Monday, October 8, 2012

Made it Monday: Personalized Doormat

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I had a couple of friends getting married over the last few months. I wanted to do a DIY wedding gift along with something off of their registry. As I was thinking what I could make, I remembered something I had seen in a Ballard Designs catalog a while back- monogrammed doormats (I believe they also sell personalized doormats). These bad boys run for about $90.
Suzanne Kasler Bordered Initial Coir Mat
I was pretty sure I could make one of these for significantly less. So, I started my hunt. It was a little tricky finding plain doormats,but I found one at Home Depot for $7. I bought two and set out to make the personalized mats.
 
 

Once I got home, I cut out the couples' last names out of vinyl with my cricut. Using the vinyl as a stencil, I laid it out on the doormat. It was not sticking. I tried setting heavy objects on top of the vinyl to get it to stick, but it didn't work. So, I decided to take back the mats and look for something the vinyl might adhere better to.
 
I scoured a few stores, then tried good ol' google. I found a nice mat at Crate and Barrel for $15 that I thought may work a little better.

NaturalKnottedMatOT8
 
Luckily these shipped quite quickly and I gave it another try. The vinyl stuck a little better, but still wasn't great. I decided to just give it a try.
 
 
I stuck on my stencil and spray painted it black. On the first attempt, I put newspaper around the edges that the stencil didn't cover, to protect them from getting spray painted, but the spray paint blew the edges up a bit. This left a few minor black spots.
 
**One important thing I learned from the first mat to the second: Put sticky vinyl around the outer edges of the doormat as well so the spray paint doesn't get on the edges of your mat.**
 
I spray painted two coats of black paint on each mat and once completely dry, removed my stencil.
 
The mats were not completely perfect for my perfectionist self, but they turned out pretty well. They did turn out to be more work than I thought (mainly because the vinyl wouldn't stick), but if you want a personalized door mat and want to save a bunch of money, this is the way to go.
 
I think another option would be to use craft paint instead of spray paint, but I wasn't sure how that would hold up outside in all the Minnesota elements. Here is how one turned out in the end. I thought I had a picture of the other, but apparently I don't. I did a script font on the other doormat.
 
 

 
 
Have a great Monday!
 
Lexi



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