When I grabbed a plain door mat from IKEA, I knew it wouldn’t stay plain for long! I love everything DIY, so of course I was going to spruce it up a little. So a few tips for you on how to make a DIY Hello Door Mat – –
DIY Hello Door Mat
STENCIL – – I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out “hello”. I thought it needed a little something else so I added the brackets, which I think was a 5-years-ago fad, but I still like it, so there ya go 😉 A great tip when cutting stencils is that I use contact paper – the stuff you can buy on rolls for lining your shelves, etc. That way I don’t waste my good vinyl. I like the wood grain contact paper because I can see it well on my project ( I used to use clear, but it was too hard to work with!)
RUG – I grabbed this rug at IKEA, but I’ve seen similar types at other various stores. It has a good texture to it, which means it’s great for a rug, but it does mean that the stencil won’t stick that great. Which will be okay – since it’s not a smooth surface, the paint won’t seep.
PREP – I cut my stencil right up to the edge, so I just used extra cardboard scraps to cover additional parts of the rug from overspray. Spray outside 😉
PAINT – To be sure the word was visible, I sprayed two coats of paint, letting it dry a little in between coats. You can see where the spraypaint kind of “melted” the edges of the plastic contact paper on the second coat, but it still had great line edges when I pulled up the stencil.
You want to make sure you really get the paint down into the fibers of the rug —
I love how it matches my front door! You can find out more info about the Front Door HERE and more info about the Pinwheel Wreath HERE.
Since we live in the country nowadays, I actually have a door mat outside and inside, so this rug has made it’s place as the first thing people see when they step inside our home. Love it!!
This is a great idea for my son and his wife, they just purchased their first home yesterday and this would be great for them. Thanks for the great idea.
perfect!!
I love how your doormat matches your door (and your toenails!) Very cute!
What kind of spray paint did you use? We don’t get that brand here (South Africa).. 🙂
any brand of spray paint should work!
What font did you use for your “[hello]” mat? I love it!
great question – I should have written it down! I think it was “Magnolia Sky”, I think!
Hi there, great project! I still dont understand what you mean by “i used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out “hello”.” And how did you make the stecil?
Best wishes, Tess
there’s a craft machine called a Silhouette Cameo. It cuts vinyl and I used to cut out the word “hello” from vinyl to make a stencil. Hope that helps!
Where do you find your contact paper???
I love that you have something other than clear so you can see it so well!
I grab it when I’m at Walmart or Dollar General – it comes in lots of different prints!
You didn’t have to spray any sort of topcoat? Have you noticed the spray paint flaking or staining or anything like that??
Thanks! Love this project. I just got my cameo so I’m on the hunt for some fun projects!
I haven’t had any staining – – and it’s not flaking off, although it does have the basic wear-and-tear of a door mat, so it’s not as pristine as when I first made it – hope that helps!
I love this project. I am thinking of doing it on my Cricut. Can you tell me what font you used?
i think I used Magnolia Sky – I think!
I don’t have a “stencil cutter” do you know where I could get one made? What size is the font?
the size just depends on the size of the mat that you’d like to put it on – – maybe try etsy for a stencil? Have fun with it!
Was the contact paper too sticky? I tried the transfer paper that i use for adhesive vinyl and it was too sticky and messed up my vinyl
it worked better not to use transfer paper
Do you remove the adhesive background of the contact paper or do you just lay it on the mat?
I removed the adhesive when I put it on the mat – it didn’t stick a ton, but it did a little
Hey awesome mat. What settings do you use on your silhouette to cut contact paper?
I just use the same settings as matte vinyl, sometimes setting it slightly less deep
Hi there! Do you recommend using ‘Magnolia Sky’?
that’s one of my favorite fonts, it’s a great one
I am so picky about doormats but I have never even thought about making my own. I will definitely be trying it out! Thanks for sharing.
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