They were featured in Dollhouse Miniatures Oct 98, pg. 46-54. You might get some ideas from them. I thought it would be great to have a four sided roombox that spins (this idea may have been posted) and a different TV show is in each. Maybe a popular show from four different decades, or else four shows from the era of the TV shell itself. A little slit could be made under the glass opening, and the base of the round display could stick out a bit (like those table top displays that you can manually spin) so the scene could be turned to view each room like "changing the channel".
As I was looking at the I Love Lucy roombox, the actual show wasn't in color, ut all the re-creations are. I got to thinking, would it be possible to re-create a B/W TV show, complete with figures, all in black, white and greys? Just as it's seen on TV. The figures might look a little ghoulish with grey skin, but it would be interesting to see the results. Has anyone tried something like this?

Connie Sauve

Hand drills: Two come to mind. One is turned like an egg beater. The other is "cranked" in a rotating motion.

In my opinion neither of these would be my choice for work on minis because:
#1 eggbeater type does not afford much control. Yes it will drill the hole.
#2 the crank type relies on pressure from either your hand pushing in the direction of the bit or pressing with your stomach. In either case, the amount of pressure to use this drill precludes its use for minis.

As I started out saying IMHO a variable speed Dremel will be the best for working on minis. It does not require much pressure and affords delicate control. Each of these drills has a place in the home work shop. Each can do something the other cannot do. The Egg beater can get into tight spaces where the crank can not operate but the crank type can drill thru a 2 x 4 with ease where as the egg beater type is very labor intense for a 2 x 4.

Drbob...Delray Beach FL.

HAND DRILL: I own and run Hobbybox, we specialise in all types of hobby tools for hobbyists. We have that "Old Fashioned" manual drill and have used it in miniature demos quite successfully. It has a 3 - 1 gear ratio which makes it very easy to use. This is the link to visit if you want to look at it. http://www.hobbybox.com.au/prod134.htm

Gary Vardy

Hand drills: I've used a hand drill to put the holes in my lollipop trees- gives you steady accuracy to place the holes. I'm not a "wood " person so the automatic kind gave me no control. I bought a vise and attached it to my workbench and it works fine. My lollipop tree has at least 12 holes and I don't have to worry about drilling too deep. Take a peek http://home.att.net/~stuff22/images/lolly.JPG

Gail Spector

Scroll saw tip; I have found that I can make fairly tight turns with the thin Dremel blade by doing the following.( I imagine it should work with all blades). I use the "set" of the teeth on the blade to make my tight turn. What I do is; as I enter the turn I line my self (eyes) up with the blade so I can watch the blade forced into a twist or torsion. I then let the blade return to its original position of being straight. It does this by the "set" of the tooth on the blade which nibbles itself straight and this realigns it for the tighter turn. It is the "set" of the tooth that gives the blade its "kerf" or thickness of the cut. Only problem I encounter is that my eyes get crossed after too much of watching the torsion.

DrBob...Delray Beach, FL.

Minicraft bench saw: I am the owner of Hobbybox here in Australia and we have found that the Minicraft bench saw kit has been an absolute winner with miniaturists. The blades are small and ideal for small intricate work. The kit comes with an 84 tooth blade for that fine work in wood without the splintering. e have used this unit in expo's and had nothing but success with the small tasks at hand. This is the link if you need to know more:- http://www.hobbybox.com.au/prod198.htm

Gary Vardy