Tutorial Tuesday: DIY Doormat

I've always wanted a cool doormat for the holidays--one for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc. But I didn't want it to be cheesy (a la this doormat that freaked out our poor kiddos on Halloween!).

In my un-creative mind, I have these lofty (and super crafty) ideas but no follow-through. So I aimed a little low (nothing fancy, just nice and doable) and came up with an easy DIY (do-it-yourself) doormat.
Take note: There are SOOOO many ways you can run with this tutorial--you can make a monogram doormat, a holiday doormat (as aforementioned), an image doormat with a damask print or clipart, etc. etc. Seriously I kind of wish I had more time, money, and creative poweress (is that a word? do you know what am i trying to say?) to actually do all of those!

Anyway...i can keep brainstorming but it's time for the real tutorial!

What you need:

• Coir rug. I found mine at Ikea for $7.99..cutely named "Trampa"
• Stencil
• Posterboard for your stencil
• Marker (for marking out your stencil on the posterboard)
• Scissors (for cutting out the stencil)
• Tape (masking tape is better than packing tape, fyi)
• Matte or Flat spraypaint that is for outdoor/indoor use and able to use on wicker
  
• paint and brushes (optional!)

In case you are wondering, a coir rug looks like this up close:

this is the spraypaint my friendly Ace Hardware clerk told me to buy:

interesting note: they had video cameras in the spray paint aisle and you had to be over 18 to purchase the cans! Kind of a sad sign of the times :(

I decided to use posterboard as the base of my stencil because it was sturdier than any alternative (well, foam board or plastic would have been firmer but you get my gist). Of course, if you have a pre-made stencil, don't even worry about these steps. Side note: I chose the neon green posterboard because it was 50% off!

So...organize your stencil. I needed it to fit the width of the posterboard so I had to do some cutting and rearranging.

I finally had it all cut out like so
(making sure to keep the very crucial inners to the "p" and the "a")

Once your stencil is ready to go, firmly tape it to your rug. You want it as flat, tight, and secure as possible so that the spraypaint does not leach out of the stencil.

Tape it down!
Again, I would recommend masking tape as my packing tape wasn't too spiffy

Shake your spraypaint can and get to painting!

I did two coats--one vertical and one horizontal. I also recommend waiting until it is dried, much like a freezer paper stencil, so as to avoid any paint bleeds (as you'll see in the next picture, i got a little too eager and made my letters run a little)

Voila! A new rug!

I had high aspirations of incorporating a dove in one of the corners but couldn't quite figure out the proportions, angle, etc. so I left it out.


But, of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone so I painted some holly + berries in the corners. Kind of tacky but it needed something. Next time I'll probably use a pretty corner stencil from one of my favorite flourishy fonts.

Not bad for a $11 DIY mat, though! (the spraypaint was $3)

These are some phrases I thought would be fun to use:

• Boo Y'all
• Give Thanks (maybe with a turkey?)
• Noel (in a pretty script)
• a Snowman clipart
• a Santa clipart
• a Nativity clipart scene
• "Wisemen still seek Him" with the Star of David in the center
• our family monogram (JSA)
• A Fleur de Lis icon repeated
• lots of ornaments in different spray paint colors
• etc. etc.

What are some ideas you can come up with? I'd love to be inspired by your creativity!