DIY // halloween themed door mat (for less than $10!)

Believe it or not, Halloween is just around the corner! This is Joanna’s first year in her house, complete with a front porch and a neighborhood full of trick-or-treaters. She’s kind of excited about that, so we whipped up this super simple DIY door mat that celebrates the sweet-tooth side of the festivities in a sort of adult, cheeky way. Armed with a plain door mat, stencils, and paint, you too can deck out your front door for Halloween (and for less than 10 bucks)!

Tools

• stencil lettering
• paint brush
• paint palette

Materials

• door mat (we used this one from IKEA, but here’s another affordable option on Amazon)
• black acrylic paint
• painters tape

This is such a fun an easy project, and to be honest, the hardest part was deciding what our halloween themed door mat should say! Start by brainstorming a few spooky phrase  and write them out to see how the letters look and fit across the door mat. Or… make yours say Strangers Have The Best Candy like us ;)

Once you know what your door mat is going to say, lay out your stencils and make sure they fit across the width and height of your mat. I always like to find the middle of the word or phrase and start by placing the center letter. So, for example, when arranging the the word “strangers,” I folded the door mat in half to find the middle, and placed the “N” stencil on it, working out from there to make sure my word was centered.

Next, secure the letters along the bottom with a strip of masking tape so that they don’t shift while you’re applying the paint. Most stencil sets only include one of each letter, so you may need to move a letter down to complete the word.

Now for the fun part! Squeeze a generous amount of black paint on your palette and dab your brush in it. Then, press the stencil down against the mat and dab on the paint. Make sure you’ve entirely filled the letter by flipping the stencil up from the top and checking every so often.

Carefully peel the tape and letters off the mat and et voilà! Allow 20-30 minutes for the paint to dry, and you’ve got a super festive doormat ready to great tricker-treaters and dinner party guests alike.

I love how this project turned out! It goes perfectly with the black door of Joanna’s #tinybungalow. The more wear and tear the door mat sees, the better it will get, especially when Halloween arrives!

My favorite part about this project is how versatile it is. Now that you have a set of reusable stencils and black paint, you can customize door mats or rugs for any holiday, even with a monogram for a handmade housewarming gift.

Sources for my front door: Tricorn Black paint c/o Sherwin-Williams, Grandeur by Nostalgic Warehouse front door hardware c/o ATG Stores, vintage dachshund boot scraper (similar).

Photography and styling by Jojotastic. DIY by Material Delight for Jojotastic.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think of this door mat tutorial! And if you make one, be sure to post a photo and tag @jojotastic on Instagram so we can see.