You know you’re really in the adulting stage of life when you Google how to make a holiday-themed doormat. Seriously: Ten years ago, I was searching online for crop tops, makeup and the cheapest local happy hours, but now, I spend hours scrolling through Pinterest and Etsy, searching for the perfect DIY doormat to greet guests when they arrive at my (rented) residence.
But what makes the perfect doormat? That’s subjective, of course — but there are two rules almost-adults should generally follow:
- Pick a doormat that reflects your personality. Are you a comedian? Make it funny! Are you the go-to friend for inspiration and pep talks? A mat with a motivational quote is for you. Do you love your dog more than life itself? Pawesome. Get a mat that reflects that.
- Keep ‘em cheap so you can rotate them out. Doormats. Get. Dirty. And fast. Although buying doormats is already a sign of adulting, so is cleanliness. Plus, what’s more fun than having a special mat for every holiday?! Add a themed wreath to your door, and the front of your house is a veritable party (unless it’s Halloween or Christmas, in which case you should go a little extra).
It’s pretty simple: Be one with your doormat (personality-wise) and don’t break the bank to do it. But keeping it cheap is the challenge. A simple Google search serves up some doormats that are $100 or more! That’s a lot of iced coffees. We’re talking about a rectangle of palm fibers (or coir, nylon, rubber, cloth or whatever the thing is made of). Dropping a whopping $100 just for people to wipe their dirty shoes? Uh, no thanks.
That’s why we came up with this DIY doormat craft. It enables you to make a mat that exemplifies who you are and do it on the cheap. And we promise: It’ll be totally Pinterest-worthy. Don’t pay other people a silly sum of money to do something you could do in just a couple hours.
To complete this craft, you’ll need the following supplies and some patience (the craft is easy, but it takes two or three hours to complete). But, hey, art.
What you’ll need:
- 100% coir doormat
- 4 inch Stencils
- Paint brush variety pack
- Multi-surface acrylic paint
- Scotch tape
- 3M ocelo sponge
- Scissors
- Optional: Hot glue gun with glue
- Optional: Sewing thread (& needle, if you’re going to sew pom-poms)
- Optional: Pom-poms
Step one: Pick a message
Because Easter’s coming up, we stuck with a festive theme. “Welcome my Peeps” was the winner this time around, but we also loved “Some bunny hopes you brought wine” and “Don’t worry, be hoppy.”
MORE: DIY balloon toppers are perfect for holiday desserts
Step two: Position the stencils and paint
I trimmed the sides of the alphabet stencils to ensure the letters would be close enough together, but I left a bit of border so I didn’t get paint all over the place. Tip: Keep the height of each stencil the same so each letter is on the same line as the letter before.
Tape the stencil down where you want it, so it doesn’t move while you’re trying to paint in the letter. I used Scotch tape.
If you want an ombre look like I did with “MY PEEPS,” simply mix colors together to achieve a variant of shades. I painted “MY PEEPS” in yellow and wanted to fade it into a dark orange, so I created a medium shade between pure yellow and orange by adding a little pink to the yellow paint. Then, I created the darker orange shade by mixing a ratio of more pink paint to yellow paint. I used the paints in descending order to create the ombre look.
Warning: If you’re an old woman like me at the ripe age of 30 and have terrible knees, this part is going to hurt a little. Find a comfortable area to paint because, sister, the floor is not it.
Optional steps: Add a Peep design and pom-pom border
MORE: Make these adorable yarn bunnies your next Easter craft project
To create the Peeps in the corner of the mat, I outlined an actual marshmallow Peep on a sponge. I cut the sponge to the proper shape, doused it with paint, and held it down to the mat (paint side down) for a couple seconds.
The sponge will give you just the outline of the Peep. You’ll then have to use your paintbrush to fill it in. Use a small-tipped brush to add white dots for eyes, and an even smaller tipped brush for the black pupils. Wait until the white dries to add the black.
I also wanted to jazz the mat up with some color-coordinated pom-poms. Because I have approximately zero patience for sewing, I used a hot-glue gun to attach a piece of string to the back of the mat, and then glued the other side of the string to the back of the pom-pom. I didn’t measure the spaces between the pom-poms because, again, lazy, but if you’re an overachiever, go for it! The pom-poms move around like crazy, so they won’t remain perfectly spaced no matter what you do.
If you’re going to use the mat only for the holiday season, the pom-poms should hold up to the wear and tear just fine. If you want to save your mat for the following year, invest a bit of time to sew the pom-poms on… or you’ll be pulling out the hot-glue gun to redo the decorative border.
There you go! Pop a bottle of wine and dance on your new DIY doormat.
Be sure to share your DIY doormat creations with us by tagging @HomeOfTheHolidays or #Holidays365 on Instagram. Can’t wait to see (and copy!) them!