Are you a fan of Mad Men?  The long-awaited new season is finally dropping, and to celebrate, Mad in Crafts is hosting a two-week-long Mad for Mad Men crafting extravaganza!  I am a Mad Men fan as well, so I am tickled that I got to participate.  My favorite thing about watching the show is the design.  Mid Century Modern has always had a very special place in my design heart, so I decided to scale down a classic design element of the era, the starburst mirror, to dollhouse proportions.  At the rate I’ve been going, I’ll have a fully-furnished dollhouse in no time!  [how to make a dollhouse starburst mirror]

Project estimate:

• 1-inch round mirror, $1 and up
• 1-inch plastic ring, $1 and up
• Toothpicks, on hand or $1
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Cardboard, on hand
• Beads, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $2 and up

This post is part of the Mad for Mad Men series at Mad in Crafts.

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Poufs have been appearing everywhere on design blogs, including some excellent DIY pouf projects. I wanted to try my hand at making a dollar store pouf, and I did it for less than $5! These nylon throw rugs appear at the Dollar Tree frequently, and they usually have some pretty fashionable color choices to choose from. I think this black and white stripe classes up the otherwise cheap ‘n cheesy nylon throw rug. But, if the dollar store throw rug is too, uh, cheapo for you, try a more expensive rag rug, or several lightweight placemats. Or, use this basic technique and a long piece of fabric. Check the end of the post for other DIY pouf projects in blogland.

Project Materials:

• 3 nylon throw rugs, $3
• Acrylic yarn, on hand or $1 and up
• Crochet hook, on hand
• Sewing machine & thread, on hand
• Something to stuff it with, on hand

Total: $3 and up

First of all, some nylon throw rug discussion. If you don’t like these cheap rugs, you can use slightly more expensive rag rugs (from Ikea or Target, about $3-5 each). When working with the rugs, avoid cutting them up at all costs, as they won’t hold together when the nylon strings that hold them together are cut up. Likewise, be gentle when working with the long edges of the rugs.

See Page 2 for Instructions & Resources –>

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There are some great ideas over at Dollar Store Hack, which is the blog for a design course held in Summer 2008 by University of Oregon.

This chandelier (Designer: Thyra Bessette) used plastic service ware, and looks like it used about $6 worth of stuff from the dollar store plus a lamp kit (About $4 at Ikea?) so, total cost around $10.

This concept definitely has some potential for low-budget high-style decorating!

I also love the cheekiness of this plastic gun candle holder (Designer: Robin Hubbard). It’d look great in a geek chic bachelor pad! (Hmm, I used cheek, geek, and chic in the same paragraph…)

I’m gonna assume $1 each for the candles, and call this at $8, but I think it might have cost closer to $5 to create.

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