A big DIY trend going on right now is making your own coir doormat with your own custom sayings. I, of course, decided to try this out myself while documenting the whole process and I'm going to give you my honest opinion on it, and suggestions on how to make one yourself.
First, let me show you what I did and I'll give you the tips on what I would change for doing this again.
The Supply List:
To start designing your mat, draw a rectangle the same size as the mat in Silhouette Studio.
The scale tool is the best way to size it exactly to the correct size.
I'm writing a phrase for my doormat so I'm using 2 fonts for my design. The script font is Boston which is currently in the Amazing Craft Bundle Vol. 2.
The other font I'm using is Banner Cuties also from the Amazing Craft Bundle Vol. 2.
I knew that leaving Banner Cuties the current thickness would be too thin to work well with my mat so a simple fix to make it a bolder thickness is to use the offset tool.
I offset the original words by 1/8" and hit apply. Next, move the original word away and delete it.
Group the letters all together.
Finally, weld the script words together so it doesn't cut out each letter individually.
Make sure you're happy with the scale of the words on your mat and then move them onto the cutting mat area and send it to be cut.
Load the vinyl onto your cutting mat, I'm using my24" long mat for this project. You are fine cutting without a mat too for a piece this long.
Prep your plain mat by removing any stickers or tags on it.
After the design is cut, weed away the letters leaving a stencil behind.
Now onto the HARDEST PART, getting that vinyl onto your coir mat. This is where I started losing a bit of my sanity, not going to lie. Nothing wants to stick to that coir surface.
I found that I cut the words apart so I had smaller pieces to work with and I also used my paper transfer tape because it's a little less sticky than the clear.
Really push and work super slowly while pulling off the transfer tape. Some of the inner word pieces might come up while you pull the transfer tape up, simply just hand place it back in place. Then just smoosh that vinyl onto the mat. Trust me, it's not you, it just really doesn't want to stick.
A few curse words later you get this!
If I were to attempt this again I'd probably use my Oramask 813 Stencil vinyl because it's a stiffer product. I used my pink vinyl simply because I had a large roll on hand.
The challenge is working with a large piece of vinyl on a non-gripping surface. It wants to just stick together and you might need to recut a piece or two. Again, just being 100% honest with you guys here!!
Now is when you can take all of those frustrations out!!Grab your paint and an old real paintbrush, not a foam one, you need the bristles.
Then dab with some force behind it up and down on the stencil. You want to get the paint in deep so it's not just laying on the surface.
Carefully coat the whole design. I lost some center bits with my crazy dabbing! You're going to get paint on your fingers too. Embrace the mess of DIY crafting or wear gloves.
I let it dry for a few minutes then took off the vinyl stencils. I am proud of the end result! We are actually in the process of selling our house in CO and moving back to MI where my family is from.
I made this mat as a message to everyone walking our home so they keep my home clean after I spent a week scrubbing it inside and out. Plus anyone with little kids who live on the floor doesn't want all that filth coming into their home. My kids are well trained to take their shoes off at the door.
Here's the full look! Of course I made the welcome sign too ;)
So are you up for the challenge of making your own mat?!?
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