Welcome Mat D.I.Y.

We've always secretly wanted a personalized welcome mat for our entrance-ways, and since we never seem to find them in our travels, we figured why not try to make our own? We decided to make one that says: "The Hieberts" which is mine and Emery's last name.

We started by purchasing a basic plain door mat from our local hardware store. We recommend using a low pile rug because there is less room for paint leaks when spraying the stencil.

Here are the basic supplies you will need:
plain cardstock sheets for printing the stencil on, outdoor spray paint, a pencil, a utility knife for cutting out the stencil, painting tape, scissors, and a measuring tape.

We measured the size of the mat and then went into Photoshop and made a template the same size. We then typed up the text that we wanted and simply printed it out from our computer printer!

It printed perfectly!

 Next it was time to carefully cut out the stencils! Make sure you save the little centers of letters like "e's" and "b's" so you can stick them back in the stencil when you spray paint it!

After that we used our measuring tape to find the center of the mat and then positioned the stencils on top of that spot and carefully taped them in place. You may also want to use a bit of spray adhesive to ensure that the stencils don't shift around at all. Use any remaining pieces of cardstock to tape off any bare areas of the mat that you don't want to be painted, then you're ready to spray! We highly recommend doing this outside, in a garage, or in any other well-ventilated area.

After spraying, carefully remove your stencils to reveal your finished product...

And voila! We had a little bit of paint seepage underneath the stencil, but that is to be expected when painting a rug! We are really excited about this cute little addition to our house stoop!