DIY a Styling Station for Your Doll's Salon

The pink salon station has shelves for the styling accessories and a
round mirror. You can craft our blow dryer and hot curlers to go 
with a doll salon station like ours. I lined the back walls with a
hot pink, hand-crafted paper from India.

     This project is deceptively quite simple. It is easy to make but hunting for materials will take much time and study. The more detail that is added, the more convincing the station becomes. It is best to think of it as one large decoupage project. Once you acquire the mirror or mirrored paper and the shallow box, you can begin your DIY doll salon station 'cabinet.' Be on the look out for cosmetic products advertised in store flyers and magazines. You can take photos of these with your own camera if you wish. I can not give them to you because of copyright law, however you can see that I found many more of them than you might have expected me to. These kinds of photos are prolific in fashion magazines or ladies home journals. Pharmacies also print many pictures of makeup in sales fliers or on store coupons.

Supply List:

• a shallow large box, like a lid (our two examples are 14"x 18 1/2" x 2 1/2")
• extra heavy corrugated cardboard
• light weight cardboard (cereal boxes)
  
• masking tape
• white school glue
• decorative paper for the 'wall paper' (wrapping paper)
  
• extra white typing paper
• a large mirror 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" or mirrored paper with an adhesive backing (may be purchased at a Dollar General)
• hot glue and hot glue gun
• cosmetic supplies cut from magazines
• beads, tiny bottles and terry wash cloths to make salon accessories for the shelves
• heavy ribbon or sewing tape to trim the edges of the mirrors
• Mod Podge (optional)
• Salon styling chair (may be purchased new or acquired from resale)
  

The Pink Salon Station

Tiny details of cosmetics, picture frame and tissue box on the pink salon station are all glued on
 the shelves permanently so that these won't get lost or fall off during photo sessions. However,
you can rearrange your doll salon station with removable beauty products if you prefer.

Left, are folded terry cloth towels. Center are more decoupaged hair products cut from magazines. 
Right, I've included one tiny bottle here that is 3D.

Photos of the pink salon station under construction.

Shelf details and mirrors of both salon station examples.

 Step-by-Step Instructions for The Salon Stations:

1. To begin this project you will need to seat a doll in your salon chair in front of the cardboard box. Hold the mirror within the box, in front of the doll, to determine just where it needs to be mounted with glue inside the styling station. You want the doll to have a clear view of it's head and hair. Once this position has been determined, use hot glue or an epoxy alternative to mount the mirror. If you are using mirrored paper, this part of the craft will be much simpler. Alternatively, you can also plan to hang your station higher on a wall so that your dolls can see themselves easily in the mirrors.
2. Secondly, mask the entire surface both front and back with tape, excluding the mirror of course.
3. Now cut from the corrugated cardboard as many shelves you would like the styling station to have. Put them in either a formal traditional pattern or in an informal, modern pattern. I have included two designs here for you to see that have shelves on either sides of two mirrors, one mirror is oval and the other rectangular.
4. Next, you will need to decoupage the shelves and back walls. I chose to use a lavender print wrapping paper on the interior walls of one station and a bright pink patterned paper on the walls of the other salon station. Then I covered the shelves on both with white typing paper, alternating these with white school glue.
5. Cut magazine photos of beauty products and layer these with glue onto the back walls of the salon stations.
6. Glue nail polish bottles, small plastic containers filled with beauty supplies, crafted miniature tissue boxes, doll photo frames, pretend nail files, hair brushes etc.. on top of the shelves. 
7. Cut out terry cloth towels to fold and stack on the shelves.
8. Cut out photos of your favorite dolls to mount on the salon walls to demonstrate hair styles that your doll might want their salon hairstylists to copy on their own heads. All of these details make the salon stations unique and realistic!
9. Give the paper cut-outs an extra coating of Mod Podge to preserve your decoupage work.

 The Purple Salon Station 

Left, you can see our Emerson Wellie Wisher by American Girl, seated for a hair cut.
Right is the entire shelf unit decoupaged with pictures of shampoo, lotion, hair spray etc...
The bottom half of this salon station has photos of dolls modeling their hair styles.

Left a picture of a fashion doll with curls. Center cotton balls in a tiny container. Right, nail polish
crafted on this post and glued to the shelf surface above; plus one tiny emery board for
doll nail manicures.

Left a faux brush glued to the shelf. Center, a square box of tissues.
Right, more decoupage detailson the shelves to give them interest.

Left, American Girl Dolls pose for the camera, these were cut from a catalogue.
Right, two very tiny cosmetic bottles from the dollar store stand in front of the
decoupaged cosmetics.

Left, an old-fashioned doll with a braided hair style. Right, makeup cut from catalogues.

The purple salon station under construction. I covered the surfaces with masking tape to
make them durable. Then I decoupaged the surface walls with layers of cosmetic prints
 from catalogues, wrapping paper from the dollar store and one large, square mirror.

More Salon Stations for Dolls:

• Brat Doll Salon made by Nava Sewing
• Polymer clay makeup and jewelry
• Barbie size makeup kit craft by AmbaFun