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.

Step 1: Step 1

To start you will need a coir doormat, these can be bought for $5 at most of our budget stores.

Step 2: Design the Vinyl Stencil

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.

Step 3: Cut the Vinyl Stencil

Remove all the vinyl from inside the words, so you are left with vinyl that looks like a stencil.

Step 4: Join the Stencil

Join the two pieces of vinyl to get one large vinyl stencil. Next, put some transfer film over the decal and rub it with a scraper to remove it from the backing paper.

Step 5: Transfer the Vinyl to the Mat

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.

Step 6: Add the Leak Seal

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.

Step 7: Remove the Stencil

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.