Home hack: DIY welcome mat upgrade

With a few inexpensive supplies and a half hour, you can create your own customized welcome mat to greet guests at the door!

Supplies:

• Plain doormat
• Straight edge
• Scissors
• Duct (or any heavy duty) tape
• Black paint
• Small and large paint brush
• Printed letters (create your own in any word processing document, print 1 per page in desired type face)

Instructions:

1. Create template

Use paper letters to create a template for paint. Here we printed off letters and symbols for “hello.” using a simple sans serif type face. We printed 1 letter/symbol per page on basic printer paper. Cut out each letter carefully, making the least amount of cuts in the outside of the letter which will turn into your template.

2. Line up template

Once all of the letters are cut out, place the paper letters aside and put together the leftover paper from the letters which will become your template. Line them up on the mat using a straight edge for guidance and trim off excess white space as needed so that your letters can be spaced evenly apart.

3. Tape in place

Once the template letters are in place, use your duct tape to tape the template in place on the mat. Remember to roll up small pieces of tape to tape down the interior template pieces for your letters (like the top part of the “e” and the center of the “o.”

4. Fill in letters

Use your paint and paint brush to fill in the letters on the mat. This will create your word.

5. Let dry

Once you finish painting the letters, set aside and let the mat dry thoroughly (we let ours dry overnight) before removing the template so that you don’t create any streaking or smearing.

6. Do touch-up work

To finish up the project, touch up any sides or splotchy paint spots in the letters as needed using a small brush and your black paint. Let dry thoroughly again.

When the letters are dry, place your mat in front of your door and invite over all your neighbors to say hello!

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