A Fall Dollar Tree Door Mat

by Sharon Strothcamp Sumner

5 Materials

$12

3 Hours

Easy

I’ve been seeing the Dollar Tree felt pumpkins, leaves, and acorns used as stencils on the Dollar Tree gray door mats. This morning, I used the felt leaf to create this beautiful door mat. You can do it, too!

These are the materials I used:

* Dollar Tree door mat

* Dollar Tree felt leaf

* I used our paint brand we own and produce, Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style paint: Grannies Lace, Old Tin Barn, Bordeaux, English Ivy, and Possum Grape Jam. However, any brand and type of paint should do fine.

* chippy brush

* Varathane SPAR Urethane water-based sealer

Step 1 - Adding base color

I used the side of the mat that was more ribbed. On my next one I will use the flatter side. This mat really soaks up the paint. This is the first coat. I eventually did two coats and then a little more to cover well the area that will be under the leaf stencil. The rest can have a more dry brush look.

Step 2 - Adding primary color around the stencil

I then placed the stencil on the mat and just started pouncing the Old Tin Barn color on the spines and all around the leaf. You don’t have to do the whole thing at this point. I just did around the leaf area then removed the leaf stencil and finished pouncing the color.

Step 3 - Randomly pouncing other colors

Using the same brush, without washing it out, I pounced the Bordeaux color on randomly over the Old Tin Barn, trying to blend it a bit.

Using the same brush again, I pounced on randomly the English Ivy color.

Using the same process, I added a bit of Possum Grape Jam color.

This photo shows all the different colors, much like you would see in nature in the fall.

Step 4: Sealing the mat

The last step is to take the mat outside and give it a couple coats of the SPAR Urethane waterbased exterior sealer. It says it is gloss, but doesn’t show up gloss on the mat. I don’t think, once chalk-style paint cures for 30 days, a sealer is really needed, but in the meantime I think it just helps protect it a little.