make your own doormatHaven’t we all encountered a doormat that needs freshening up? Maybe it was cute when you first bought it at Target, but that was two summers ago and that “Welcome” sign is faded and wonky.

Well, this project is great for a little doormat makeover or just to customize your mat as a fun craft.

diy doormat

You’ll Need

– Plain Doormat – or if you’re re-making an existing mat, simply flip it over to the blank side

– Spray Paint – I used black paint but any color will do

– A Rubber Glove – so you don’t mess up your manicure!

– Painter’s Tape

– Card stock for Letter Templates – I’ll explain that in a second

– Paper Cutter Knife

– Tape Measure

– A stick or ruler to hold down the paper as you spray

make your own letter templateStart by making your template. We are using our mat for the office so we cut out the letters to spell “Chic HQ”. You will use a whole sheet of card stock for EACH letter or number. In our case, we used the font “Century Gothic” in size 600. Center each letter on the sheet and print out. Next use paper cutter knife to cut out the letters… be sure to put your paper on a cutting board so you don’t cut the table underneath!

diy doormatNext measure the length of your doormat. Make sure your first and last letter are the same distance from the edge of the mat on either side. Start with the first letter, use painters tape to hold it in place. Put on your fancy rubber glove and use your ruler or stick to hold down the edge of the template where you’re spraying. Spray straight down on the outline in small bursts, you don’t need a lot of spray paint so don’t go crazy or your paint could seep under the template and mess up the line of your letters.

make your own doormat, spray paintRepeat the process with each additional letter… I sprayed my first and last letter then came back for the middle two, that way I could make sure it was all evenly spaced.

spraying the middleYour paint dries in about 10 minutes, and once it has you can remove the templates and set it out on the porch.spray paint doormatDon’t know what you want to commemorate on your mat? Consider these…

– A fun saying like “Hi There” “Oh, Hello” “Come On In!”

– Your Address Numbers

– Shapes or Pictures… find those cool jack-o-lantern templates and go spray crazy! 

[photos by Maryanne Cabrera]