How to Make a Novelty Doormat
I have always loved these novelty doormats but the ones I have bought in the past only lasted a few months, then they looked all washed out. After getting my Cricut vinyl cutter I knew this was one project I could make for myself. You can make your own vinyl stencils and add any writing you want on the mats. I prefer the novelty mats but you can always add your family name with a welcome message. This method uses a vinyl stencil and leak seal rubber spray which works great.
To start you will need a coir doormat, these can be bought for $5 at most of our budget stores.
If you are using a Cricut vinyl cutter you can use their design space software to create your decal. Add the words you want to a text box and change the fonts until you are happy with the design.
Rotate the design to a vertical position so your decal will be longer. Cut out the design onto vinyl. Because I do not have a large cutting mat, I divided my decal into two sections which will be joined once cut.
Remove all the vinyl from inside the words, so you are left with vinyl that looks like a stencil.
Join the two pieces of vinyl to get one large vinyl stencil. Next, put some transfer film over the decal and rub with a scraper.
This part I found was the hardest step. Because the coir mat has lots of fibres the decal did not want to stick well. To solve this I used painters tape to tape the decal to the mat. Slowly remove the transfer tape so you are left with just the decal on the mat. You may need to pull the word inserts off with a knife and place them on the mat.
To get the vinyl decal to form a good bond with the mat, use a hairdryer to heat the vinyl slightly and smooth down with your hand.
Cover any exposed areas of the mat with some tape to protect the mat from over spray. I used clear tape which is not very visible in this picture.
To paint the words I used leak seal rubber spray. This spray worked really well, there was no bleeding on the words at all.
Shake the leak seal well and spray over the stencil making sure to cover all the exposed areas. Remove the vinyl decal straight away.
Remove the inserts in the words with some tweezers or a pin. Leave the mat outside to dry for a few hours. Once dry, the leak seal will become a hard durable rubber.
And that is your door mat complete. The phrase on this mat is exactly what happens in our house when the doorbell rings.
If you are looking for a new DIY project, why not try this Unicorn Spit stain and glaze on glass project. You can get this stunning effect on glass which is so simple a child could do it.
If you are feeling more ambitious check out this old desk that I repurposed into a makeup table to store all your beauty supplies in one place.
Comments
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Thinking of an master plan now! Excellent Idea! Love it!
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Thank you so much, the best is you can add anything you want.
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I will definitely be doing this project, I have many thoughts on what I want my door mat to read
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The good thing about making your own you can have anything. Most of mine are too naughty to post. 🤣🤣
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
How long has your mat held up for you?
I love this. Anyway you can make it for me and ship?